Obama Defending Guantanamo Closure: Bush Left Legal Mess

US President Barack Obama delivers remarks on national security at the National Archives building in Washington, DC, USA on 21 May 2009.

US President Barack Obama defended Thursday the his Administration's approach to the closing down of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

In his speech at the rotunda of the US National Archives, Obama declared the USA had strike the right balance between transparency and national security as continuing efforts to fight terrorism had to be combined with measures to clean up the legal "mess" left by the Administration of George W. Bush.

"I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values", President Obama said, as quoted by the Washington Post.

In his words, the US government has taken military and diplomatic measures to prevent a new attack by the al-Qaeda terrorist network.

The release of Bush Administration documents justifying the use of torture techniques while not releasing photos showing abuse of detainees was not contradictory, according to Obama.
Obama's speech comes a day after US Senate overwhelmingly rejected President's request of some USD 80 M for the closure of the Guantanamo prison, which is supposed to be shut down by January 2010.

Meanwhile, former US Republican Vice-President, Dick Cheney, speaking at the American Enterprise Institute, defended the use of the harsh interrogation techniques in question, and said they should not be renounced, The Washington Post reported.

 

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