Huffington Magazine Issue 38 | Page 51

BRENNAN LINSLEY-POOL/GETTY IMAGES HELD AT BAY a hotbed of terrorism. No country is willing to accept the others. And it’s a political nonstarter to release them into the U.S. In 2010, Obama’s Guantanamo Task Force determined that another 46 were “too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution.” And so they remain stuck here, in limbo. Obama has periodically reiterated his intention to close the detention center, most recently during an appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in October. But the public pressure on him to do HUFFINGTON 03.03.13 “I THINK FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND HERE FOR A WHILE WOULD TELL YOU NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED AT ALL.” so has largely died down, as tales of detainee abuse at the hands of CIA interrogators fade into the past and the media turns its attention to new fronts in the war on terrorism, such as the administration’s drone program. The truth is that nobody is really in a hurry to close Guantanamo. Defense attorneys, whose ultimate goal is to keep their clients alive, certainly aren’t in a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Bill Mesta replaces an official picture of outgoing president George W. Bush.