The White House Is Preparing To Close Gitmo

In his final 18 months as president, it seems as though Obama is finally making good on all of his promises. During a Wednesday press conference, White House press secretary Josh Earn est announced that the White House is preparing to close Guantanamo Bay in the near future, and is in the final stages of preparing to do so. Part of the president's initial campaign platform was to shutter the notoriously horrific military prison base, which houses particularly dangerous or unusual detainees — 116 at present — and has been riddled with accusations of torture and abuse. The camp has been open since 2002, just a few months after 9/11. Now, the White House is "in the final stages of drafting a plan to safely and responsibly close the prison at Guantanamo Bay," Earnest noted.

Although the president has made no secret of his desire to close the prison camp, a 2009 order to do so was met with opposition and ultimately shelved. There is significant opposition to shelving Guantanamo Bay in Congress, which was cited as one reason the camp was not shut at the time. However, as Obama noted on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show just Tuesday night, being in the final quarter of his presidency is giving him the opportunity to make sure that his goals are met.