By Debra Sweet

President Obama seems to fear that the hunger strike of the Guantanamo prisoners endangers the United States' reputation. He doesn't want them to die. So we learned today when he was questioned by a reporter. See Obama's remarks, and pertinent commentary from Kevin Gosztola: Obama’s Deluded Remarks Ignore His Role in Keeping Prisoners at Guantanamo.

“...The decision to transport captured individuals in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) to Guantanamo did not happen because of some popular fear or anxiety amongst Americans after 9/11. That may have insulated the administration of President George W. Bush from immediate criticism, but, as Mark Mazzetti shows in his book, The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army and a War at the Ends of the Earth, it was torture tapes destroyer and torture advocate, former CIA Counterterrorism Center head, Jose Rodriguez, who suggested holding individuals at Guantanamo Bay.

During a CIA meeting, where Rodriguez and then-director George Tenet were present:

“…Everyone around the table laughed, thinking about how much it would anger Fidel Castro if the United States were to jail the prisoners of its new war on the American military base in Cuba. But the more they thought about the prospect, the more everyone thought Guantanamo actually made sense. It was an American facility, and the fate of the prison would not be jeopardized there as it could be in another country if the government changed leadership and decided to kick the United States’ prisoners out. And, the CIA officials figured, a prison at Guantanamo Bay would be outside the jurisdiction of American courts. A perfect location, it seemed…”

We must do what we can to create a political situation where Obama released the cleared prisoners and closes Guantanamo. Not because it will “restore America's reputation.” Because it was always wrong and no government should be able to do such things.