Associate, Carnegie Middle East Program
Associate in the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
PROFILE
Christopher Boucek
Guest
FROM Christopher Boucek
Which Way, L.A.?
Should Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Be Sent Home to Yemen? Late today, President Obama said he still plans to close Guantánamo Bay , where half the 198 remaining prisoners are from Yemen. But, since Yemen is now tied to the failed airline-bombing attempt on Christmas Day, he won’t send more any Yeminis home. So, where will they go?
To the Point
Should Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay Be Sent Home to Yemen? At least one Yemeni detainee sent home from Guantánamo Bay by the Bush Administration reportedly joined al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Obama Administration has deemed Guantánamo such an important terrorist recruiting tool that it calls shutting it " a national security imperative ." But what to do with 198 prisoners still there, about half of whom are from Yemen, where the Christmas Day bombing attempt reportedly began? If they're sent home, will they start plotting against the US? What about "re-education?" Does it work in Saudi Arabia? Could it work in Yemen? We hear about the history of repatriating detainees and what a growing controversy could mean for closing Guantánamo Bay.
Recommended
To the Point
The Trump agenda: where's the beef? President Trump says big things are happening. After celebrating a House bill on health care, he doesn’t yet have Senate agreement. With James Comey’s public testimony scheduled tomorrow, the President today tweeted his selection of a new FBI Director. Is the Chief Executive all style and no substance? Later, terror attacks in Iran and conflicting claims about who’s behind them.
Left, Right & Center
How was the trip? President Trump's travels got less fun as he went from the Middle East to Europe.
To the Point
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.