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President Obama signed a sweeping defense policy law here Thursday that cracks down on sexual assault in the military and eases restrictions on transferring detainees from the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the custody of foreign countries.

Marking a rare step toward achieving his goal of closing the controversial detention facility, Obama released a statement crediting Congress for relaxing regulations that he said had significantly hindered efforts to transfer detainees who had been cleared to leave.

“The continued operation of the facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners and emboldening violent extremists,” Obama said in the statement. He added that the new provision represents “an improvement over current law and is a welcome step toward closing the facility.”

The new policy gives the Obama administration greater flexibility in accelerating the repatriation process underway to send Guantanamo detainees to their home countries, although it keeps in place the ban on transferring detainees to facilities in the United States.

Obama noted that the law does not eliminate all of what he called “unwarranted limitations on foreign transfers” and said that in certain circumstances, the law violates “constitutional separation of powers principles.”

The Guantanamo provision is part of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2014, which sets annual military spending levels and also contains a key provision forcing the Pentagon to revamp its sexual-assault policies. The comprehensive defense law includes a 1 percent pay increase for service members and sets other combat pay and benefits.

The law contains several provisions that force the Pentagon to change how it deals with cases of sexual assault and rape in the ranks — crimes that have surged in recent years. But it stops short of the broad reforms that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and other advocates have been calling for.

Earlier this year, Obama recommitted his administration to closing the Guantanamo Bay prison before the end of his second term. Shutting down Guantanamo was a 2008 campaign goal of his, but his efforts have been repeatedly stymied, including by Congress, which has imposed obstacles including preventing the administration from transferring detainees to prisons and other facilities in the United States.

“For the past several years, the Congress has enacted unwarranted and burdensome restrictions that have impeded my ability to transfer detainees from Guantanamo,” Obama said in the statement.

On Thursday, Obama urged Congress to lift restrictions on transferring Guantanamo detainees to U.S. soil, where they could be brought to justice for their crimes. Obama noted that hundreds of other terrorism suspects have been successfully prosecuted in federal courts under previous Democratic and Republican administrations. http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-signs-defense-law-calls-i
t-a-welcome-step-toward-closing-guantanamo-bay-prison/2013/12/26/ba07e1d4-6e5c-11e3-b405-7e360f7e9fd2_story.html

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Originally posted by Niki2:
"open again"?? What world do you live in? (/rhetorical question)

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Shutting down Guantanamo was a 2008 campaign goal of his, but his efforts have been repeatedly stymied, including by Congress, which has imposed obstacles including preventing the administration from transferring detainees to prisons and other facilities in the United States.

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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
Someone obviously didn't bother reading the OP. Too eager to get straight to trolling niki. (As usual)

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Shutting down Guantanamo was a 2008 campaign goal of his, but his efforts have been repeatedly stymied, including by Congress, which has imposed obstacles including preventing the administration from transferring detainees to prisons and other facilities in the United States.

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But then, rappy doesn't get that the POTUS isn't a dictator and can't work his will at a snap of his fingers.

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The French Revolution would have never happened if Marie Antoinette had just given every peasant an iPhone.
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Originally posted by MAL4PREZ:
Someone obviously didn't bother reading the OP. Too eager to get straight to trolling niki. (As usual)

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Originally posted by Niki2:
Shutting down Guantanamo was a 2008 campaign goal of his, but his efforts have been repeatedly stymied, including by Congress, which has imposed obstacles including preventing the administration from transferring detainees to prisons and other facilities in the United States.

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But then, rappy doesn't get that the POTUS isn't a dictator and can't work his will at a snap of his fingers.

*---------------------------------------*
The French Revolution would have never happened if Marie Antoinette had just given every peasant an iPhone.

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Originally posted by Niki2:

Amazing, how brainwashed some of these people are. "Obama thinks he's a dictator". "The Left worships Obama". Thing that have no basis whatsoever in reality, yet of which they are completely convinced. Weird world they must live in.

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But yeah, I had no expectations Rap would actually READ anything or have any interest in actually...you know, "discussing" a topic. He sees a key word, latches onto it, spits out the right-wing talking point he's been conditioned to spit out...downright pavlovian it is.

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The problem is that I’m the president of the United States

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Originally posted by Niki2:


But yeah, I had no expectations Rap would actually READ anything or have any interest in actually...you know, "discussing" a topic. He sees a key word, latches onto it, spits out the right-wing talking point he's been conditioned to spit out...downright pavlovian it is.

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Originally posted by Niki2:
So let that be an end to the claim Rap has now made at least twice, that I "don't read" what I post here. (Yeah, I know, he'll go right on claiming it, we all know the game.)

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Originally posted by mal4prez:

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Originally posted by Niki2:
So let that be an end to the claim Rap has now made at least twice, that I "don't read" what I post here. (Yeah, I know, he'll go right on claiming it, we all know the game.)

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No, heres what happened: he got nailed in that thread where he's been asked repeatedly - do you agree with the op? Of course, he never read it fully until he was asked, and now he can't admit that the op goes against his argument.

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