In his , President-elect Barack Obama reaffirmed his intention to Close Guant谩namo. He told Steve Kroft:
Yes. I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guant谩namo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn鈥檛 torture. And I鈥檓 gonna make sure that we don鈥檛 torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America鈥檚 moral stature in the world.
UPDATE: Video added 11/21/08
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Music to our ears! What a difference an election makes!
Just yesterday, the 老澳门开奖结果's Chris Anders travelled to Guant谩namo to observe the military commission hearings of Ibrahim al-Qosi and Mohammad Hashim, and reported that interest in the proceedings down there have taken a nosedive. He writes:
[E]veryone notices that attendance is way down. A couple of military personnel shut off the power in empty tents here in 鈥淐amp Justice.鈥 As the only representative of a human rights group this week, my bed is the only one occupied in my six-bed tent. And the media pool is now down to just one reporter. It seems that all that is left to be done is for the new president to pull the plug on the whole operation on January 20.
But we're not tossing out the orange ribbons just yet. Our work is not done. We need to keep up the momentum on this issue, and show President-elect Obama that he has our support to shut Guant谩namo down on Day One. With an executive order, he can close Gitmo and shutter the military commissions system.
A lot of people are advising him to go slow, telling him it's too hard. He says he wants to do it. And he's reaffirmed this on national TV. Reaffirm your committment to support his efforts to close Guant谩namo Show President-Elect Obama that you care about justice as much as he does.