Jeh Johnson’s Walkback

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Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson suggested to the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the difficulties inherent in bringing legal charges against (or deciding on preventive detention for) about 220 detainees at Guantanamo Bay means that some continued detention past President Obama’s January 2010 deadline for closing the detention facility was likely, “whether at Guantanamo or somewhere else.” That sounded like the first concession from a senior administration official that Guantanamo Bay wouldn’t definitely be shuttered by the deadline.