US President Vows to Keep Guantanamo Open Indefinitely

The order, issued as Trump delivered his first State of the Union address, solidifies the President’s well-known intention to keep suspected militants locked up at the military facility, part of his promise to take a hard line on terror, The Washington Post reported.

But, it also sheds new light on his administration’s approach to thorny detainee issues, indicating a willingness to end a decade-long moratorium on growing the prisoner population at Guantanamo.

“In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield,” Trump said in his address, adding that “So today, I’m keeping another promise,” making reference to the new measure.

The order rescinds key portions of a measure issued nine years ago by Trump’s predecessor, Barack Obama, who promised to close Guantanamo but was unable to overcome political opposition to bringing detainees to the United States.

Sixteen years after the prison opened, 41 detainees remain at Guantanamo. Of the more than 700 who have been held there since 2002, only a small minority have been charged with a crime, and fewer still have completed trial in a military court.

Although the order may have little immediate effect, given that Obama was unable to close the prison even after making it a central presidential goal, it may intensify criticism from those who have argued that the prison is a stain on America’s global reputation.

Trump’s order breaks with not only Obama’s policy but the intentions of his Republican predecessor, who opened the prison in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

By the end of his presidency, President George W. Bush concluded that Guantanamo was doing more harm than good, John Bellinger, legal adviser to the National Security Council and the State Department in the Bush administration, said, although in the end, he decided keep it open.

“President Trump is throwing more political bones to his base rather than making a determination based on what is best for US national security,” Bellinger added.

The new order instructs Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to develop recommendations within 90 days for handling suspected militants captured overseas, including procedures for possibly bringing them to Guantanamo.

Some legal experts have argued that bringing recently captured detainees to Guantanamo, particularly those associated with the ISIL, could expose the Trump administration to challenges to the law that forms the basis for US counterterrorism operations overseas.

Congress passed the post-9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force to be used against al-Qaeda and its affiliates, but it is also used more than a decade later as a basis for operations against the ISIL and other militant groups. The US government has been seeking to avoid court challenges to the law as a basis for detaining members of the ISIL.