OP-ED: Obama's First Right Step on Gitmo (Khaleej Times, UAE)

President Barack Obama did the right thing by closing the US prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, though he allowed a year for the process.

Obama ordered CIA’s network of secret, or ‘black,’ prisons closed, and torture to cease, ending one of the worst stains on America’s honour and a grave violation of international and US law.

The US conquered Cuba in the 1898 Spanish American War. Washington then installed a US citizen as president who granted Washington base rights to Guantanamo in perpetuity.

The US imposed a similar one-sided treaty on Panama. A century later, the US made a similar base deal in Afghanistan and perhaps in Iraq.

Obama should return the entire US base at Guantanamo to Cuba. This would be an excellent start to restoring US-Cuban relations.

President Obama’s next step in returning America to its senses: ending use of the propaganda terms, ‘terrorism,’ and ‘war on terror.’

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