Guantanamo Bay: Can Obama Close It?

Guantanamo Bay prison should, and can, be closed by President-Elect Barack Obama. What he does with the 250 prisoners, however, should be decided on before the doors close. I think that Obama can close the prison, because he has the power. Most people will probably understand his motives for closing such a prison, and would eventually agree that it should be closed. The inmates who are eligible should be prosecuted, and then a sentence should be decided on. However, closing Gitmo creates catch-22 for Obama. If those prosecuted inmates are sentenced to life in prison, they would have to be held in an extremely secure prison, far away from American cities. The only reasonable place to hold them would be in a secure prison in another country; such as Guantanamo Bay. The other prisoners, who can’t exactly be prosecuted, are also a major problem. They can’t just be given freedom; if they are dangerous then they might try to get revenge, and commit acts of terror against the United States or our allies. So, the only reasonable thing to do with those prisoners is to keep them imprisoned. Therefore, even though Obama has the power to close Gitmo, any amount of responsible thinking will persuade him to do otherwise. The next logical idea would be to just close the prison to new inmates, essentially letting the prison “die”. But then we have the problem of what to do with suspected terrorists and other unlawful enemy combatants. So, ultimately, Barack Obama has no choice but to keep Guantanamo Bay up and running. While I don’t agree with the interrogation methods or the act of holding prisoners without charging them of any crime, it has to be done to keep our country safe.