The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
November 19, 2009

Obama: US Won’t Meet Deadline for Gitmo Closure
-----------------------------------------------



President Obama has acknowledged he’s unlikely to meet his own deadline
to close the Guantanamo Bay prison. On Wednesday, Obama refused to give
a new date to replace the January 22nd deadline, saying only the prison
will be closed sometime next year. Obama meanwhile defended the decision
to try the self-proclaimed mastermind behind for the 9/11 attacks,
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and four others in federal court.

President Obama: “I don’t think it will be offensive at all when he’s
convicted and when the death penalty is applied to him. What I’m
absolutely clear about is that I have complete confidence in the
American people and in our legal traditions.”

Obama’s comments came as Attorney General Eric Holder appeared before a
Senate committee to discuss the 9/11 trial. Holder rejected criticism
the trial would endanger the United States.

Attorney General Eric Holder: “I knew this decision would be a
controversial one. This was a tough call, and reasonable people can
disagree with my conclusion that these individuals should be tried in
federal court rather than a military commission. The 9/11 attacks were
both an act of war and a violation of our federal criminal law, and they
could have been prosecuted in either federal courts or military
commissions.”



.