"This is the toughest issue we will face," Obama declared in a 50-minute address at the National Archives where he said he had inherited a "mess" from the Bush administration that had hurt America's moral standing in the world.
Obama used a forceful defence of his revamped terrorism policies to try to wrest back control of the debate that has gripped Washington and threatens to divert his attention from his declared top priority of rescuing the ailing US economy. Obama, who succeeded Republican George W. Bush on January 20, had vowed in his first days in office to close the detention center, located at a US Naval base in Cuba, within a year as part of his effort to repair America's tarnished image abroad.
His public approval rating remains high, but implementing a revamped approach on detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects has proved more difficult than his administration expected.
Seeking to calm the public's fears that some Guantanamo detainees could eventually be released on US soil, Obama insisted he would not authorise the freeing of anyone who would "endanger the American people". But he said some terrorism suspects would be tried in US courts and would be held in super-maximum-security US prisons while others could be tried by military commissions or transferred to other countries.
His speech, however, contained few concrete details and may do little to satisfy fellow Democrats in Congress who have demanded a detailed plan on closing Guantanamo before they give him the necessary money to do it.
DUELING SPEECHES Obama repeatedly stressed that his national security policies were based on the rule of law and represented a sharp break with those of Bush, which he said had undercut rather than strengthened America's stature. "We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe," Obama said.
Decrying what he called "fear-mongering" on the issue, Obama said, "Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders - highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety".
Obama accused the Bush administration of having "failed to use our values as a compass" when it crafted detention and interrogation policies after the September 11, 2001 hijacked plane attacks on the United States, and said his administration now had to clean up the problems left behind. He renewed his commitment to a January 2010 deadline for closing the Guantanamo prison, which opened in 2002 as part of Bush's war on terrorism that followed the September 11 attacks.
The prison has long been the target of criticism by international human rights groups and many foreign governments, which accused the Bush administration of condoning torture of inmates held there. In the later years of his administration, Bush had said that he wanted to close the Guantanamo prison, but had not taken concrete steps to shut it.
An unreleased Pentagon report concludes that about one in seven of the 534 prisoners already transferred abroad from Guantanamo has returned to terrorism or militant activity, according to administration officials cited by the New York Times on Thursday.
In a reminder of the security jitters that have periodically shaken the country since the September 11 attacks, authorities said late on Wednesday they had foiled a plot to blow up two New York synagogues and simultaneously shoot down military planes.
Four men arrested in the suspected plot were due to appear in court in White Plains, New York on Thursday. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said all four had criminal records and did not appear to be part of al Qaeda. Illustrating the problems Obama faces on the issue, fellow Democrats who control the Senate rebelled against him and voted down his $80 million funding request on Wednesday after opposition Republicans threatened to brand them as soft on terrorism.
While most Democrats agree Guantanamo should be closed, they are demanding a detailed plan before approving funds to launch the process. If the money is not released soon, it could be difficult for Obama to meet his deadline for decommissioning the prison.