Senate Cuts Gitmo Funds

Its a good thing, but I am increasingly convinced this is about providing political cover for Obama who has been floated the idea of keeping tribunals while not actually saying where they will be held. The Congress cuts off his plans and voila Obama is the off the hook on his one year pledge to shut the place.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats on Tuesday moved to cut $80 million earmarked for closing the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, a fresh setback for President Barack Obama's efforts to move beyond the Bush administration's anti-terror policies.

Backpedaling after intense criticism from Republicans and even some Democrats, the White House acknowledged it needed to submit a plan dealing with the 240 terrorism suspects being held at the prison on a U.S. naval base in Cuba.

Obama has pledged to close the prison by early 2010 and asked that $80 million be included in pending legislation that would fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That measure is expected to pass Congress in the coming days or weeks.

The next story will be about keeping Gitmo open but with the promise they won't add people, hence a slow motion closing of the place. Of course that could be open to change as well. So what might happen?

Republicans, including the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, applauded the Democrats’ decision not to include the funds in their version of the military spending bill. Mr. McConnell, who has been warning for weeks about the dangers of closing the prison, said that he hoped it was a prelude to keeping the camp open and dangerous terror suspects off shore, where he said they belong.

Other prominent Republicans, including former Vice President Dick Cheney have unleashed similarly criticism of the Obama administration over the plan to close the detention camp. And Senate Democrats on Tuesday readily conceded that their decision to shift course in part reflected the success of Republicans in putting Mr. Obama and his fellow Democrats on the defensive.

Obama administration officials have acknowledged that if the Guantánamo camp closes, as scheduled, more than 100 of the prisoners will likely need to be moved to the United States, including 50 to 100 that have been described as “too dangerous to release” but likely cannot be prosecuted.

Of the 240 detainees, 30 have been cleared for release and some will likely be transferred to foreign countries, but so far other governments have been reluctant to accept them. So far, Britain and France have each accepted one former detainee. As many as 80 detainees will be prosecuted and it is unclear what will happen to those who are convicted and sentenced to prison; some might be sentenced to death.

At the end of the day these were the only options:

• Send them to their Home countries.
• Send them to Europe.
• Send them to American Prisons.
• Keep them in Gitmo.

It appears some combination of the aboce but the bulk will end up in Gitmo for the near and likely far future. Exit Question? If the death penalty is handed down where would the sentence be carried out.