Joint Task Force - Guantanamo Bay, Cuba: Open or Close? United States Army War College Author

On 22 January 2009, President Obama issued an executive order calling for the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO), detention facility to be closed within one year. The President had been sworn in just a few days before. He immediately launched an ambitious agenda, ranging from health care reform to passing a massive financial package to stimulate a struggling economy. Still, the decision to close GTMO was a top priority; so the executive order to close it was one of President Obama's first acts in office. It has been four years since President Obama signed that executive order directing the closure of detention operations at Guantanamo Bay. Subsequently, despite domestically political and international scrutiny, detention operations at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have evolved into the premier detention facility in the world. This Strategy Research Project addresses the evolution of detention operations at GTMO. It weighs the advantages and disadvantages of keeping this most strategic and high profile facility open.