Remember last year when President Obama promised to close Guantanamo Bay within one year?  Today (January 11th) is the annivarsary of the opening of Gitmo - 8 years ago.  The one year deadline set by President Obama is January 22nd, and it looks like Gitmo is still going strong! 

We've come too far to fall back on failed policies of torture and indefinite detention.

Tell your local newspaper why you think closing Guantanamo and bringing torturers to justice is the right thing to do.

Here's a "Letter to the Editor" that I wrote and submitted to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune today. 

Guantanamo Lip Service

January 11, 2010

Just one year ago, the election process was electric with talk of ending US Torture Policy and closing the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility as a symbolic gesture of ending this inhuman practice.  President Obama committed to closing Guantanamo by January 22, 2010.  Now just two weeks before that anniversary, it looks like Guantanamo will remain open.  What happened?

The issue with Guantanamo is greater than illegal methods of torture that were used there.  Guantanamo has been open for more than 8 years, providing the US with a facility for indefinite detention.  This is a direct violation of international law, yet we can somehow justify this?  There are over 100 detainees that have been cleared but not released.  Why? 

The closing of Guantanamo does not have to be an admission of past guilty for the US - that is a already established.  The closing can be the start of a new beginning, when we as a people can hold our heads high and say we no longer torture and detain illegally.  Who can't stand behind the closing of Guantanamo?