Why has Guantanamo not been closed?

The image of Guantanamo Bay detention facility is one of men being caged like animals, of men convicted of no crime being subjected to interrogation – and it has been suggested more harsh methods have been used although there is no concrete evidence of this.

For years now there has been fairly consistant pressure on the US government to close the facility yet there remain no public plans to do so. Why is this, despite it being a dark stain on the reputation of the United States?

Firstly there is of course the idea that the closing of the facility would not mean that all men kept there would simply be allowed to walk free. They would be re-homed in other institutions and to what extent is it likely that their situation would change? It could in-fact make things worse for them – if they were absorbed into the general American detention schemes much of their attention they recieved from the media which has led to several releases would decline. So perhaps it is not even in those held’s interests for Guantanamo to close.

This is of course not how the US government is thinking however. Guantanamo has come to be accepted by us all, however much we say we are against it. Nothing can surprise us now that occurs in Guantanamo, and thus the US government perhaps thinks that while they will have to deal with ever constant pressure and criticism, they can get away with it slightly more at Guantanamo as we have got so used to the idea of the place.