Posted on 12/23/2009 9:00:20 AM PST by Beaten Valve
WASHINGTON — Rebuffed this month by skeptical lawmakers when it sought finances to buy a prison in rural Illinois, the Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money to replace the Guantánamo Bay prison.
As a result, officials now believe that they are unlikely to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and transfer its population of terrorism suspects until 2011 at the earliest — a far slower timeline for achieving one of President Obama’s signature national security policies than they had previously hinted.
While Mr. Obama has acknowledged that he would miss the Jan. 22 deadline for closing the prison that he set shortly after taking office, the administration appeared to take a major step forward last week when he directed subordinates to move “as expeditiously as possible” to acquire the Thomson Correctional Center, a nearly vacant maximum-security Illinois prison, and to retrofit it to receive Guantánamo detainees.
But in interviews this week, officials estimated that it could take 8 to 10 months to install new fencing, towers, cameras and other security upgrades before any transfers take place. Such construction cannot begin until the federal government buys the prison from the State of Illinois.
The federal Bureau of Prisons does not have enough money to pay Illinois for the center, which would cost about $150 million. Several weeks ago, the White House approached the House Appropriations Committee and floated the idea of adding about $200 million for the project to the military spending bill for the 2010 fiscal year, according to administration and Congressional officials.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Dear Terrorists: Your reservations for Club Gitmo are confirmed...
Does that mean they are backing off a trial in NYC?
The list, ping
And still, the administration cannot explain WHY they want to close Gitmo and transfer these terrorists to US soil.
From another blog:
“All of Obama’s promises come with an expiration date”...
Campaign promises are now "hints". Love the dishonest Clymers at the Slimes. Not.
Obama lied! And further, will violate his own executive order.
They will say it's because GITMO is a worldwide symbol. If so, it's a symbol that the administration as well as the democrats worked very hard to create. And now they are stuck with their ill-conceived promises. I have to admit, I'm enjoying every minute of their agonized twisting.
Hope and Change, ya know.
liar!
Tee hee...
Guantanamo Closure Delayed by One Full Year - Unexpectedly of course. Drink!
Do it the Chicago Way, Barry. Declare that the detainees are actually bank officials and use the TARP money.
That Illinois prison isn’t that old...it was built with the most recent design and safety in mind.
How much did it cost to build?
NObama is trying to give Illinois another perk—$150 million for this prison.
Then he wants to house only 100 of the Gitmo prisoners there....
That is a cost of aquisition of $1.5 million per prisoner.
Then they are claiming it will take 3880 new hires to run this prison. That amounts to almost 39 persons working to house each prisoner.
This kind of ratio is absolutely theft of tax dollars.
What kind of stupid does the Oval Office think we are???
Why would a very new prison not already have cameras and wire in place? This smells.
Adding another $200 million of ‘improvements’ to a new prison is an outrage.
That would put the price for 100 prisoners going there at $3.5 million per prisoner!!!!!!
Victims of the Twin Towers on 9-11 didn’t get those kinds of benefits!!!
It’ll be way more than a year..
the Little Engine That Couldn’t....
I hope I can, I hope I can, I hope I can
I wish I could, I wish I could, I wish I could
Economic reality bites Obama on the ass... news at 11
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