The most remarkable passage in the Washington Post story to which I linked earlier is this one, which highlights the remarkable naiveté with which the incoming Obama administration–including the President himself–approached the Guantanamo closure:
In late April, Obama heard some jarring news during a Situation Room meeting with the interagency task force reviewing the case of every detainee at Guantanamo.
The president asked Matthew G. Olsen, the Justice Department lawyer heading the task force, approximately how many Guantanamo detainees could be prosecuted, according to administration officials.
Probably fewer than 20, Olsen said.
Continue reading Benjamin Wittes at Lawfare…
