Delays

Gitmo to Stay Open for Another Year

No money to buy IL prison.

President Obama probably wishes he could take back his promise to close Guantanamo Bay by January 2010. Officials tell The New York Times that they won’t be able to close Gitmo until 2011 at the earliest. The Obama administration is struggling to come up with the money it needs to purchase the prison in Illinois to which it wants to transfer detainees. The federal government needs $150 million to purchase the Thomson Correctional Center—more than the Bureau of Prisons can afford. Congress, meanwhile, rebuked the administration’s first attempt to earmark $200 million for the project in the 2010 military-spending bill, and it won’t be able to earmark funds again until Congress takes up Afghanistan-war funding in March or April. Once the prison is secured, it will take eight to 10 months to upgrade security measures.