In his remarks at the National Defense University on May 23, President Obama renewed his pledge to close the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The following line provoked applause from the audience: "[T]here is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened." That left the impression that the obstructions he faced were entirely external to the administration. However, he and his political advisers committed a number of costly mistakes.
On January 22, 2009, on his second day in office, Obama issued Executive Order 13492 to close the detention facility "as soon as practicable, and no later than 1 year from the date of this order." Remarkably, no one in the administration seemed to warn him of the political risks. Transferring terrorist suspects to the United States was immensely controversial. The administration needed to first meet with lawmakers, learn about their concerns, fashion a reasonable compromise and locate a secure facility on the mainland to house the detainees. It failed to take any of those steps. If Obama had asked Congress to help create a legislative framework for the closure, progress was possible. The executive order was the type of unilateral action that backfired on George W. Bush.
