A Clean Break, A Fresh Start

Yesterday I pointed out Obama was going to have make a choice about Gitmo and make it soon. Either the US is a country of laws, or it's a country of fear. It looks very much like Obama is going to put off closing Gitmo for the forseeable future. Progressives are rightfully very angry, as should all Americans.

That makes this story coming out not 24 hours later all the more meaningful.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay as early as his first week in office to show a break from the Bush administration's approach to the war on terror, according to two officials close to the transition.

One of the officials said it would be in keeping with Obama's campaign promise to shut down the prison through executive order, a move which was also pushed by last year's Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.

"The president-elect has repeatedly said the legal framework at Gitmo has failed to successfully and swiftly prosecute terrorists," said one of the officials close to the transition, who was not authorized to speak publicly about private deliberations.

Such a move would reassure those concerned after Obama's recent public comments suggested he may not immediately shut the prison down.

If Obama could close Gitmo as soon as the end of the month, it would go a long, long way towards bringing America back. It's the right thing to do and always has been.

Then again...it depends on what the meaning of "closed" is.