WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama on Thursday blamed Congress for his failure to keep a promise to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying there’s “simply no justification beyond politics” to keep it open.
Obama pledged when he became president eight years ago to close the facility in his first year, but lawmakers in both political parties blocked the effort.
Obama significantly reduced the number of terrorist suspects being detained on the island from several hundred to under 50 in hopes of making a financial case for closing the Bush-era facility. But that argument has failed to sway lawmakers, many of whom object to moving inmates to U.S. prisons on the mainland.
Congress ultimately banned the transfer of prisoners to U.S. soil for any reason.
The prison population fell to 45 earlier this week after Oman accepted 10 detainees whom officials had cleared for release.