Marc Thiessen Author. Speechwriter.

Serve His Sentence at Guantanamo?

When I visited Guantanamo Bay last September, President Obama’s order to close the facility by January 2010 was prominently displayed in the detainee recreation area for all to see. No word as to whether the order is still posted, but apparently neither the terrorists nor Obama administration officials believe that the facility is going to close anytime soon—at least if you are following the military commissions convening this week on the island.

Consider this item from this morning’s Washington Post:

A former cook for Osama bin Laden’s entourage in Afghanistan has reached an agreement with the U.S. government that will allow him to serve any sentence at a minimum security facility at Guantanamo Bay.

Come again? Serve his sentence at Gitmo? The plea agreement for the cook, Ibrahim al-Qosi, has been sealed, and the length of his sentence had not yet been revealed. Still, it is telling that the administration is now cutting deals with terrorists to let them serve out their sentences at a facility that—in theory at least—it still claims to be closing.