Monday, March 16, 2009

Working to Close Gitmo

Today Hillary named Daniel Fried, who is Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, to a post where he will be involved in the closing of Guantanamo Bay, a special envoy of sorts.

He has been chosen to expedite the closure and to persuade other countries to accept detainees from the prison.

Spokesman Robert Wood said Clinton is encouraged by European willingness to receive Guantanamo prisoners. He also said "the secretary has determined we need to intensify our efforts to facilitate the transfer of detainees" to meet President Barack Obama's commitment to close the prison within a year.

Fried, who was a US Ambassador to Poland, has worked with various administrations in determining policy outcomes for Kosovo, European missile defense, and the Russia-Georgia conflict. He won't be starting this new job until Phil Gordon is confirmed by the senate to take over as assistant secretary for Europe and Eurasian Affairs.

I think it is really great that Hillary is going to be spearheading the historic closing of Gitmo. She is going to do this right and the fact that she has appointed an envoy to give special focus is a great start.

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