Kuwait Times

Published Date: November 11, 2008

WASHINGTON: President-elect Barack Obama's advisers are quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to face criminal trials, a plan that would make good on his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay prison but could require creation of a controversial new system of justice. During his campaign, Obama described Guantanamo as a "sad chapter in American history" and has said generally that the US legal system is equipped to handle the detain
ees. But he has offered few details on what he planned to do once the facility is closed.

Under plans being put together in Obama's camp, some detainees would be released and many others would be prosecuted in US criminal courts. A third group of detainees - the ones whose cases are most entangled in highly classified information - might have to go before a new court designed especially to handle sensitive national security cases, according to advisers and Democrats involved in the talks. Advisers participating directly in the planning spoke on condition of anonymity because the plans are not f
inal.

The move would be a sharp deviation from the Bush administration, which established military tribunals to prosecute detainees at the Navy base in Cuba and strongly opposes bringing prisoners to the United States. Obama's Republican challenger, John McCain, had also pledged to close Guantanamo. But McCain opposed criminal trials, saying the Bush administration's tribunals should continue on US soil. The plan being developed by Obama's team has been championed by legal scholars from both political parties.


But it is almost certain to face opposition from Republicans who oppose bringing terrorism suspects to the US and from Democrats who oppose creating a new court system with fewer rights for detainees. Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and Obama legal adviser, said discussions about plans for Guantanamo had been "theoretical" before the election but would quickly become very focused because closing the prison is a top priority. Bringing the detainees to the United States will be controversial, he said
, but could be accomplished. "I think the answer is going to be, they can be as securely guarded on US soil as anywhere else," Tribe said.

Obama will assume the US presidency with "a real mandate for change," and likely will use his executive powers to make quick changes, perhaps reversing Bush administration policies on stem cell research and oil exploration. John Podesta, who's handling Obama's preparations to take over in the White House on Jan 20, said on Sunday that Obama was reviewing President George W. Bush's executive orders on those and other issues as he prepares to put his own stamp on policy after eight years of Republican rule.
There's a lot that the president can do using his executive authority without waiting for congressional action, and I think we'll see the president do that," Podesta said.

I think that he feels like he has a real mandate for change. We need to get off the course that the Bush administration has set." Use of executive authority is the quickest way for a new president to exert his power, given that passage of new laws by Congress can be a painfully slow process, even when the chief executive enjoys a legislative majority. Podesta pointed specifically to two particularly controversial Bush executive orders as candidates for reversal.

I think across the board, on stem cell research, on a number of areas, you see the Bush administration even today moving aggressively to do things that I think are probably not in the interest of the country," Podesta said. Obama has supported stem cell research in an effort to find cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. Also, the federal Bureau of Land Management is opening about 360,000 acres of public land in Utah to oil and gas drilling, leading to protests from environmentalists.

They want to have oil and gas drilling in some of the most sensitive, fragile lands in Utah," Podesta said. "I think that's a mistake." Speaking on Fox television, Podesta said Obama was working to build a diverse Cabinet likely to include Republicans and independents - part of the broad coalition that supported Obama during the race against Republican John McCain. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has been mentioned as a possible holdover.

He's not even a Republican," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said on CNN. "Why wouldn't we want to keep him? He's never been a registered Republican." Obama, who will be the nation's 44th president, was to hold his first post-election meeting with Bush on Monday at the White House.

Bush and first lady Laura will host Obama and his wife Michelle for a Monday tour of the executive mansion. Obama and Bush were expected to hold substantive meetings then as well. Valerie Jarrett, co-chair of the Obama transition team, said Michelle Obama, the next first lady, would focus on her two daughters and has no interest in a role in decision-making.

Jarrett told NBC television her friend would first work to settle her daughters into their new life at the White House. Then, Jarrett said, the next first lady wanted to help women juggling a career and motherhood, assist military spouses and promote volunteerism. In other transition matters, Obama's new chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, would not say whether Obama would return to the Senate for votes during the postelection session this month.

Obama's presence would be extraordinary, given his position as president-elect, especially if Congress takes up a much-anticipated economic stimulus plan. "I think that the basic approach has been he's going to be ... in Chicago, setting up his economic, not only his economic team, but the policies he wants to outline for the country as soon as he gets sworn in, so we hit the ground running," Emanuel said.

During a coming lame-duck session, Congress will take up a second economic stimulus package in hopes of stopping the country's downward economic skid. Obama said at his first postelection news conference on Friday that his priority on taking office was such a package that he would work to push through if Congress fails to pass the legislation or if should Bush veto it. Emanuel would not commit to a Democratic proposal to help the failing American auto industry with some of the $700 billion approved last m
onth by Congress to help the financial sector. - Agencies