Sunday, January 27, 2013

Obama's Gitmo, Four Years Later

At around 8 a.m., a civilian airplane chartered by the military and full of lawyers, human rights representatives and journalists will depart Andrews Air Force Base in route to the Guantanamo Bay Navy Base in Cuba. Family members of victims of the September 11th attacks arrived yesterday.

This wasn't the way it was supposed to be.

Four years ago last week, a newly elected President Barack Obama signed an executive order to close Guantanamo Bay's prison facility by January 22, 2010. "We are going to win this fight, we are going to win it on our terms," Obama said at the time.

Three years past his self-imposed cut-off date, the military trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four fellow prisoners accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks continues at the facility Obama pledged the shut down.

I'll be reporting from Gitmo's Camp Justice all this week. There are a few interesting issues to be resolved in court, but I'll also be reporting more broadly on how Guantanamo has changed -- and hasn't -- since Obama took office.

Anything you'd like to learn about how Guantanamo operates? Email me at ryan.reilly@huffingtonpost.com. Meanwhile, here's a list of what I'm reading to prepare for the trip:

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