Obama spent most of his speech criticizing others. What he did not do was lay out his precise plans for dealing with the most dangerous terrorists when he closes Guantanamo. This includes men like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and highest-value terrorist we have captured to date. He says he's not going to release KSM or others who "remain at war with the United States," but he simply kicked the can down the road in detailing concrete plans on where he's going to detain such prisoners and for how long.
"If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight," Obama promised. And how, exactly, is that different than the judicial and congressional oversight that prompted the Bush administration to release some Guantanamo prisoners, try and convict others, and participate in endless legal challenges in our courts? Obama believes we should trust him to do what's right, even though he won't afford his predecessors the same courtesy.
In a matter of months, KSM and dozens of other terrorists will be taken from Guantanamo and brought to the U.S. Americans deserve to know where these killers will be held. President Obama promises that his administration "will do everything in our power to keep the American people safe." But those are empty words without a detailed plan. The best Obama has come up with so far is to keep in place many of the Bush policies, while denouncing the man who proved he could keep us safe for seven years, George W. Bush.