Obama unveils plan to shutter Guantanamo

US President Barack Obama says the detention center at Guantanamo Bay undermines America’s national security and needs to be closed.

Obama says the detention center is counterproductive in the fight against terrorism because it’s used as propaganda to recruit terrorists and drains military resources.

The White House released Obama’s plan to close the facility on Tuesday, but the plan faces stiff opposition from the GOP-led Congress.

The plan calls for transferring remaining detainees to the United States and seeks up to $475 million in construction costs that would ultimately be offset by as much as $180 million per year in operating cost savings. It does not specify where in the US the detainees would go.

AP

This file photo taken on April 28, 2007 shows a guard yelling down from a guard tower at Camp #4 at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba.(AFP / AFP FILES / PAUL J. RICHARDS)
This file photo taken on April 28, 2007 shows a guard yelling down from a guard tower at Camp #4 at Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba.(AFP / AFP FILES / PAUL J. RICHARDS)

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