Split widens between labor, Biden on move to impose contract on railroad workers to avert strike and government regulation
President Obama and his allies will try to close Gitmo prison, while the GOP attempts to weaken Social Security, create a universal health-care system, and enact tough new gun control laws.
The Washington Post’s Dan Balz explains:
The Obama administration’s effort to move the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay to another overseas place in a bid to close the jail that houses the last prisoners convicted of the 9/11 attacks now appears to be in trouble.
A military lawyer who is in frequent contact with detainees at the prison, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to talk to the media, said he expects that any effort to move the base as part of a broader review of the prison will fail given its current location — west of Baghdad in southwestern Afghanistan — and the fact that there’s little precedent for its proposed new location.
A spokeswoman for the Pentagon, which is moving prisoners from Afghanistan into new detention facilities, referred questions to officials at the base.
The government’s decision to open a new location in Iraq will bring the number of prisons housing U.S. detainees for the war in Afghanistan to a record 19, the Post reported on Thursday.
President Obama and Biden
Biden’s shift on Gitmo has been described as a “tour de force” in terms of U.S. diplomacy. The following comes from the AP’s Ben Geman:
The Democratic front-runner for the presidency has come out for leaving Gitmo open and has suggested the U.S. use the military to break up the prison in a bid to free the prisoners.
“I’m open to the idea of doing what’s necessary to close Gitmo,” Biden said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends Monday.” “And the use of the military is an option if that’s the way you would do it.”
On Monday, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said the idea of leaving Gitmo open was “not a proposal designed to be realistic.”
“It’s a great day for the American people,” Murphy said of Biden’s announcement. “I’m proud of Bernie, but I am far more proud of Joe Biden.”
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