Gates: Administration split on Guantanamo

Despite signaling that he wants to see the controversial military prison at Guantanamo Bay shuttered, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he has been unable to reach agreement within the executive branch on how to proceed with the closure.

{mosads}In response to questions by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) during a Senate hearing, Gates said that disagreement is focused on where the United States should send the prisoners and what kind of legislation would be required to guarantee the rights of the most dangerous prisoners while protecting Americans.

The Pentagon earlier this year diverted funds to build a so-called “expeditionary legal complex” at Guantanamo Bay.
“The building that is currently occurring is not consistent with the idea of closing the detention center,” said Harkin.
“My intent remains the same,” Gates responded to Harkin, adding that he ran into several obstacles put up by lawyers within the executive branch.

Gates said that he asked his subordinates at the Pentagon to examine the issues and put together a proposal that could serve as a “basis for discussion” with the State Department and the Department of Justice.

Democrats have pressed for months and have taken legislative steps to close the prison, which was opened in 2002 to house terrorism suspects captured during military operations.

Earlier this year, Vice President Dick Cheney and the Justice Department argued that moving combatant suspects considered “unlawful” to the United States would give them undeserved legal rights.