Report: Obama Aims to Cut Gitmo Population to 42 by End of Tenure

Report: Obama Aims to Cut Gitmo Population to 42 by End of Tenure

by Edwin Mora 20 Dec 2016

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2016/12/20/obama-reduce-gitmo-population-42-end-tenure/

President Barack Obama is expected to transfer out 17 or 18 detainees from the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, by the time he leaves office, reducing the facility’s population to 41 or 42, reports The New York Times (NYT).

The administration is required by law to notify Congress 30 days before a transfer, which means the last deadline to release Guantánamo prisoners before the end of the Obama era was Monday.

Citing Obama administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, NYT reports:

By late in the day [Monday], officials said, the administration had agreed to tell Congress that it intended to transfer 17 or 18 of the 59 remaining detainees at the prison; they would go to Italy, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. If all goes as planned, that will leave 41 or 42 prisoners in Guantánamo for Donald J. Trump’s administration.

Of the 59 captives still held at the Guantánamo prison, commonly known as Gitmo, at least 22 have been cleared for release by Obama’s parole-style board and 27 of the detainees have been deemed “forever prisoners,” or too dangerous to release.

The remaining 10 Gitmo detainees are still undergoing war crimes proceedings at military commissions, including six who are facing death-penalty tribunals, according to the Miami Herald.

Some of the 22 prisoners who have been cleared for release by the multi-agency Periodic Review Board (PRB) had been deemed “forever prisoners” at some point.

The too-dangerous-to-release designation has not prevented the Obama administration from liberating or clearing detainees for transfer in the past.

“Most who would be transferred next month are Yemenis,” notes the Times. “Because conditions in Yemen are chaotic, the Bush and the Obama administrations were reluctant to repatriate Yemeni detainees, so they stayed behind as others from more stable countries went home.”

Hoping in vain that conditions in Yemen would improve, the Obama administration did not resettle Yemeni detainees in its first term.

However, it began to do so in late 2014 when it became apparent to the Obama team that security in Yemen was deteriorating further.

President-elect Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to keep Gitmo operating and “load it up with some bad dudes.”

Meanwhile, Obama failed to keep his campaign promise to shut down the facility, a blemish on the president’s legacy that NYT attempted to downplay.

The newspaper quotes Elisa Massimino, the president of Human Rights First, and Matthew G. Olsen, Obama’s former National Counterterrorism Center director, as saying that despite the president’s failure to fulfill his promise, reducing the population and not abandoning efforts to empty the facility are major feats.

According to the latest estimate by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), 30 percent 0f Guantánamo detainees who have been released under both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush are suspected or confirmed to have re-engaged in terrorist activities.

Under Obama, about 12 percent of the 161 detainees who had been released as of July 15 are suspected (11) or confirmed (9) to have returned to terrorism.

Former President Bush transferred out about three times more prisoners than Obama.

Nearly 35 percent of the 532 Bush-era transfers are suspected (75) or confirmed (113) to have re-engaged in terrorism.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have refused to go along with Obama’s plans to close the military prison, which includes the transfer of detainees onto to U.S. soil, a move that is banned by a bill signed into law by Obama himself.

The Pentagon submitted a proposal to Congress to close down the detention center earlier this year, requiring the banned move of prisoners to the United States.

Obama has blamed his inability to shut down Gitmo on “all these rules and norms and laws,” particularly “congressional restrictions.”

Guantánamo Bay, Cuba

Guantanamo Bay prison is a Cuba-based detention camp for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Note: Derek H. Chollet is the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense, was a special assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration, and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

James Carney was the press secretary for the Barack Obama administration, a reporter for the Miami Herald, and the Washington Bureau chief for Time magazine.

Strobe Talbott was an editor at Time magazine, and is the president of the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the Human Rights First.

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and William D. Zabel was his divorce lawyer, and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations. 

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Human Rights First.         

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, and the BAE Systems Inc.

Matthew G. Olsen is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, was the general counsel for the National Security Agency (NSA), and a director at the Guantanamo Review Task Force.

Guantanamo Review Task Force recommended which detainees should be released or prosecuted at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

William D. Zabel was George Soros’s divorce lawyer, a trustee at the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and is the chair for the Human Rights First.

Michael Chertoff is the chairman for BAE Systems Inc., and a co-founder & chairman for the Chertoff Group.

Michael V. Hayden is a principal at the Chertoff Group, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was a deputy director for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.

Guantanamo Bay prison is a Cuba-based detention camp for the U.S. Department of Defense.

James R. Clapper was the undersecretary for intelligence at the U.S. Department of Defense, an executive director, military intelligence programs for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is the director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the Barack Obama administration.

Melissa Hathaway was the cyber coordination executive for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and a principal at Booz Allen Hamilton.

John Michael McConnell was a director at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,a director at the National Security Agency (NSA), and is a senior executive adviser & former vice chairman for the Booz Allen Hamilton.

Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

Robert S. Osborne was an EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.     

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. was a managing director at Booz Allen Hamilton, is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Valerie B. Jarrett is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the senior adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and her great uncle is Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a senior counsel for Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP is the lobby firm for the United Arab Emirates. 

Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA), and Obamacare.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative is Obamacare, is the president for the Barack Obama administration, and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama is the first lady for the Barack Obama administration, and was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

http://thesteadydrip.blogspot.com/2013/12/commercial-club-of-chicago-members.html

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Mark A. Angelson was a partner at Sidley Austin LLP, and a director at the Human Rights First.

James D. Zirin is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and was a director at the Human Rights First.

William D. Zabel is the chair for the Human Rights First, was George Soros’s divorce lawyer, and a trustee at the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights First, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Derek H. Chollet was a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a special assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration, and is the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Guantanamo Bay prison is a Cuba-based detention camp for the U.S. Department of Defense.

Guantanamo Review Task Force recommended which detainees should be released or prosecuted at the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Matthew G. Olsen was a director at the Guantanamo Review Task Force, the general counsel for the National Security Agency (NSA), and is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

Lee H. Hamilton is a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council, an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and the BAE Systems Inc.

Michael Chertoff is the chairman for BAE Systems Inc., and a co-founder & chairman for the Chertoff Group.

Michael V. Hayden is a principal at the Chertoff Group, a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was a deputy director for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Chuck Hagel was the chairman for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense for the Barack Obama administration.

Guantanamo Bay prison is a Cuba-based detention camp for the U.S. Department of Defense.