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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Does the US Still Need the Prison at Guantanamo Bay?

    Barack Obama's first presidential order was to close Guantánamo Bay. Even George W. Bush agreed. But as he began his second term in January of this year, the special envoy for closing Guantánamo was dismissed without a replacement, and 166 prisoners are still there.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Barack Obama's first presidential order was to close Guantánamo Bay. Even George W. Bush agreed. But as he began his second term in January of this year, the special envoy for closing Guantánamo was dismissed without a replacement, and 166 prisoners are still there. More than half are on a hunger strike and, last week, military guards put down an uprising. We hear what classified documents reveal about inmate behavior and abusive treatment of prisoners being held without charge. Is there still a "war on terror" requiring military tribunals? Will there be future "enemy combatants" too dangerous to handle in America's court system?

    (Special thanks to Leilia Thayer for help in producing this discussion.)

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      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

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      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

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      Caitlin Shamberg

      KCRW

    • KCRW placeholder

      Kerry Cavanaugh

      editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times

    • KCRW placeholder

      Pardiss Kebriaei

      Center for Constitutional Rights

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jennifer Daskal

      Georgetown Law Center

    • KCRW placeholder

      Thomas Pickering

      Hills & Company

      NewsNationalPolitics
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