The Obama administration delayed its release of a plan to close the military prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, but officials insist that the decision was not prompted by the recent terror attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.
Politico reported that an unnamed administration official said that the Paris attacks, which occurred Friday, give President Obama more "reason" to push to close the detention facility which currently holds prisoners detained on terrorism charges. According to an anonymous Pentagon official, the Department of Defense decided to delay the plan’s release because of financial concerns that arose before the Paris attacks.
"Paris is independent of our efforts to close Gitmo," the Obama administration official stated. "We’re not going to not close Gitmo. Paris is exactly a reason why we need to close Gitmo. It’s a recruiting tool for extremists and is a staple in extremist propaganda."
The official would not offer a specific date when the plan will be sent to Congress, though it was expected to be released last week. Among other things, the plan will lay out stateside prison options for detainees deemed to dangerous too release to be moved. The Pentagon has surveyed prisons in Colorado, Kansas, and South Carolina to assess their viability but has not completed cost assessments for the options, which allegedly led to the delay.
Despite concern from lawmakers, Obama has threatened to use executive action to close the military prison, which Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) warned last week would lead lawmakers to take the administration to court.
On Wednesday, the attorneys general from Colorado, Kansas, and South Carolina sent a letter to Obama directing him not to take "dangerous and illegal" executive action to send Guantanamo prisoners stateside, citing concerns of the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS), the terrorist group that has claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks.
"Moving detainees to the mainland will create imminent danger and make the communities where they are placed targets, which is precisely what the restrictive language enacted by Congress is designed to prevent," the attorneys general wrote. "Recent attacks in France, Egypt, Lebanon and elsewhere underscore the risk your illegal action would bring to our states. Several previously released detainees sought refuge with ISIS."
Last week, the Senate passed two bills that would block the Obama administration from moving any prisoners currently held on terrorism charges at Guantanamo to the United States.