Guantanamo

Stoller thinks that the next president should submit a bill to Congress closing Guantanamo Bay. He should do it through Congress, rather than by executive order, as a sign of respecting Congress as a coequal branch of government, and he should shut down Guantanamo because it is a symbol of a failed and immoral American policy that we need to turn the page from.

He should pay attention for what is going on in the world outside the US. He should close Guantanamo and renounce torture defintely, once and for all, and he should apologize for all the injustices that have been done. He should end the endless interference of the US in other people's businesses, make an end to imperialism He should clean up the mess in Iraq and leave, closing all fortresses built there. He should care for his own people, e.g. giving them health care that deserves the name.

On Day One, the new president should recognize that the U.S. needs to listen and respond to the concerns of other major stakeholders in the international community. He or she should also articulate a vision that is both big and broad; for example, the next president should endorse binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and nuclear weapons, close Guantanamo Bay, and respond to the needs and concerns of the developing world by ending or dramatically reducing agricultural subsidies.

I would like the next president to reconnect with America's traditional values by closing Guantanamo immediately, recommitting to a prohibition on torture across the board, and signaling to the rest of the world that America will resume its global leadership role in creating a global rule of law.

Buy Philippe's new book, Torture Team .