From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, Obama promised to shut Guantanamo. Soon after his election, advisors said the incoming administration would embark on a review of the remaining cases to speed closure of the prison.
On Sunday, Obama acknowledged it would take time but reiterated that Guantanamo would close.
"It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," he said on ABC's "This Week."
Prosecutors have said for years that they expect to bring charges against 60 to 80 detainees. Military defense lawyers say the number of committed jihadists who should be put on trial is no more than 40.
Amos N. Guiora of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy is among those advocating another special tribunal on U.S. soil to handle the remaining cases -- all of which involve classified evidence.
Pretrial procedures are underway for some of the accused terrorists, including confessed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four suspected accomplices.
UC Berkeley law professors Laurel Fletcher and Eric Stover warn that replicating Guantanamo's tribunals in the U.S. would solve nothing.
"We need to bring this to closure, and that needs to be done accountably and done swiftly," said Fletcher, director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at Berkeley. "Guantanamo has been devastating for the United States' image in the world and for the rule of law."
Said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union: "The only way of fixing the military commissions is scrapping them and starting over in federal court." Critics note that Zacarias Moussaoui, Jose Padilla and dozens of others have been convicted in federal court, and only three have been judged at Guantanamo.
Prisoners not facing prosecution would have to be repatriated, but that has proved difficult.
About 50 prisoners have been cleared for release but remain at Guantanamo because their home countries do not want them or might subject them to abuse.
Removing those prisoners will depend on U.S. collaboration with allies and adversaries.
Most European nations parted ways with the Bush administration over its detention policies and the invasion of Iraq. Despite a State Department appeal to more than 100 countries for help in relocating detainees, only Albania cooperated -- taking five Chinese Muslim Uighurs in 2006.
