Andrea Mitchell Worries Paris Attack May Hamper Obama Effort to Close Guantanamo

By Kyle Drennen,

During her Friday show on MSNBC, amid live coverage of French authorities killing multiple terror suspects following dual hostage standoffs, host Andrea Mitchell lamented the fact that President Obama’s political agenda may be setback by the attacks in Paris. Talking to Maine Senator Angus King, she fretted: “Do you think that this terror incident will in any way slow down the President’s intention to continue drawing down from Guantanamo and to eventually close that facility, if possible?” The liberal-leaning independent replied: “You know, Guantanamo, I was down there about a month ago, and it is a recruiting tool for these people. There’s no doubt about that.”

In an earlier segment on the show, Mitchell raised the issue with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd: “…the Guantanamo closures and trying to send some of these detainees who have been on a list to go back to Yemen, trying to get Congress to lift the restrictions and get them out of there because of the President’s commitment to try to close Guantanamo….the State Department official in charge of Guantanamo quitting in some frustration over the – how slow the progress is.”

Todd promoted that the official in question, Cliff Sloan, would be “an exclusive guest this Sunday on Meet the Press.”

He then noted objections to closing the prison:

But it goes – look, one of the three gunmen – one of the three gunman [in Paris] was radicalized in prison. Obviously that’s always been one of the ways that some have pushed back on President Obama and the administration, saying, “Hey, don’t release, these guys could be more radicalized than you realize.”

And the return to action, the return to the war is anywhere from 18 to 30% depending on the number you believe. They know for sure somewhere between 15 and 18%. And they are worried about another 10% of these released detainees do end up going back to the fight.

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