Closing Camp Delta, Guantanamo Bay – without a plan

Today, President Obama signed an Executive Order to delay a decision his administration will soon need to make. By signing the order within the first 48 hours of his presidency, he throws a bone to the liberal left, placates them with a quick salvo fired at Bush, and kicks the can down the road.

The can is going to soon roll back down the hill, and he does not seem to have a plan.

The order references the Geneva Conventions, but as we all know terrorists are not a signatory to the Conventions and they – quite frankly – use the rules against us. That policy is chapter one of the Terrorist 101 syllabus.

I quote from the order…

In view of the significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally, prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals currently detained at Guantánamo and closure of the facilities in which they are detained would further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.

Does this say that releasing terrorists – who have fought and plotted against us and deemed the Geneva Conventions irrelevant – would improve our national security?

The paragraph continues.

Merely closing the facilities without promptly determining the appropriate disposition of the individuals detained would not adequately serve those interests. To the extent practicable, the prompt and appropriate disposition of the individuals detained at Guantánamo should precede the closure of the detention facilities at Guantánamo.

Obama has released this Executive Order without a plan. There is no explanation of what will happen with the Gitmo terrorists.

A couple of notes before sharing a few paragraphs from a novel I recently read. This Executive Order only deals with detainees in Guantanamo Bay, it does not discuss other locations where terrorists may be held. In section 8…

Nothing in this order shall prejudice the authority of the Secretary of Defense to determine the disposition of any detainees not covered by this order.

Wink wink … there is more!

If any individuals covered by this order remain in detention at Guantánamo at the time of closure of those detention facilities, they shall be returned to their home country, released, transferred to a third country, or transferred to another United States detention facility in a manner consistent with law and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.

Can someone say symbolism over substance? This paragraph seems to indicate an option would be to transfer the prisoners to another detention facility, possibly outside of the United States!

Others discussing include Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Power Line, Volokh Conspiracy, Sister Toldjah (with a new blog theme by the way) and LGF.

The following is from the Vince Flynn novel Extreme Measures. On page 271, this is a snippet of a discussion between two characters, Ralph Wasson and Senator Barbara Lonsdale. I’ll let it stand without commentary.

[Wasson] “… You ask the people if they are pro-torture, and ninety plus percent say no. You then ask them what the CIA should do if they catch a senior al-Qaeda member who has carried out attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq that have killed thousands. You then tell them that the CIA has solid information an attack is looming and this man has information that could help stop it. You then ask them if they are okay with slapping this guy around and making him think he’s about to drown and all of a sudden seventy percent of them are pro-torture.

“Now” – Wassen wagged a finger at his boss – “I can get that number to over ninety percent if you give the people a third option.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t tell me what’s going on. Just take care of it. I don’t need to know everything my government does.”

“So the options are torture, don’t torture, or stick you head in the sand.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s reality, Babs.”