© Mandel Ngan / Reuters
The Pentagon has been refusing to provide photographs, medical and other records requested by foreign governments in order to process prisoners' transfers, unnamed administration officials told the news agency. In other cases, the Defense Department made it difficult for delegations to visit the prison at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba or banned them from staying overnight, a privilege that visiting officials used to have.
Even when foreign delegations were allowed into the detention facility, their interview times with prisoners were severely cut to less than an hour, making it tough for officials to assess potential transfers, Reuters reported.
In some cases, including one in which Kazakhstan initially wanted to take eight prisoners, the White House had to intervene repeatedly to speed up the transfer process.
Comment: Clearly Obama made a promise that, at the time, he naively thought he could make happen if he were elected president. By now Obama probably realizes that the real power in the US does not lie with the president.
This story could also have been planted to make Obama look better for failing to follow through on one of his campaign promises. He can blame the Pentagon, who can then use the excuses of security and safety for being against the closure of Guantanamo. It's a win for both sides, and the propaganda is catapulted by the ever-willing Lamestream media.