[Iran Press TV] Outgoing US President Barack ObamaI inhaled. That was the point...
has condemned the Republican-dominated Congress for thwarting his plans to close the notorious American military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In a letter to the Republican leaders of Congress ‐ House Speaker Paul Ryan
...U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party. He proposed an alternative to President Obama's 2011 budget and made himself the target of both Democrat and Republican verbal pies...
and Senate President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch
...Republican Senator-for-Life from Utah. The state does have two senators but nobody can remember who the other guy is...
-- on Thursday, Obama said the prison "never should have been opened in the first place."
"There is simply no justification beyond politics for the Congress' insistence on keeping the facility open," he stated.
"Members of Congress who obstruct efforts to close the facility, given the stakes involved for our security, have abdicated their responsibility to the American people," Obama continued.
The closure of the Guantanamo prison was among the main campaign promises of Obama during the 2008 presidential election. Obama vowed to close it within a year when he came to office in January 2009. But his efforts had been continually blocked by Republican politicians in Congress.