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Closing Guantanamo: Easier Said than Done
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Closing Guantanamo: Easier Said than Done

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To make good on his promise to close Guantanamo Bay, President Obama needs to re-locate more than 200 prisoners. One likely location in northwestern Illinois has set off a political firestorm, and there's ongoing dispute over how to clear up all those cases. Also, the President's trip to China. On Reporter's Notebook, Britain's new counter-insurgency manual tells soldiers to talk to Taliban leaders "with blood on their hands" and pay off potential recruits with "bags of money."

Banner image: Governor Pat Quinn of Illinois (L) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) speak to the media at a press conference about the Thomson Correctional Center on November 15, 2009 in Chicago, Illinois. Photo: David Banks/Getty Images

Making News

Will Obama's Visit to China Bear Fruit? ()

At today's joint news conference in Beijing, President Obama and China's President Hu pledged cooperation while acknowledging their many continuing differences. James Fallows, Senior National Correspondent for The Atlantic magazine, has spent years in China.

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Main Topic

Closing Guantanamo: Easier Said than Done ()

Closing Guantanamo Bay means finding another place for some 200 prisoners Donald Rumsfeld once called "the worst of the worst." But many were scooped up in sweeps or handed over for money. Judges picked by the Bush Administration say 30 should be released right away. Cases against many others are so weak that the Pentagon and Justice Department are competing for plea agreements in courts or military tribunals. In the meantime, the Obama Administration wants them housed on American soil. But where? Yesterday, government officials toured the Thomson Correctional Facility, an unoccupied state prison 150 miles northwest of Chicago. We hear about the possibilities and the politics.

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Reporter's Notebook

British Army Told to Bribe Taliban with 'Bags of Gold' ()

Unemployed or under-employed young men are being recruited by the Taliban for about 6£ ($10) a day in Afghanistan. Britain's new counter-insurgency manual tells officers to talk to leaders with "blood on their hands" and buy off potential recruits with "bags of gold," while not being "over-generous." That's according to Michael Evans, Defense Editor for The Times newspaper in London.

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