The executive orders President Obama signed Thursday regarding the detention and interrogation of detainees in the War on Terror reflect an emerging Obama style: What is said is more rhetorical than illuminating—and what is most important is left unsaid.
Take Guantanamo Bay, the oft-maligned subject of the first order. In announcing the closure of the prison there, the president forcefully asserted that he was following through on a campaign commitment. But the order only promises that the facility will be closed within a year—a nonbinding deadline Obama could extend simply by signing another order. That's not exactly the immediate shuttering his antiwar base was clamoring for, and such delay would be intolerable if Obama really believed Gitmo were the travesty he has portrayed it as.
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So to summarize: We'd love to close Guantanamo, but we can't right now; we'd love to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo, but other countries don't want them; we'd love to give every detainee a civilian trial, but we don't have enough evidence; we'd love to release the detainees we can't charge with crimes, but our intelligence tells us they're dangerous, so doing so would be irresponsible; and we'd love to stick to the highly civilized, detainee-friendly interrogation practices approved by the Army Field Manual, but every now and then there may be an emergency when something more severe is warranted.
Take Guantanamo Bay, the oft-maligned subject of the first order. In announcing the closure of the prison there, the president forcefully asserted that he was following through on a campaign commitment. But the order only promises that the facility will be closed within a year—a nonbinding deadline Obama could extend simply by signing another order. That's not exactly the immediate shuttering his antiwar base was clamoring for, and such delay would be intolerable if Obama really believed Gitmo were the travesty he has portrayed it as.
....
So to summarize: We'd love to close Guantanamo, but we can't right now; we'd love to transfer detainees out of Guantanamo, but other countries don't want them; we'd love to give every detainee a civilian trial, but we don't have enough evidence; we'd love to release the detainees we can't charge with crimes, but our intelligence tells us they're dangerous, so doing so would be irresponsible; and we'd love to stick to the highly civilized, detainee-friendly interrogation practices approved by the Army Field Manual, but every now and then there may be an emergency when something more severe is warranted.
Underneath all the lofty rhetoric, we're gratified to see that this is change George W. Bush could believe in.
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