President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep open the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, marking a formal reversal of his predecessor\u2019s eight-year effort to shut it d<\/b>
\nPresident Donald Trump has signed an executive order to keep open the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, marking a formal reversal of his predecessor\u2019s eight-year effort to shut it down.
Mr Trump made it clear during his campaign that he wanted Guantanamo to remain open and to \u201cload it up with some bad dudes\u201d, but he has not yet sent a new detainee to the facility.
The order, which Mr Trump signed just before delivering his first State of the Union address, says the US maintains the option to detain additional enemy combatants at the detention centre in Cuba when lawful and necessary to protect US national security.
It requires the defence secretary to recommend criteria for determining the fate of individuals captured by the US in armed conflict, including sending them to Guantanamo.
\u201cTerrorists who do things like place bombs in civilian hospitals are evil,\u201d Mr Trump said.
\u201cWhen possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: terrorists are not merely criminals, they are unlawful enemy combatants.
\u201cIn the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists only to meet them again on the battlefield, including the Isis leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released,\u201d he said, referring to Islamic State group leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The office of the Director of National Intelligence said in its most recent report on the subject that about 17% of the 728 detainees released from Guantanamo are \u201cconfirmed\u201d and 12% are \u201csuspected\u201d of re-engaging in militant activities.
But the vast majority of those re-engagements occurred with former prisoners who did not go through the security review set up under Barack Obama.
Mr Trump\u2019s order says this review process would continue to be used to determine whether detainees should be held.
Practically, not much is expected to change with the new order, said Lee Wolosky, who was Mr Obama\u2019s special envoy at the State Department for closing Guantanamo.
\u201cBut as a symbolic matter, it changes a great deal because the two presidents before him were trying to close Guantanamo because they recognised that it was a detriment to our national security,\u201d he said.
\u201cSymbolically, it reaffirms his interest in perpetrating a symbol that has greatly damaged the United States.\u201d
European allies, Muslim leaders and other critics have been vehemently opposed to how detainees have been held at Guantanamo for decades without charge.<\/p>\n

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