About damn time! Today, President Obama announced a plan to close Guantanamo Bay’s prisoner detention center. During his announcement, he said,

‘Fifteen years after 9/11. Fifteen years after the worst terrorist attack in American history, we’re still having to defend the existence of a facility and a process where not a single verdict has been reached in those attacks.’

The plan, according to a press release from the Pentagon, has four main tenets:

1. Securely and responsibly transferring to foreign countries detainees who have been designated for transfer by the president’s national security team;

2. Continuing to review the threat posed by those detainees who are not currently eligible for transfer through the Periodic Review Board (PRB);

3. Identifying individualized dispositions for those who remain designated for continued law of war detention, including possible Article III, military commission, or foreign prosecutions;

4. Working with the Congress to establish a location in the United States to securely hold detainees whom we cannot at this time transfer to foreign countries or who are subject to military commission proceedings.

For those who are concerned about the closure, the press release assures readers that, “Implementing this plan will enhance our national security by denying terrorists a powerful propaganda symbol, strengthening relationships with key allies and counter-terrorism partners, and reducing costs.” In terms of reducing costs, the plan will be immensely beneficial for taxpayers. We can expect at least $335 million in savings in the next ten years, with $1.7 billion in savings in the next twenty.

Obama’s plan has, of course, been met with both criticism and support. John McCain, for example, has referred to the plan as “A vague menu of options” and “not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees,” according to Gregory Korte and Tom Vanden Brook of USA Today. On the other hand, Nancy Pelosi has called the proposal a “strong, detailed plan” to close Guantanamo.

With any complicated plan like this, dissent is natural and to be expected. We wish that it could have happened sooner, but we’re glad that the closure of Guantanamo is finally happening.

Watch President Obama’s full speech below, courtesy of Sarah Burris via YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2e1ko278tA

Featured image via The U.S. Army, available under a Creative Commons license.