January 2009 - Executive Order 13491 - Obama restores policy on interrogations to pre-Bush norms (i.e., rolling back the instructions that resulted in US soldiers torturing prisoners) [1]
January 2014 - Obama repeats call to close Guantanamo prison:
"With the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay," Obama said in the address Tuesday night. Obama ordered his administration to empty the prison camps in the first year of his first term, by Jan 22, 2010. But Congress steadily thwarted that ambition by imposing escalating restrictions on transfers and blocking civilian trials of the captives.[2]
What he did not do is to aggressively pursue judicial action against the previous administration. Was this right or wrong? I personally wish he did, but I can also see why he chose not to tear the country apart over that.
So I'm curious - did you know about the executive order he signed? What else were you hoping he would do? Where do you think he lied?
January 2014 - Obama repeats call to close Guantanamo prison: "With the Afghan war ending, this needs to be the year Congress lifts the remaining restrictions on detainee transfers and we close the prison at Guantanamo Bay," Obama said in the address Tuesday night. Obama ordered his administration to empty the prison camps in the first year of his first term, by Jan 22, 2010. But Congress steadily thwarted that ambition by imposing escalating restrictions on transfers and blocking civilian trials of the captives.[2]
What he did not do is to aggressively pursue judicial action against the previous administration. Was this right or wrong? I personally wish he did, but I can also see why he chose not to tear the country apart over that.
So I'm curious - did you know about the executive order he signed? What else were you hoping he would do? Where do you think he lied?
[1] http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/EnsuringLawfulInt...
[2] http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/01/30/obama-we-need-...