Chain link fence and concertina wire surrounds a deserted guard tower within Joint Task Force Guantanamo's Camp Delta at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba March 21, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo
New York Times: Trump Officials Renew Effort to Expand Use of Prison at Guantánamo
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is making a fresh attempt at drafting an executive order on handling terrorism detainees, reviving a struggle to navigate legal and geopolitical obstacles to expand use of the Guantánamo Bay wartime prison, according to officials familiar with internal deliberations.
Administration officials said President Trump had been expected to sign a detention policy order three weeks ago. But that plan changed after he fired his first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on July 28 and replaced him with John F. Kelly, a retired Marine Corps general who once oversaw the prison operation at the American naval base in Cuba.
Instead, officials said, on July 31 — Mr. Kelly’s first day — the National Security Council announced that the White House wanted a new round of interagency deliberations. The message came during a secure video teleconference with counterterrorism strategy and legal officials at military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies.
The agencies were asked to consider three potential versions of the order and make recommendations by this week, according to an official familiar with that process.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: Unlike the Obama administration that preferred to eliminate terror targets via through air-strikes, it appears that the Trump administration is more open to launching raids targeting the capture of known terror commanders and leaders, and to then use Guantanamo as the place to detain and interrogate them. Nothing is official yet, but it appears that a more detailed decision will be made in the weeks to come.
Posts
