http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/opinion/the-latest-bad-idea-for-guantanamo.html 2016-09-20 10:11:29 The Latest Bad Idea for Guantánamo It would be a travesty to add further barriers to shutting down the prison. === Soon after the detainee population at Guantánamo Bay “Americans are safer with these dangerous detainees securely locked up,” Speaker Paul Ryan offered Since it opened in 2002, the prison has been an emblem of America at its worst, a place of torture, in which fundamental principles, including the right to due process, were abandoned. It has subjected Washington to It may be fair to ask whether Mr. Obama During their final months in office, White House officials hope to significantly reduce the detainee population. Of the 61 remaining prisoners, 20 are cleared for transfer if the government manages to find a suitable destination for each one. A few whose cases were recently reviewed by a board of national security officials may also be cleared for transfer. There are no plans to release the detainees who have While there appears to be little interest in the Senate in passing a bill like Ms. Walorski’s measure, her proposal is likely to be on the table when the House and Senate versions of the military spending bill are reconciled later this year. It would be a travesty to add further barriers to closing Guantánamo, a goal that the next president should make a priority.