By the time President Obama took office, Guantanamo was viewed internationally as a symbol of a counterterrorism approach that flouted our laws and strayed from our values, undercutting the perceived legitimacy - and therefore the effectiveness - of our efforts.

John O. Brennan

The best power of all is to be free, but Obama is not a free person. He is a prisoner of a military system. He talked about closing Guantanamo and ending the war in Iraq. Now he's taken on another war. What's happening?

Adolfo Perez Esquivel

Each department and institution has its own authorities and responsibilities, and they act on that basis. It is wrong to even compare such actions to what is done in Guantanamo or elsewhere by the Americans. They do not stand on a high moral platform to preach to others.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

The Bush administration opened several lines of attack against the rule of law and the integrity of an independent Justice Department. The scandals are so famous that they've been reduced to shorthand: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, NSA, Attorneygate.

Ari Melber

As of September 2012, 168 out of the 602 released Guantanamo Bay detainees are suspected of returning to terrorism. So, is this a winning scenario for the United States? Of course not.

Ben Shapiro

President Obama's decision not to go to Congress for help in establishing reasonable standards for the continued detention of Guantanamo detainees is a failure of leadership in the project of putting American law on a sound basis for a long-term confrontation with terrorism. It is bad for the country, for national security, and for civil liberties.

Benjamin Wittes

Many of the vicious criminals held there have been caught on the battlefield fighting against American troops and shutting down Guantanamo Bay would just require the military to move them elsewhere.

Bill Shuster

Obama and the Democrats were so critical of what Bush did, the interrogations, the secret prisons, Guantanamo and all of that, and even the war on terror. Obama won't use the word. He's made war on the war on terror.

Charles Krauthammer

Guantanamo Bay houses enemy combatants ranging from terrorist trainers and recruiters to bomb makers, would-be suicide bombers, and terrorist financiers.

Chris Chocola

I think the suffering, violence and cruelty and Guantanamo and the rest is going to go on and on in Iraq.

Clare Short

President Obama has been very clear as he laid out the goal, and the objective is to close Guantanamo.

Cliff Sloan

The overwhelming majority of Coloradans don't want Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States or Colorado.

Cory Gardner

Guantanamo Bay is a facility that I think should be utilized by the United States for detainees, say, out of Syria.

Cory Gardner

This isn't a Republican issue. This isn't a Democrat issue. This is something that both parties and people around the country have agreed to. They don't want Guantanamo Bay detainees in the United States.

Cory Gardner

I abhor anything that constitutes torture. Water-boarding, it's perfectly clear to me it is torture. I never supported extraordinary rendition to torture, always said that Guantanamo should be closed. There is no clash of ideals and pragmatism there.

David Miliband

Simply put, Guantanamo is one of the best propaganda tools that terrorists have today. Our enemies use it to justify terrorism and recruit others to carry out violent jihad, and our allies continue to criticize it as a violation of the rule of law.

Dianne Feinstein

Let me say this: I believe closing Guantanamo is in our Nation's national security interest. Guantanamo is used not only by al-Qaida, but also by other nations, governments, and individuals - people good and bad - as a symbol of America's abuse of Muslims, and it is fanning the flames of anti-Americanism around the world.

Dianne Feinstein

In addition to being a terrorist recruiting tool, Guantanamo is a huge drain on taxpayer dollars.

Dianne Feinstein

There's no reason to think a Guantanamo detainee is any more likely to escape from Supermax than any other federal prisoner.

Dianne Feinstein

In July of 2006, I visited the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. It was important for me to see Guantanamo firsthand and to meet the military personnel who are doing such a great job for our country.

Dick Durbin

At Guantanamo Bay, we could create a West Berlin, a free small city within the Communist nation that could trade freely with the U.S. and elect its own officials.

Elliott Abrams