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159-550: The prison opened in April, 1990. Although scheduled to close on October 1, 2009, interest in the prison was shortly raised by the prospects of it housing relocated Guantanamo Bay prisoners in the continental United States. It consisted of five 88-bed housing units and one 164-bed unit. In August 2009 it was announced that the Standish facility and the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas were being considered as

318-544: A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. In 2010, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson , a former aide to Secretary of State Colin Powell , stated in an affidavit that top U.S. officials, including President George W. Bush , Vice President Dick Cheney , and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, had known that the majority of the detainees initially sent to Guantánamo were innocent, but that the detainees had been kept there for reasons of political expedience. Wilkerson's statement

477-454: A Republican from Texas , took office following his narrow electoral college victory over Democratic incumbent vice president Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election , in which he lost the popular vote to Gore by 543,895 votes. Four years later, in the 2004 presidential election , he narrowly defeated Democrat nominee John Kerry , to win re-election and winning both the popular and the electoral college vote. Bush served two terms and

636-516: A simultaneous air and land attack on Iraq on March 20, 2003, in what the American media called " shock and awe ." With 145,000 soldiers, the ground force quickly overcame most Iraqi resistance, and thousands of Iraqi soldiers deserted. The U.S. captured the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on April 9, but Hussein escaped and went into hiding. While the U.S. and its allies quickly achieved military success,

795-731: A $ 1.3 trillion tax cut program and the No Child Left Behind Act , a major education bill. He also pushed for socially conservative efforts, such as the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act and faith-based welfare initiatives . Also in 2003, he signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , which created Medicare Part D . During his second term, Bush reached multiple free trade agreements and successfully nominated John Roberts and Samuel Alito to

954-654: A 58–42 vote in January 2006. In the years immediately after Roberts and Alito took office, the Roberts Court was generally more conservative than the preceding Rehnquist Court , largely because Alito tended to be more conservative than O'Connor had been. Bush also appointed 62 judges to the United States Courts of Appeals , 261 judges to the United States district courts , and 2 judges to

1113-743: A half years internment . Ghezali claimed that he was the victim of repeated torture. Omar Deghayes alleged he was blinded after his right eye was gouged by an officer. Juma Al Dossary claimed he was interrogated hundreds of times, beaten, tortured with broken glass, barbed wire , burning cigarettes, and suffered sexual assaults . David Hicks also made allegations of torture and mistreatment in Guantanamo Bay, including sensory deprivation , stress positions , having his head slammed into concrete, repeated anal penetration, routine sleep deprivation and forced drug injections. An Associated Press report claimed that some detainees were turned over to

1272-531: A judge, but who had worked as a corporate lawyer and White House staffer. Her nomination immediately faced opposition from conservatives (and liberals) who were wary of her unproven ideology and lack of judicial experience. After Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist informed Bush that Miers did not have the votes necessary to win confirmation, Miers withdrew from consideration. Bush then nominated Samuel Alito , who received strong support from conservatives but faced opposition from Democrats. Alito won confirmation in

1431-820: A major economic disaster, and he established the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets from financial institutions. At various points in his presidency, Bush was among both the most popular and unpopular presidents in U.S. history. He received the highest recorded approval ratings in the wake of the September 11 attacks, but also one of the lowest such ratings during the Iraq War and 2007–2008 financial crisis. Although public sentiment of Bush has improved since he left office, his presidency has generally been rated as below-average by scholars. The oldest son of George H. W. Bush ,

1590-665: A military judge to order the release of art made in her client, Ammar al-Baluchi 's cell. She complained that painting and drawing was made difficult, and he was not permitted to give artwork to his counsel. It has been reported that prisoners cooperating with interrogations have been rewarded with Happy Meals from the McDonald's on base. By May 2011, there had been at least six reported suicides in Guantánamo. During August 2003, there were 23 suicide attempts. The U.S. officials did not say why they had not previously reported

1749-414: A military prison has drawn criticism from human rights organizations and others, who cite reports that detainees have been tortured or otherwise poorly treated. Supporters of the detention argue that trial review of detentions has never been afforded to prisoners of war, and that it is reasonable for enemy combatants to be detained until the cessation of hostilities. Three British Muslim prisoners, known in

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1908-529: A partial manual recount, but the United States Supreme Court effectively ordered an end to this process, on equal protection grounds, in the case of Bush v. Gore , leaving Bush with a victory in both the state and the election. Bush won the presidential election with 271 electoral votes compared to Gore's 266, though Gore narrowly won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote, receiving 543,895 more votes than Bush. Bush thus became

2067-469: A report from the ICRC. The ICRC reports of several activities that, it said, were "tantamount to torture": exposure to loud noise or music, prolonged extreme temperatures, or beatings. It also reported that a Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT), also called 'Biscuit,' and military physicians communicated confidential medical information to the interrogation teams (weaknesses, phobias, etc.), resulting in

2226-533: A request to suspend proceedings at Guantanamo military commission for 120 days and to shut down the detention facility that year. On January 29, 2009, a military judge at Guantanamo rejected the White House request in the case of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri , creating an unexpected challenge for the administration as it reviewed how the United States brings Guantanamo detainees to trial. On May 20, 2009,

2385-558: A resolution called the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists , authorizing the president to use the military against those responsible for the attacks. On October 7, 2001, Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan . General Tommy Franks , the commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), drew up a four-phase invasion plan. In the first phase, the U.S. built up forces in

2544-566: A shift in U.S. public opinion towards support of the war, it failed to convince the French, Russians, or Germans. Contrary to the findings of Blix and ElBaradei, Bush asserted in a March 17 public address that there was "no doubt" that the Iraqi regime possessed weapons of mass destruction. Two days later, Bush authorized Operation Iraqi Freedom , and the Iraq War began on March 20, 2003. U.S.-led coalition forces, led by General Franks, launched

2703-552: A spirited challenge that was supported by many moderates and foreign policy hawks . McCain's loss in the South Carolina primary effectively ended the 2000 Republican primaries , and Bush was officially nominated for president at the 2000 Republican National Convention . Bush selected former secretary of defense Dick Cheney as his running mate; though Cheney offered little electoral appeal and had health problems, Bush believed that Cheney's extensive experience would make him

2862-507: A struggle between the terrorists and the aircraft's passengers. The attacks had a profound effect on many Americans, who felt vulnerable to international attacks for the first time since the end of the Cold War . Appearing on national television on the night of the attacks, Bush promised to punish those who had aided the attacks, stating, "we will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them." In

3021-468: A system, whose stated purpose is the production of intelligence, cannot be considered other than an intentional system of cruel, unusual and degrading treatment and a form of torture." The United States government reportedly rejected the Red Cross findings at the time. On 30 November 2004, The New York Times published excerpts from an internal memo leaked from the U.S. administration, referring to

3180-503: A temporary detention facility dubbed " Camp X-Ray " was created to house suspected Al-Qaeda members and Taliban fighters primarily captured in Afghanistan . By May 2003, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp had grown into a larger and more permanent facility that housed over 680 prisoners, the vast majority without formal charges. The Bush Administration maintained that it was not obliged to grant prisoners basic protections under

3339-413: A terrorist campaign against U.S. targets, orchestrating attacks such as the 1998 United States embassy bombings and the 2000 USS Cole bombing . During Bush's first months in office, U.S. intelligence organizations intercepted communications indicating that al-Qaeda was planning another attack on the United States, but foreign policy officials were unprepared for a major attack on the United States. Bush

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3498-453: A time to the camp, where they were believed to be interrogated. He believes that the three detainees that DoD announced as having committed suicide were questioned under torture the night of their deaths. From 2003 to 2006, the CIA operated a small site, known informally as "Penny Lane," to house prisoners whom the agency attempted to recruit as spies against Al-Qaeda . The housing at Penny Lane

3657-540: A valuable governing partner. With Democratic President Bill Clinton term-limited, the Democrats nominated Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee for president and Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut for vice president. Bush's campaign emphasized their own candidate's character in contrast with that of Clinton, who had been embroiled in the Lewinsky scandal . Bush held a substantial lead in several polls taken after

3816-461: A widespread hunger strike; they were subsequently being force fed until the U.S. Government stopped releasing hunger strike information, due to it having "no operational purpose". During the month of Ramadan that year, the US military claimed that the amount of detainees on hunger strike had dropped from 106 to 81. However, according to defense attorney Clive Stafford Smith , "The military are cheating on

3975-560: Is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay , Cuba . It was established in January 2002 by U.S. President George W. Bush to hold terrorism suspects and " illegal enemy combatants " during the Global War on Terrorism following the attacks of September 11, 2001 . As of August 2024, at least 780 persons from 48 countries have been detained at

4134-537: The Bill Clinton administration , and with the Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan 's support, Bush argued that the best use of the surplus was to lower taxes. By the time Bush took office, reduced economic growth had led to less robust federal budgetary projections, but Bush maintained that tax cuts were necessary to boost economic growth. After Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill expressed concerns over

4293-519: The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act , stating that he thought the law would improve the financing system for elections but was "far from perfect." The law placed several limits on political donations and expenditures, and closed loopholes on contribution limits on donations to political candidates by banning the use of so-called "soft money." Portions of the law restricting independent expenditures would later be struck down by

4452-619: The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 , which included many of the president's proposals, but the bill did not pass the House of Representatives. After Democrats took control of Congress in the 2006 mid-term elections, Bush worked with Ted Kennedy to re-introduce the bill as the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2007 . The bill received intense criticism from many conservatives, who had become more skeptical of immigration reform, and it failed to pass

4611-869: The Enron scandal, Bush signed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act into law. The act expanded reporting requirements for public companies Shortly after the start of his second term, Bush signed the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 , which had been a priority of his administration and part of his broader goal of instituting tort reform . The act was designed to remove most class action lawsuits from state courts to federal courts, which were regarded as less sympathetic to plaintiffs in class action suits. Bush endorsed civil rights and appointed blacks, women and gays to high positions. The premier cabinet position, Secretary of State, went to Colin Powell (2001–2005),

4770-552: The George W. Bush administration that "a federal district court could not properly exercise habeas jurisdiction over an alien detained at GBC ( Guantanamo Bay, Cuba )", military guards took the first twenty detainees to Camp X-Ray on January 11, 2002. At the time, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said the detention camp was established to detain extraordinarily dangerous people, to interrogate detainees in an optimal setting, and to prosecute detainees for war crimes . In practice,

4929-664: The Guantánamo Bay Naval Base was established pursuant to a lease agreement with no expiration date. The 1934 Cuban–American Treaty of Relations superseded much of the 1903 treaty but reaffirmed the Guantánamo Bay lease, under which Cuba retains ultimate sovereignty but the U.S. exercises sole jurisdiction. Since coming to power in 1959 , Cuba's communist government considers the U.S. military presence at Guantánamo Bay illegal and has repeatedly called for its return. The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, including

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5088-674: The Iraqi insurgency opposed to the continuing U.S. presence. Fearing the further deterioration of Iraq's security situation, General John Abizaid ordered the end of the planned drawdown of soldiers, leaving over 130,000 U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The U.S. captured Hussein on December 13, 2003, but the occupation force continued to suffer casualties. Between the start of the invasion and the end of 2003, 580 U.S. soldiers died, with two thirds of those casualties occurring after Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech. After 2003, more and more Iraqis began to see

5247-519: The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 , which cut taxes by another $ 350 billion over 10 years. That law also lowered the capital gains tax and taxes on dividends . Collectively, the Bush tax cuts reduced federal individual tax rates to their lowest level since World War II , and government revenue as a share of gross domestic product declined from 20.9% in 2000 to 16.3% in 2004. Most of

5406-1037: The Kyoto Protocol , the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty , and the International Criminal Court . Terrorism had emerged as an important national security issue in the Clinton administration, and it became one of the dominant issues of the Bush administration. In the late 1980s, Osama bin Laden had established al-Qaeda , a militant Sunni Islamist multi-national organization that sought to overthrow Western-backed governments in Saudi Arabia , Jordan , Egypt , and Pakistan . In response to Saudi Arabia's decision to begin hosting U.S. soldiers in 1991, al-Qaeda had begun

5565-553: The OMB under Gerald Ford , was appointed secretary of the treasury, while former Missouri senator John Ashcroft was appointed attorney general. As Bush had little foreign policy experience, his appointments would serve an important role in shaping U.S. foreign policy during his tenure. Several of his initial top foreign policy appointees had served in his father's administration ; Vice President Cheney had been secretary of defense, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had served on

5724-542: The Supreme Court . He sought major changes to Social Security and immigration laws, but both efforts failed. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq continued, and in 2007 he launched a surge of troops in Iraq . The Bush administration's response to Hurricane Katrina and the dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy came under attack, with a drop in his approval ratings. A global meltdown in financial markets dominated his last days in office as policymakers looked to avert

5883-577: The Taliban , destroy al-Qaeda , and capture Osama bin Laden . He also signed the controversial Patriot Act in order to authorize surveillance of suspected terrorists. In 2003, Bush ordered an invasion of Iraq , alleging that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed weapons of mass destruction . Intense criticism came when neither WMD stockpiles nor evidence of an operational relationship with al-Qaeda were found. Before 9/11, Bush had pushed through

6042-622: The Third Geneva Convention do not apply to Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters, claiming that the Convention applies to only military personnel and guerrillas who are part of a chain of command , wear distinctive insignia, bear arms openly, and abide by the rules of war. Jim Phillips of The Heritage Foundation said that "some of these terrorists who are not recognized as soldiers don't deserve to be treated as soldiers." Critics of U.S. policy, such as George Monbiot , claimed

6201-577: The Truman administration , Bush decided to use his newfound political capital to fundamentally change U.S. foreign policy. He became increasingly focused on the possibility of a hostile country providing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) to terrorist organizations. During his early 2002 State of the Union Address , Bush set forth what has become known as the Bush Doctrine , which held that

6360-578: The U.S. Congress , on the grounds of national security, prevented its closure. During the Obama Administration , the number of inmates was reduced from about 250 to 41, but controversial policies such as the use of military courts were left in place. In January 2018, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to keep the detention camp open indefinitely, and only one prisoner was repatriated during his administration. Since taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden has vowed to close

6519-821: The U.S. Constitution or the Geneva Conventions , since the former did not extend to foreign soil and the latter did not apply to " unlawful enemy combatants ". Various humanitarian and legal advocacy groups claimed that these policies were unconstitutional and violated international human rights law ; several landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions found that detainees had rights to due process and habeas corpus but were still subject to military tribunals , which remain controversial for allegedly lacking impartiality , independence, and judicial efficiency. In addition to restrictions on their legal rights, detainees are widely reported to have been housed in unfit conditions and routinely abused and tortured , often in

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6678-528: The U.S. Intelligence Community and expanded the government's domestic authority to conduct surveillance of suspected terrorists. The Patriot Act also authorized the use of roving wiretaps on suspected terrorists and expanded the government's authority to conduct surveillance of suspected " lone wolf " terrorists. Bush also secretly authorized the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless surveillance of communications in and out of

6837-468: The United Nations , concluded that detainees have been systematically mistreated in violation of their human rights . Amid multiple legal and political challenges, as well as consistent widespread criticism and condemnation both domestically and internationally, the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay has been subject to repeated calls and efforts for closure. President Bush, while maintaining that

6996-664: The United States Court of International Trade . Among them were two future Supreme Court associate justices: Neil Gorsuch to a seat on the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in 2006, and Brett Kavanaugh to the Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit in 2006. Bush's promise to cut taxes was the centerpiece of his 2000 presidential campaign, and upon taking office, he made tax cuts his first major legislative priority. A budget surplus had developed during

7155-603: The United States Senate passed an amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2009 (H.R. 2346) by a 90–6 vote to block funds needed for the transfer or release of prisoners held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. President Obama issued a presidential memorandum dated 15 December 2009, ordering Thomson Correctional Center , Thomson, Illinois to be prepared to accept transferred Guantanamo prisoners. The Final Report of

7314-574: The United States Supreme Court . Cheney and White House Counsel Harriet Miers selected two widely respected conservatives, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals judge John Roberts and Fourth Circuit judge Michael Luttig , as the two finalists. In June 2005, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor unexpectedly announced that she would retire from the court, and Bush nominated Roberts for her position the following month. After Rehnquist died in September, Bush briefly considered elevating Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to

7473-630: The reconciliation , which in turn necessitated that the tax cuts would phase out in 2011 barring further legislative action. After the tax bill was passed, Senator Jim Jeffords left the Republican Party and began caucusing with the Democrats, giving them control of the Senate. After Republicans re-took control of the Senate during the 2002 mid-term elections, Bush proposed further tax cuts. With little support among Democrats, Congress passed

7632-400: The scientific consensus on climate change . Bush stated that he believed global warming is real and a serious problem, although he asserted that there existed a "debate over whether it's man-made or naturally caused". The Bush administration's stance on global warming remained controversial in the scientific and environmental communities. Critics alleged that the administration misinformed

7791-609: The $ 700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to buy toxic assets . The House rejected TARP in a 228–205 vote; although support and opposition crossed party lines, only about one-third of the Republican caucus supported the bill. After the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 778 points on the day of the House vote, the House and Senate both passed TARP. Bush later extended TARP loans to U.S. automobile companies, which faced their own crisis due to

7950-561: The 1898 Spanish–American War , U.S. forces invaded and occupied Cuba amid its war of independence against Spain . In 1901, an American-drafted amendment to the Cuban constitution nominally recognized Cuba's sovereignty while allowing the U.S. to intervene in local affairs and establish naval bases on land leased or purchased from the Cuban government. The Cuban–American Treaty of Relations of 1903 reaffirmed these provisions, and that same year,

8109-468: The 1980s, a mixture of Democrats and Republicans defied Speaker Dennis Hastert and passed a campaign finance reform bill. The House approved the bill with a 240–189 vote, while the bill passed the Senate in a 60–40 vote, the bare minimum required to overcome the filibuster. Throughout the congressional battle on the bill, Bush declined to take a strong position. However, in March 2002, Bush signed into law

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8268-756: The 2000 election convinced many Republicans, including Congressman John Boehner of Ohio, to accept an education reform bill that increased federal funding. Seeking to craft a bipartisan bill, Bush courted Democratic senator Ted Kennedy , a leading liberal senator who served as the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, and Pensions . Bush favored extensive testing to ensure that schools met uniform standards for skills such as reading and math. Bush hoped that testing would make schools more accountable for their performances and provide parents with more information in choosing which schools to send their children. Kennedy shared Bush's concern for

8427-427: The 2000 election, Bush established a stable of advisers, including supply-side economics advocate Lawrence B. Lindsey and foreign policy expert Condoleezza Rice . With a financial team led by Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman , Bush built up a commanding financial advantage over other prospective Republican candidates. Though several prominent Republicans declined to challenge Bush, Arizona senator John McCain launched

8586-466: The 2011 Defense Authorization Bill , which, in part, placed restrictions on the transfer of Guantanamo prisoners to the mainland or to foreign countries, thus impeding the closure of the facility. In February 2011, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that Guantanamo Bay was unlikely to be closed, due to opposition in the Congress. Congress particularly opposed moving prisoners to facilities in

8745-473: The 41st president of the United States, George W. Bush emerged as a presidential contender in his own right with his victory in the 1994 Texas gubernatorial election . After winning re-election by a decisive margin in the 1998 Texas gubernatorial election , Bush became the widely acknowledged front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination in the 2000 presidential election . In the years preceding

8904-498: The Associated Press reported Camp 7 , a separate facility on the naval base that was considered the highest security jail on the base. That facility held detainees previously imprisoned in a global, clandestine network of CIA prisons . An attorney first visited a detainee at Camp 7 in 2013. The precise location of Camp 7 has never been confirmed. In early April 2021, Camp 7 was shut down due to deteriorating conditions of

9063-510: The Ba'ath Party merely as a career move. Bremer's second major order disbanded the Iraqi military and police services, leaving over 600,000 Iraqi soldiers and government employees without jobs. Bremer also insisted that the CPA remain in control of Iraq until the country held elections, reversing an earlier plan to set up a transition government led by Iraqis. These decisions contributed to the beginning of

9222-592: The Bush administration arranged passage of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 . Falling home prices started threatening the financial viability of many institutions, leaving Bear Stearns , a prominent U.S.-based investment bank, on the brink of failure in March 2008. Recognizing the growing threat of a financial crisis, Bush allowed Treasury secretary Paulson to arrange for another bank, JPMorgan Chase , to take over most Bear Stearn's assets. Out of concern that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might also fail,

9381-423: The Bush administration put both institutions into conservatorship . Shortly afterwards, the administration learned that Lehman Brothers was on the verge of bankruptcy, but the administration ultimately declined to intervene on behalf of Lehman Brothers. Paulson hoped that the financial industry had shored itself up after the failure of Bear Stearns and that the failure of Lehman Brothers would not strongly impact

9540-554: The Bush tax cuts were later made permanent by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 , though that act rolled back the tax cuts on top earners. Contrary to the rhetoric of the Bush administration and Republicans, the budget deficit increased, leaving many to believe the tax cuts were at fault. Statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney , and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist that these tax cuts effectively "paid for themselves" were disputed by

9699-646: The CBPP, the U.S. Treasury Department and the CBO. Aside from tax cuts, Bush's other major policy initiative upon taking office was education reform. Bush had a strong personal interest in reforming education, especially regarding the education of low-income and minority groups. He often derided the "soft bigotry of low expectations" for allowing low-income and minority groups to fall behind. Although many conservatives were reluctant to increase federal involvement in education, Bush's success in campaigning on education reform in

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9858-461: The Department of Defense "extended an invitation to United Nations Special Rapporteurs to visit detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station." This was rejected by the U.N. because of DoD restrictions, stating that "[the] three human rights officials invited to Guantánamo Bay wouldn't be allowed to conduct private interviews" with prisoners. Simultaneously, media reports began related to

10017-698: The Department of Justice has disputed certain facts contained in the article about the soldiers' account. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) inspected some of the prison facilities in June 2004. In a confidential report issued in July 2004 and leaked to The New York Times in November 2004, Red Cross inspectors accused the U.S. military of using "humiliating acts, solitary confinement , temperature extremes, and use of forced positions" against prisoners. The inspectors concluded that "the construction of such

10176-480: The Geneva Conventions . Following this, on July 7, 2006, the Department of Defense issued an internal memo stating that detainees would, in the future, be entitled to protection under Common Article 3. Current and former detainees have reported abuse and torture, which the Bush administration denied. In a 2005 Amnesty International report, the facility was called the " Gulag of our times." In 2006,

10335-474: The Guantanamo Review Task Force , dated January 22, 2010, published the results for the 240 detainees subject to the review: 36 were the subject of active cases or investigations; 30 detainees from Yemen were designated for "conditional detention" due to the poor security environment in Yemen; 126 detainees were approved for transfer; 48 detainees were determined "too dangerous to transfer but not feasible for prosecution". On January 6, 2011, President Obama signed

10494-422: The Gulf War; after the war, it had submitted to WMD inspections conducted by the United Nations Special Commission until 1998, when Hussein demanded that all UN inspectors leave Iraq. The administration believed that, by 2001, Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction, and could possibly provide those weapons to terrorists. Some within the administration also believed that Iraq shared some responsibility for

10653-440: The Military Intelligence unit assigned to guard Camp Delta, including a decorated non-commissioned Army officer who was on duty as sergeant of the guard the night of 9–10 June 2006. Their account contradicts the report published by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). Horton said the deaths had occurred at a black site, known as "Camp No", outside the perimeter of the camp. According to its spokeswoman Laura Sweeney,

10812-400: The Mubarak era, it's been alleged that Egyptian State Security officers and agents travelled to Cuba and tortured detainees. They also allegedly trained U.S. soldiers on torture techniques. Presidency of George W. Bush George W. Bush 's tenure as the 43rd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2001, and ended on January 20, 2009. Bush,

10971-401: The National Security Council, and deputy secretaries Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Armitage had also served in important roles. Secretary of State Colin Powell had served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first president Bush. Bush had long admired Powell, and the former general was Bush's first choice for the position. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld , who had served in

11130-454: The Northern Alliance began its offensive on October 19. The capital of Kabul was captured on November 13, and Hamid Karzai was inaugurated as the new president of Afghanistan. However, the senior leadership of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, including bin Laden, avoided capture. Karzai would remain in power for the duration of Bush's presidency, but his effective control was limited to the area around Kabul, as various warlords took control of much of

11289-653: The Quran down the toilet , defacing the Quran , writing comments and remarks on the Quran, tearing pages out of the Quran, and denying detainees a copy of the Quran. One of the justifications offered for the continued detention of Mesut Sen , during his Administrative Review Board hearing, was: Emerging as a leader, the detainee has been leading the detainees around him in prayer. The detainees listen to him speak and follow his actions during prayer. Red Cross inspectors and released detainees have alleged acts of torture, including sleep deprivation , beatings and locking in confined and cold cells. The use of Guantánamo Bay as

11448-594: The Saudi Arabian government. The Saudi government developed a re-integration program including religious education, helping to arrange marriages and jobs, to bring detainees back into society. The Center for Policy and Research published Death in Camp Delta (2009), its analysis of the NCIS report, noting many inconsistencies in the government account and said the conclusion of suicide by hanging in their cells

11607-401: The Senate. After years of financial deregulation accelerating under the Bush administration, banks lent subprime mortgages to more and more home buyers, causing a housing bubble . Many of these banks also invested in credit default swaps and derivatives that were essentially bets on the soundness of these loans. In response to declining housing prices and fears of an impending recession,

11766-468: The September 11 attacks, and hoped that the fall of Hussein's regime would help spread democracy in the Middle East, deter the recruitment of terrorists, and increase the security of Israel . In the days following the September 11 attacks, hawks in the Bush administration such as Wolfowitz argued for immediate military action against Iraq, but the issue was temporarily set aside in favor of planning

11925-558: The Supreme Court in the 2010 case of Citizens United v. FEC . After the passage of the Bush tax cuts and the No Child Left Behind Act, Bush turned his domestic focus to healthcare. He sought to expand Medicare so it would also cover the cost of prescription drugs , a program that became known as Medicare Part D . Many congressional Democrats opposed the bill because it did not allow Medicare to negotiate

12084-472: The U.S. Government detains those who are not convicted in military commissions. In January 2010, Scott Horton published an article in Harper's Magazine describing " Camp No ", a black site about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside the main camp perimeter, which included an interrogation center. His description was based on accounts by four guards who had served at Guantanamo. They said prisoners were taken one at

12243-522: The U.S. as an occupying force. The fierce fighting of the First Battle of Fallujah alienated many in Iraq, while cleric Muqtada al-Sadr encouraged Shia Muslims to oppose the CPA. Sunni and Shia insurgents engaged in a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the United States, blunting the technological and organizational advantages of the U.S. military. While fighting in Iraq continued, Americans increasingly came to disapprove of Bush's handling of

12402-534: The U.S. by Afghan tribesmen in return for cash bounties . The first Denbeaux study , published by Seton Hall University Law School , reproduced copies of several leaflets, flyers, and posters the U.S. government distributed to advertise the bounty program; some of which offered bounties of "millions of dollars." Hunger-striking detainees claimed that guards were force feeding them in the fall of 2005: "Detainees said large feeding tubes were forcibly shoved up their noses and down into their stomachs, with guards using

12561-507: The United Nations unsuccessfully demanded that Guantanamo Bay detention camp be closed. On 13 January 2009, Susan J. Crawford , appointed by Bush to review DoD practices used at Guantanamo Bay and oversee the military trials, became the first Bush administration official to concede that torture occurred at Guantanamo Bay on one detainee ( Mohammed al-Qahtani ), saying "We tortured Qahtani." On January 22, 2009, President Obama issued

12720-552: The United States for detention or trial. In April 2011, WikiLeaks began publishing 779 secret files relating to prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. On November 4, 2015, President Barack Obama stated that he was preparing to unveil a plan to close the facility and move some of the terrorism suspects held there to U.S. soil. The plan would propose one or more prisons from a working list that includes facilities in Kansas, Colorado and South Carolina. Two others that were on

12879-665: The United States had launched the Gulf War against Iraq after the latter invaded Kuwait . Though the U.S. forced Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, it left Saddam Hussein 's administration in place, partly to serve as a counterweight to Iran . After the war, the Project for the New American Century , consisting of influential neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz and Cheney, advocated for the overthrow of Hussein. Iraq had developed biological and chemical weapons prior to

13038-406: The United States was the world's lone superpower , it could act unilaterally if necessary. At the same time, Bush sought to enact the less interventionist foreign policy he had promised during the 2000 campaign. Though the first several months of his presidency focused on domestic issues, the Bush administration pulled the U.S. out of several existing or proposed multilateral agreements, including

13197-486: The United States would implement a policy of preemptive military strikes against nations known to be harboring or aiding a terrorist organization hostile to the United States. Bush outlined what he called the " Axis of Evil ," consisting of three nations that, he argued, posed the greatest threat to world peace due to their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and potential to aid terrorists. The axis consisted of Iraq , North Korea and Iran . Bush also began emphasizing

13356-401: The United States. McCain's 2000 presidential campaign brought the issue of campaign finance reform to the fore of public consciousness in 2001. McCain and Russ Feingold pushed a bipartisan campaign finance bill in the Senate, while Chris Shays (R-CT) and Marty Meehan (D-MA) led the effort of passing it in the House. In just the second successful use of the discharge petition since

13515-511: The White House in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy and several botched White House initiatives, and he was replaced by Joshua Bolten. Bolten stripped Rove of some of his responsibilities and convinced Henry Paulson , the head of Goldman Sachs , to replace Snow as secretary of the treasury. After the 2006 elections, Rumsfeld was replaced by former CIA director Robert Gates . The personnel shake-ups left Rice as one of

13674-405: The administration decided to overthrow Afghanistan 's conservative Taliban government, which harbored the leaders of al-Qaeda. Powell took the lead in assembling allied nations in a coalition that would launch attacks on multiple fronts. The Bush administration focused especially on courting Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf , who agreed to join the coalition. On September 14, Congress passed

13833-503: The camp before his term ends, although his administration has continued with multimillion-dollar expansions to military commissions and other Guantanamo Bay facilities. Following the release of 10 detainees from Guantanamo by April 2023, 30 detainees remain as of June 2024; of these, 16 are awaiting transfer, 11 have been charged or convicted of war crimes, and three are held in indefinite law-of-war detention without facing tribunal charges nor being recommended for release. During

13992-488: The camp since its creation, of whom 740 had been transferred elsewhere, 9 died in custody , and 30 remain; only 16 detainees have ever been charged by the U.S. with criminal offenses. Shortly after the September 11 attacks , the U.S. declared its " war on terror " effort and led a multinational military operation against Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to dismantle Al-Qaeda and capture its leader, Osama bin Laden . During

14151-526: The city of New Orleans after the failure of that city's levees . Over eighteen hundred people died in the hurricane, and Bush was widely criticized for his slow response to the disaster. Stung by the public response, Bush removed Federal Emergency Management Agency director Michael D. Brown from office and stated publicly that "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government." After Hurricane Katrina, Bush's approval rating fell below 40 percent, where it would remain for

14310-475: The court battle of Terri Schiavo , a comatose Florida woman who ultimately died. In March 2001, the Bush administration announced that it would not implement the Kyoto Protocol , an international treaty signed in 1997 that required nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The administration argued that ratifying the treaty would unduly restrict U.S. growth while failing to adequately limit emissions from developing nations. The administration questioned

14469-482: The crime on the prisoners... it's possible they were tortured," said Mufleh al-Qahtani, the group's deputy director, in a statement to the local Al-Riyadh newspaper. Highly disturbed about the deaths of its citizens under U.S. custody, the Saudi government pressed the United States to release its citizens into its custody. From June 2006 through 2007, the U.S. released 93 detainees (of an original 133 Saudis detained) to

14628-400: The deaths. Amnesty International said the apparent suicides "are the tragic results of years of arbitrary and indefinite detention" and called the prison "an indictment" of the George W. Bush administration 's human rights record. Saudi Arabia's state-sponsored Saudi Human Rights group blamed the U.S. for the deaths. "There are no independent monitors at the detention camp so it is easy to pin

14787-699: The decision. In September 2009 the Obama administration stated that Standish would no longer be a candidate for possible US sites to replace Guantanamo. On October 31, 2009, Standish Maximum Correctional Facility closed as a result of Michigan budget cuts. In May, 2015, the independent feature film, Heartlock, filmed at Standish Maximum Correctional Facility. 43°58′47″N 83°59′41″W  /  43.97963°N 83.994722°W  / 43.97963; -83.994722 Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp , also known as GTMO or GITMO ( / ˈ ɡ ɪ t m oʊ / GIT -moh ),

14946-508: The decisions of the Bush administration, particularly the launching of the Iraq War, Powell resigned following the 2004 elections. He was replaced by Rice, while then-deputy national security adviser Stephen Hadley took Rice's former position. Most of Bush's top staffers stayed on after the 2004 election, although Spellings joined the Cabinet as secretary of education and Gonzales replaced Ashcroft as attorney general. In early 2006, Card left

15105-707: The detention camp, is operated by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) of the Southern Command of the Department of Defense (DoD). The main detention compound is Camp Delta , which replaced the temporary Camp X-Ray in April 2002, with other compounds including Camp Echo , Camp Iguana , and the Guantanamo psychiatric ward . After political appointees at the U.S. Office of Legal Counsel , Department of Justice advised

15264-506: The economy, but news of the failure caused stock prices to tumble and froze credit. Fearing a total financial collapse, Paulson and the Federal Reserve took control of American International Group (AIG), another major financial institution that teetered on the brink of failure. Hoping to shore up the other banks, Bush and Paulson proposed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 , which would create

15423-508: The education of impoverished children, but he strongly opposed the president's proposed school vouchers , which would allow parents to use federal funding to pay for private schools. Both men cooperated to pass the No Child Left Behind Act , which dropped the concept of school vouchers but included Bush's idea of nationwide testing. Both houses of Congress registered overwhelming approval for the bill's final version, which Bush signed into law in January 2002. However, Kennedy would later criticize

15582-611: The face of unified opposition, Republicans abandoned Bush's Social Security proposal in mid-2005. Hurricane Katrina , one of the largest and most powerful hurricanes ever to strike the United States, ravaged several states along the Gulf of Mexico in August 2005. On a working vacation at his ranch in Texas, Bush initially allowed state and local authorities to respond to the natural disaster. The hurricane made landfall on August 29, devastating

15741-510: The facilities. The remaining prisoners at Camp 7 were transferred to Camp 5. Camp 5, as well as Camp 6, were built in 2003–04. They are modeled after a high security facility in Indiana. In September 2016, Camp 5 was closed and a portion of it dedicated to use as a medical facility for detainees. A portion of Camp 5 was again re-dedicated in early April 2021, when Camp 7 so-called "high value" former CIA detainees were moved there. In Camp 6,

15900-472: The facility was necessary and that prisoners were treated well, nonetheless expressed his desire to have it closed in the beginning of 2005. His administration began winding down the detainee population in large numbers, ultimately releasing or transferring around 540. In 2009, Bush's successor, Barack Obama , issued executive orders to close the facility within one year and identify lawful alternatives for its detainees; however, strong bipartisan opposition from

16059-545: The fears of critics that this would dissolve the traditional separation of church and state in the United States . To further this commitment, he created the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives to assist faith-based service organizations. In 2003, Bush signed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act , which banned intact dilation and extraction , an abortion procedure. Early in his administration, President Bush became personally interested in

16218-460: The final debate in October, but the unearthing of Bush's 1976 DUI arrest appeared to sap his campaign's momentum. By the end of election night, Florida emerged as the key state in the election, as whichever candidate won the state would win the presidency. Bush held an extremely narrow lead in the vote by the end of election night, triggering an automatic recount . The Florida Supreme Court ordered

16377-615: The first Black appointee at that high a level. He was followed by Condoleezza Rice (2005–2009), the first Black woman. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (2005–2007) was and remains in 2024 the highest appointed Hispanic in the history of American government. In addition Bush appointed the first senior officials who were publicly gay. However he campaigned against quotas, and warned that affirmative action that involved quotas were unacceptable. He deliberately selected minorities known as opponents of affirmative action for key civil rights positions. Thus in 2001 Bush nominated Linda Chavez to be

16536-433: The first Latina in the cabinet as Secretary of Labor. She had to withdraw when it was reported that a decade earlier she had hired an illegal immigrant. Upon taking office, Bush had little experience with foreign policy, and his decisions were guided by his advisers. Bush embraced the views of Cheney and other neoconservatives , who de-emphasized the importance of multilateralism ; neoconservatives believed that because

16695-624: The first director of the newly created department. The department was charged with overseeing immigration, border control, customs, and the newly established Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which focused on airport security . Though the FBI and CIA remained independent agencies, the DHS was assigned jurisdiction over the Coast Guard , the Immigration and Naturalization Service (which

16854-554: The first of many challenges the U.S. would face in keeping the peace in Iraq. Bush appointed Paul Bremer to lead the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which was charged with overseeing the transition to self-government in Iraq. In his first major order, Bremer announced a policy of de-Ba'athification , which denied government and military jobs to members of Hussein's Ba'ath Party . This policy angered many of Iraq's Sunnis , many of whom had joined

17013-411: The following days, Bush urged the public to renounce hate crimes and discrimination against Muslim-Americans and Arab-Americans . He also declared a " War on Terror ", instituting new domestic and foreign policies in an effort to prevent future terrorist attacks. As Bush's top foreign policy advisers were in agreement that merely launching strikes against al-Qaeda bases would not stop future attacks,

17172-560: The form of " enhanced interrogation techniques ". As early as October 2003, the International Committee of the Red Cross warned of "deterioration in the psychological health of a large number of detainees". Subsequent reports by international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch , as well as intergovernmental institutions such as the Organization of American States and

17331-610: The fourth person to win the presidency while losing the popular vote . In the concurrent congressional elections , Republicans retained a narrow majority in the House of Representatives , but lost five seats in the Senate , leaving the partisan balance in the Senate at fifty Republicans and fifty Democrats. Rejecting the idea of a powerful White House chief of staff , Bush had high-level officials report directly to him rather than Chief of Staff Andrew Card . Vice President Cheney emerged as

17490-406: The government again run deficits. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 won the support of congressional Republicans and a minority of congressional Democrats, and Bush signed it into law in June 2001. The act lowered the top income tax rate from 39 percent to 35 percent, and it also reduced the estate tax . The narrow Republican majority in the Senate necessitated the use of

17649-489: The government had violated the Conventions in attempting to create a distinction between " prisoners of war " and "illegal combatants." Amnesty International called the situation "a human rights scandal" in a series of reports. One of the allegations of abuse at the camp is the abuse of the religion of the detainees. Prisoners released from the camp have alleged incidents of abuse of religion including flushing

17808-527: The implementation of the act, arguing that Bush had promised greater federal funding for education. Shortly after the September 11 attacks , Bush announced the creation of the Office of Homeland Security and appointed former governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge its director. After Congress passed the Homeland Security Act to create the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ridge became

17967-423: The importance of spreading democracy worldwide, stating in 2005 that "the survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other land." Pursuant to this newly interventionist policy, the Bush administration boosted foreign aid and increased defense expenditures. Defense spending rose from $ 304 billion in fiscal year 2001 to $ 616 billion in fiscal year 2008. During the presidency of his father ,

18126-539: The incident. After this event, the Pentagon reclassified alleged suicide attempts as "manipulative self-injurious behaviors". Camp physicians alleged that detainees do not genuinely wish to end their lives, rather, the prisoners supposedly feel that they may be able to get better treatment or release with suicide attempts. Daryl Matthews , a professor of forensic psychiatry at the University of Hawaii who examined

18285-511: The invasion of Afghanistan. Beginning in September 2002, the Bush administration mounted a campaign designed to win popular and congressional support for the invasion of Iraq. In October 2002, Congress approved the Iraq Resolution , authorizing the use of force against Iraq. While congressional Republicans almost unanimously supported the measure, congressional Democrats were split in roughly equal numbers between support and opposition to

18444-466: The invasion was strongly criticized by many countries ; UN secretary-general Kofi Annan argued that the invasion was a violation of international law and the U.N. Charter . On May 1, 2003, Bush delivered the " Mission Accomplished speech ," in which he declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq. Despite the failure to find evidence of an ongoing WMD program or an operational relationship between Hussein and al-Qaeda , Bush declared that

18603-452: The invasion, on November 13, 2001, President Bush issued a military order allowing for the indefinite detention of foreign nationals without charge and preventing them from legally challenging their detention. The following month, the U.S. Department of Justice claimed that habeas corpus —a legal recourse against unlawful detention—did not apply to Guantanamo Bay because it was outside of U.S. territory. Subsequently, in January 2002,

18762-560: The issue of stem cell research. The Clinton administration had issued guidelines allowing the federal funding of research utilizing stem cells, and Bush decided to study the situation's ethics before issuing his own executive order on the issue. Evangelical religious groups argued that the research was immoral as it destroyed human embryos , while various advocacy groups touted the potential scientific advances afforded by stem cell research. In August 2001, Bush issued an executive order banning federal funding for research on new stem cell lines;

18921-539: The list, in California and Washington state, do not appear to have made the preliminary cut, according to a senior administration official familiar with the proposal. By the end of the Obama Administration on January 19, 2017, however, the detention center remained open, with 41 detainees remaining. In June 2022, The New York Times publicly released photographs of the first camp detainees following

19080-480: The media at the time as the " Tipton Three ", were repatriated to the United Kingdom in March 2004, where officials immediately released them without charge. The three alleged ongoing torture, sexual degradation , forced drugging, and religious persecution being committed by U.S. forces at Guantánamo Bay. The former Guantanamo detainee Mehdi Ghezali was freed without charge on 9 July 2004, after two and

19239-579: The most powerful individual in the White House aside from Bush himself. Bush brought to the White House several individuals who had worked under him in Texas, including Senior Counselor Karen Hughes , Senior Adviser Karl Rove, legal counsel Alberto Gonzales , and Staff Secretary Harriet Miers . Other important White House staff appointees included Margaret Spellings as a domestic policy adviser, Michael Gerson as chief speechwriter, and Joshua Bolten and Joe Hagin as White House deputy chiefs of staff. Paul H. O'Neill , who had served as deputy director of

19398-412: The most prominent individuals in the administration, and she played a strong role in directing Bush's second term foreign policy. Gonzales and Rove both left in 2007 after controversy regarding the dismissal of U.S. attorneys, and Gonzales was replaced by Michael Mukasey , a former federal judge. After the 2004 election, many expected that the aging Chief Justice William Rehnquist would step down from

19557-560: The need for regime change, and the latter three countries each possessed veto power on the United Nations Security Council . At the behest of British prime minister Tony Blair , who supported Bush but hoped for more international cooperation, Bush dispatched Powell to the U.N. to make the case to the Security Council that Iraq maintained an active WMD program. Though Powell's presentation preceded

19716-551: The number of suicide attempts is higher. On 10 June 2006 three detainees were found dead, who, according to the DoD, "killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact." Prison commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris claimed this was not an act of desperation, despite prisoners' pleas to the contrary, but rather "an act of asymmetric warfare committed against us." The three detainees were said to have hanged themselves with nooses made of sheets and clothes. According to military officials,

19875-458: The numbers as usual. Some detainees are taking a token amount of food as part of the traditional breaking of the fast at the end of each day in Ramadan, so that is now conveniently allowing them to be counted as not striking." In 2014, the Obama administration undertook a "rebranding effort" by referring to the hunger strikes as "long term non-religious fasting." Attorney Alka Pradhan petitioned

20034-493: The order allowed research on existing stem cell lines to continue. In July 2006, Bush used his first presidential veto on the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act , which would have expanded federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. A similar bill was passed in both the House of Representatives and the Senate early in mid-2007 as part of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 's 100-Hour Plan , but

20193-417: The position of chief justice, but instead chose to nominate Roberts for the position. Roberts won confirmation from the Senate in a 78–22 vote, with all Republicans and a narrow majority of Democrats voting to confirm Roberts. To replace O'Connor, the Bush administration wanted to find a female nominee, but was unsatisfied with the conventional options available. Bush settled on Miers, who had never served as

20352-497: The prices of drugs, while many conservative Republicans opposed the expansion of the government's involvement in healthcare. Assisted by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Senate majority leader Bill Frist , Bush overcame strong opposition and won passage of his Medicare bill. In December 2003, Bush signed the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act , the largest expansion of Medicare since

20511-503: The prisoners losing confidence in their medical care. The ICRC's access to the base was conditioned, as is normal for ICRC humanitarian operations, on the confidentiality of their report. Following leaking of the U.S. memo, some in the ICRC wanted to make their report public or confront the U.S. administration. The newspaper said the administration and the Pentagon had seen the ICRC report in July 2004 but rejected its findings. The story

20670-442: The prisoners, stated that given the cultural differences between interrogators and prisoners, "intent" was difficult, if not impossible to ascertain. Clinical depression is common in Guantánamo, with 1/5 of all prisoners being prescribed antidepressants such as Prozac . Guantanamo Bay officials have reported 41 suicide attempts by 25 detainees since the U.S. began taking prisoners to the base in January 2002. Defense lawyers contend

20829-706: The probe into FBI accounts of abuse of Guantánamo prisoners by Defense Department personnel, concluded the man (Mohammed al-Qahtani, a Saudi, described as the " 20th hijacker ") was subjected to "abusive and degrading treatment" by "the cumulative effect of creative, persistent and lengthy interrogations." The techniques used were authorized by the Pentagon, he said. Many of the released prisoners have complained of enduring beatings, sleep deprivation, prolonged constraint in uncomfortable positions, prolonged hooding , cultural and sexual humiliation, enemas as well as other forced injections, and other physical and psychological mistreatment during their detention in Camp Delta. During

20988-467: The program's creation in 1965. After winning re-election in 2004, Bush made the partial privatization of Social Security his top domestic priority. He proposed restructuring the program so that citizens could invest some of the money they paid in payroll taxes , which fund the Social Security program. The president argued that Social Security faced an imminent funding crisis and that reform

21147-537: The protections of the Geneva Conventions , while also claiming it was treating "all detainees consistently with the principles of the Geneva Convention." Ensuing U.S. Supreme Court decisions since 2004 have determined otherwise and that U.S. courts do have jurisdiction: it ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on June 29, 2006, that detainees were entitled to the minimal protections listed under Common Article 3 of

21306-669: The public and did not do enough to reduce carbon emissions and deter global warming. On January 6, 2009, President Bush designated the world's largest protected marine area. The Pacific Ocean habitat includes the Mariana Trench and the waters and corals surrounding three uninhabited islands in the Northern Mariana Islands , Rose Atoll in American Samoa, and seven islands along the equator. In July 2002, following several accounting scandals such as

21465-573: The question of prisoner treatment. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler also ordered the U.S. government to release medical records going back a week before such feedings took place. In early November 2005, the U.S. suddenly accelerated, for unknown reasons, the rate of prisoner release, but this was not sustained. Detainee Mansur Ahmad Saad al-Dayfi has alleged that during his time as a JAG officer in Guantanamo, Ron DeSantis oversaw force-feedings of detainees. In May 2013, detainees undertook

21624-431: The resolution. Bowing to domestic and foreign pressure, Bush sought to win the approval of the United Nations before launching an attack on Iraq. Led by Powell, the administration won the November 2002 passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 , which called on Iraq to dismantle its WMD program. Meanwhile, senior administration officials became increasingly convinced that Iraq did indeed possess WMDs and

21783-422: The rest of his tenure in office. Although he concentrated on other domestic policies during his first term, Bush supported immigration reform throughout his administration. In May 2006, he proposed a five-point plan that would increase border security , establish a guest worker program , and create a path to citizenship for the twelve million illegal immigrants living in the United States. The Senate passed

21942-516: The rest of the country. While the Karzai's government struggled to control the countryside, the Taliban regrouped in neighboring Pakistan. As Bush left office, he considered sending additional troops to bolster Afghanistan against the Taliban, but decided to leave the issue for the next administration. After the September 11 attacks, Bush's approval ratings increased tremendously. Inspired in part by

22101-572: The same position during the Ford administration , rounded out the key figures in the national security team. Rumsfeld and Cheney, who had served together in the Ford administration, emerged as the leading foreign policy figures during Bush's first term. O'Neill, who opposed the Iraq War and feared that the Bush tax cuts would lead to deficits, was replaced by John W. Snow in February 2003. Frustrated by

22260-399: The same tubes from one patient to another. The detainees say no sedatives were provided during these procedures, which they allege took place in front of U.S. physicians, including the head of the prison hospital. "A hunger striking detainee at Guantánamo Bay wants a judge to order the removal of his feeding tube so he can be allowed to die", one of his lawyers has said. Within a few weeks,

22419-468: The site has long been used for alleged " enemy combatants ". The DoD at first kept secret the identity of the individuals held in Guantanamo, but after losing attempts to defy a Freedom of Information Act request from the Associated Press , the U.S. military officially acknowledged holding 779 prisoners in the camp. The Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of

22578-436: The sites for the relocation of foreign detainees from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which was under consideration for closure. Michigan public officials, including both of its senators ( Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow ) and governor, Jennifer Granholm , objected at the time. However, opinions were mixed in Standish, where the unemployment rate was at 17%, with politicians welcoming the move, but some residents protested at

22737-499: The suicides were coordinated acts of protests. Human rights activists and defense attorneys said the deaths signaled the desperation of many of the detainees. Barbara Olshansky of the Center for Constitutional Rights , which represented about 300 Guantánamo detainees, said that detainees "have this incredible level of despair that they will never get justice." At the time, human rights groups called for an independent public inquiry into

22896-619: The surrounding area and inserted CIA and special forces operatives who linked up with the Northern Alliance , an Afghan resistance group opposed to the Taliban. The second phase consisted of a major air campaign against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets, while the third phase involved the defeat of the remaining Taliban and al-Qaeda forces. The fourth and final phase consisted of the stabilization of Afghanistan, which Franks projected would take three to five years. The war in Afghanistan began on October 7 with several air and missile strikes, and

23055-399: The tax cut's size and the possibility of future deficits, Vice President Cheney took charge of writing the bill, which the administration proposed to Congress in March 2001. Bush initially sought a $ 1.6 trillion tax cut over a ten-year period, but ultimately settled for a $ 1.35 trillion tax cut. The administration rejected the idea of "triggers" that would phase out the tax reductions should

23214-414: The toppling of Hussein "removed an ally of al-Qaeda" and ended the threat that Iraq would supply weapons of mass destruction to terrorist organizations. Believing that only a minimal residual American force would be required after the success of the invasion, Bush and Franks planned for a drawdown to 30,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by August 2003. Meanwhile, Iraqis began looting their own capital, presenting one of

23373-592: The weak economy. Though TARP helped end the financial crisis, it did not prevent the onset of the Great Recession , which would continue after Bush left office. On his first day in office, President Bush reinstated the Mexico City policy , thereby blocking federal aid to foreign groups that offered assistance to women in obtaining abortions . Days later, he announced his commitment to channeling more federal aid to faith-based service organizations, despite

23532-475: Was an al-Qaeda member who recruited for, and provided money for, al-Qaeda training camps and himself trained there to fight US or allied troops. Camp Delta was a 612-unit detention center finished in April 2002. It included detention camps 1 through 4, as well as Camp Echo, where detainees not facing military commissions are held. Camp X-Ray was a temporary detention facility, which was closed in April 2002. Its prisoners were transferred to Camp Delta. In 2008,

23691-616: Was briefed on al-Qaeda's activities, but focused on other foreign policy issues during his first months in office. On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and flew two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City , destroying both 110-story skyscrapers. A third plane crashed into Pentagon , and a fourth plane was brought down in Pennsylvania following

23850-757: Was divided into three agencies), the United States Customs Service (which was also divided into separate agencies), and the Federal Emergency Management Agency . The Homeland Security Act represented the most significant departmental reorganization since the National Security Act of 1947 . On October 26, 2001, Bush signed into law the Patriot Act . Passed on the president's request, the act permitted increased sharing of intelligence among

24009-940: Was less sparse by the standards of Guantanamo Bay, with private kitchens, showers, televisions, and beds with mattresses. The camp was divided into eight units. Its existence was revealed to the Associated Press in 2013. A 2013 Institute on Medicine as a Profession (IMAP) report concluded that health professionals working with the military and intelligence services "designed and participated in cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment and torture of detainees." Medical professionals were ordered to ignore ethical standards during involvement in abusive interrogation, including monitoring of vital signs under stress-inducing procedures. They used medical information for interrogation purposes and participated in force-feeding of hunger strikers , in violation of World Medical Association and American Medical Association prohibitions. Supporters of controversial techniques have declared that certain protections of

24168-470: Was likely to furnish those WMDs to al-Qaeda; CIA Director George Tenet assured Bush that it was a "slam dunk" that Iraq possessed a stockpile of WMDs. After a U.N. weapons inspections team led by Hans Blix , as well as another team led by Mohamed ElBaradei , failed to find evidence of an ongoing Iraqi WMD program, Bush's proposed regime change in Iraq faced mounting international opposition. Germany, China, France, and Russia all expressed skepticism about

24327-571: Was necessary to ensure its continuing solvency. Bush expected a difficult congressional battle over his proposal, but, as he put it, "I've got political capital, and I intend to spend it." Groups like the AARP strongly opposed the plan, as did moderate Democrats like Max Baucus , who had supported the Bush tax cuts. Ultimately, Bush failed to win the backing of a single congressional Democrat for his plan, and even moderate Republicans like Olympia Snowe and Lincoln Chafee refused to back privatization. In

24486-401: Was not supported. It suggested that camp administration officials had either been grossly negligent or were participating in a cover-up of the deaths. In January 2010 Scott Horton published an article in Harper's Magazine disputing the government's findings and suggesting the three died of accidental manslaughter following torture. His account was based on the testimony of four members of

24645-634: Was originally reported in several newspapers, including The Guardian , and the ICRC reacted to the article when the report was leaked in May. According to a 21 June 2005 New York Times opinion article, on 29 July 2004, an FBI agent was quoted as saying, "On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times, they had urinated or defecated on themselves and had been left there for 18, 24 hours or more." Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall Schmidt , who headed

24804-606: Was staunchly opposed to euthanasia and supported Attorney General John Ashcroft's ultimately unsuccessful suit against the Oregon Death with Dignity Act . However, while he was governor of Texas , Bush had signed a law giving hospitals the authority to remove life support from terminally ill patients against the wishes of spouses or parents, if the doctors deemed it as medically appropriate. This perceived inconsistency in policy became an issue in 2005, when Bush signed controversial legislation to initiate federal intervention in

24963-410: Was submitted in connection with a lawsuit filed in federal district court by former detainee Adel Hassan Hamad against the United States government and several individual officials. This supported numerous claims made by former detainees like Moazzam Begg , a British citizen who had been held for three years in detention camps in Afghanistan and Guantanamo as an enemy combatant, under the claim that he

25122-513: Was succeeded by Democrat Barack Obama , who won the 2008 presidential election . He is the eldest son of the 41st president, George H. W. Bush . A decisive event reshaping Bush's administration was the September 11, 2001 event. In its aftermath, Congress created the United States Department of Homeland Security and Bush declared a global war on terrorism . He ordered an invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to overthrow

25281-554: Was vetoed by Bush. After the Supreme Court struck down a state sodomy law in the 2003 case of Lawrence v. Texas , conservatives began pushing for the Federal Marriage Amendment , which would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Bush endorsed this proposal and made it part of his campaign during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles. However, President Bush did break from his party in his tolerance of civil unions for homosexual couples. Bush

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