Obama faces test on closing Guantanamo

By Steve Holland and Jeremy Pelofsky - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's pledge to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay is meeting resistance from lawmakers who do not like the idea of housing foreign terrorism suspects in the United States.

His January 22 promise seemed simple enough -- announce a date for closing the detention center at a U.S. Naval base on Cuba, and then work out arrangements for making that happen ahead of the deadline he set for next January.

But some in his own Democratic Party and many opposition Republicans are insisting they do not want any of the 240 prisoners at Guantanamo brought to American soil.

The unfolding drama is a classic "not in my backyard" debate that is testing Obama's negotiating skills as he seeks to keep his attention on rebuilding the U.S. economy.

"I think that the people who have been held in Guantanamo are being charged essentially for acts of international terror, for acts of war, and they don't belong in (our) judicial system, and they don't belong in our jails," said Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia on Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

The debate over Guantanamo takes place in a politically charged environment as Washington attempts to turn the page on George W. Bush's legacy.

Obama, who took office in January, vowed to close the prison which was set up to house foreign suspects after the hijacked plane attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that Obama was still committed to closing the facility and was confident his timetable could be met.

Obama was criticized last week by his supporters on the left and by human rights groups for changing his mind and deciding not to release photographs said to depict detainee abuse, and for reviving Bush's policy of military commissions to try terrorism suspects.

In addition, the most powerful woman in Washington, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is under fire over what she knew when about Bush-era interrogation policies, such as waterboarding.

Pelosi accused the CIA of lying in response to a CIA report that said she had been briefed in 2002 on interrogation methods that she now condemns but did not at the time. A fellow Democrat, CIA Director Leon Panetta, rejected her charges.

OBAMA SPEECH

"Shadows of the Bush presidency are beginning to fall upon the Obama presidency," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "These leftover controversies are proving to be thorny ones for Obama, Pelosi and the Democrats."

Obama on Thursday will make his case for his national security policies in a speech that the White House said would address the issues of Guantanamo Bay and anti-terror tactics.

An essential element in closing the Guantanamo prison is the $80 million Obama requested to accomplish it. But it has sparked fierce criticism and bipartisan calls for him to submit a plan on the fate of the prisoners before getting the funds.