Opinion
Published on April 30, 2013
Op-ed by Elisa Massimino.
In response to a question Tuesday about the hunger strike at Guantanamo, President Obama reaffirmed his desire to close the prison. “I’ve asked my team to review everything that’s currently being done in Guantanamo, everything that we can do administratively,” he said, “and I’m going to reengage with Congress to try to make the case that this is not in the best interests of the American people.”
While his renewed commitment is welcome — Guantanamo is a stain on the nation and a national security problem — Obama doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t, wait for the results of any review to act. His immediate leadership could both end the hunger strike and begin to remove the Guantanamo albatross from around the nation’s neck.
