PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
HELD
AT BAY
trying them in U.S. courts. The
Supreme Court has ruled, however, that foreign terrorism suspects
do have the right to challenge their
detention in U.S. courts.
Obama shut down the military
tribunals as soon as he took office and began exploring ways to
transfer the suspected terrorists
to American soil — possibly to a
prison in Illinois — and try them
in federal courts. Throughout the
long, hot summer of 2009, how-
HUFFINGTON
03.03.13
ever, as the Tea Party movement
blossomed, Republicans charged
that closing Guantanamo would
put Americans in danger, potentially even leading to terrorist
prison breaks. Senate Democrats,
lead by Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.), also opposed transferring
the detainees and cut off $80 million Obama had requested to do so,
claiming the administration had
done too little to outline its plans.
Andy Worthington, a journalist
and activist who has been writing about the camp for seven years,
said that Congress, which has re-
A woman
holds a
poster as
she protests
against the
10-year
anniversary
of holding
detainees in
Guantanamo
during a
demonstration on Jan.
11, 2012.