President Obama to restart Guantanamo Bay military tribunals

Barack Obama is set to reverse the first formal decision of his presidency today with the expected announcement that his Administration will restart Bush-era military tribunals for Guantánamo Bay detainees.
While still on the campaign trail, Mr Obama denounced the military commission system as “flawed”. He suspended them within hours of his inauguration in January, pending a review of the alternatives, and promised to close the detention camp on Cuba.

Ooops. Must have figured out that SOMETHING needs to be done…and that the dreaded Dubya wasn’t entirely wrong.
Predictably enough, this is NOT pleasing to the ilk of the far left:

His decision to restart the tribunals – albeit with must stronger legal safeguards for defendants – has prompted protests from human rights groups while showing how difficult it is for Mr Obama to break completely with the policies of his predecessor.

F’em if they can’t take the joke! B.O. no doubt is well aware that he’s on STRONG popular ground for doing this:

Public Backs Military Tribunals for Suspected Terrorists

President Obama’s decision to keep the military commission system in place for the trials of suspected terrorists moves him closer to public opinion on the topic.

A survey conducted earlier this year found that 59% believe the suspected terrorists held at the Guantanamo prison should be tried by military tribunals. Just 26% thought they should be tried in U.S. courts.

Two-thirds (69%) said that the suspected terrorists at Guantanamo should not be given all the rights of U.S. citizens.

Obama strongly opposed the tribunals during Election 2008 and temporarily halted their use upon taking office. However, his Administration will now continue with the tribunals for some suspects after putting new guidelines in place.

Meanwhile, in the same report is this related note:

…a Senate Committee passed proposed legislation that would ban the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the United States. That move is also in line with public opinion. Just last month, 75% opposed the release of any Guantanamo inmates in this country.

In yet another related item, Virginia Donk Senator James Webb has also reversed field, and noted that B.O. may need to do so even more than he already has on issues relating to the Islamoterr handling:

Sen. Webb reverses on Gitmo plans

With Capitol Hill Republicans cranking up the volume on the issue of where to send alleged terrorists detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Democratic Sen. Jim Webb (Va.) reversed himself Sunday, and questioned President Obama’s “artificial timelines” for closing the facility.

Webb, appearing on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” with Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl, said that after reviewing Obama’s plans to close the facility within one year, he doesn’t agree with the president’s time schedule and he opposes bringing any detainees to U.S. soil.

It’s reassuring to know that there are apparently still some grown-ups in D.C. on the Donk side of the aisle that are apparently at least somewhat concerned with the U.S. National Security.

“We spend hundreds of millions of dollars building an appropriate facility with all security precautions in Guantanamo to try these cases,” Webb said. “There are cases against international law. These aren’t people who were in the United States, committing a crime in the United States. These are people who were brought to Guantanamo for international terrorism. I do not believe they should be tried in the United States.”

When pressed on the year deadline, Webb suggested the administration might have to be more flexible as it figures out where to send detainees.

“They’ve said a lot of things and taken a look and said some other things,” Webb said. “So let’s process these people in a very careful way and then take care of it.”

Of course, with Donk partisan loyalty still present, there is the (perhaps inevitable) weasel clause leaving wiggle room in case the political situation dictates yet another reversal:

He added: “I think we should defer to the judgment of the administration who is looking at this. I think we all are moving toward the right direction. But we shouldn’t be creating artificial timelines.”

Well then, it MAY be a step in the right direction. One hopes so…time will tell.