“I would certainly rule out for you sending any additional prisoners to the prison at Guantanamo Bay,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
“Not even temporarily,” he said.
The declaration follows the U.S. announcement that it would ramp up its special forces footprint in Iraq and Syria to include kill or capture missions targeting Daesh leaders.
[Photo: Detainees at Camp X Ray Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, US. Photographer: Shane T. McCoy, U.S. Navy/ Creative Commons]
“These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence, and capture ISIL leaders,” defense chief Ashton Carter told the House Armed Services Committee earlier this week.
Earnest noted that Defense Department will have to decide where they are held, but noted that the U.S. will work closely with the Iraqi government as it conducts future raids.
The Obama administration has been locked in a battle with Congress to close the controversial naval base, which has been used, in part, as a prison following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Obama pledged to close the site as a presidential candidate, but has faced significant opposition from lawmakers who have consistently barred him from transferring inmates to the U.S., a lynchpin for his proposals to shutter the site.
Of the nearly 800 detainees once held at the site, 107 remain.
