Towards the end of Candy Crowley’s interview with President Obama yesterday, the host asked, simply, “Will Guantanamo Bay prison be closed down by [the] end of next year?” The president didn’t offer a yes-or-no answer, but Obama said he continues “to do everything I can to close it.”
“It is something that continues to inspire jihadists and extremists around the world, the fact that these folks are being held. It is contrary to our values, and it is wildly expensive. We’re spending millions for each individual there.“And we have drawn down the population there significantly. There are a little less than 150 individuals left in this facility. We are going to continue to place those who have been cleared for release or transfer to host countries that are willing to take them.”
The president’s comments about drawing down the population were well timed — we learned over the weekend of a new round of transfers from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. David Taintor reported Saturday:
Four Afghan detainees were transferred from the prison at Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense said Saturday, the first transfer of prisoners to the Middle Eastern country since 2009.The prisoners released were Shawali Khan, Khi Ali Gul, Abdul Ghani and Mohammed Zahir, according to the Pentagon. The Guantanamo Review Task Force reviewed the case and unanimously approved the transfer of the detainees, and Congress was notified of the move. “These guys, at worst, could be described as low level but that’s even a stretch,” a senior administration official told NBC News.
The accelerated pace is hard not to notice. Adding this weekend’s transfers to the tally, there have been 23 prisoners moved from Guantanamo this year, 17 of which have been transferred since early November.
A total of 132 prisoners remain, and transfers for 64 of them have already been approved.
As we discussed a couple of weeks ago, the gradual reduction in the number of detainees inches the White House closer to its goal of closing the facility altogether, despite Congress’ opposition. As administration officials see it, the smaller the prison population, the less inclined lawmakers may be to invest in its continued existence.
If you missed it over the weekend, here’s msnbc’s on-air report on the latest developments:
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."