关塔那摩战俘营。乔治.布什曾想关闭它，约翰.麦凯恩也想这样做。奥巴马更是许诺在上任第一年内就将其废弃。而现在，他的总统任期已过了近三年；而自2002年一月，第一批战犯踏入铁丝网包裹的大门起，都已经过了十年。位于关塔那摩海湾的战俘营却依旧存在，照常运行。

　　It is, perhaps, the most glaring failure of Mr Obama’s first term. On his second full day in office, surrounded by 16 retired generals and admirals, he signed the order to close the facility that he said had probably created more terrorists than it ever detained. With majorities in both chambers of Congress he looked set to make good on his pledge. There was just one problem: the president had a timetable, but no plan.

　　或许没有关闭关塔那摩战俘营就是奥巴马第一任期内最大的败笔。在他正式行使总统职权的第二天，在16位退休将军和海军上将的注视下，他签署命令关闭关塔那摩战俘营，他曾表示由于这座战俘营的存在而引发出的恐怖分子有可能比在押者还要多。此时在国会两院中民主党都享有多数票优势，一切都与他许诺的也一般无二，看上去他就要关闭关塔那摩战俘营了。问题只有一个：总统有的只是张时间表，却没有任何操作计划。

　　“Where are we going to send them?” asked Mr McCain after the order was signed. His Republican colleagues warned that dangerous terrorists could end up in local jails. In fact, Mr Obama had in mind a facility in Illinois similar to America’s “supermax” prisons, from which no one has ever escaped. But right-wingers stoked public dread and polls soon showed significant disapproval of the closure. In the face of such opposition, and with little support from a White House distracted by health-care reform, the Democrats quickly backed down. In a series of votes, both parties signalled their displeasure with the president’s policy, blocking funds for Guantánamo’s closure and banning the transfer of detainees to American soil.

　　命令签署后，麦凯恩先生提出了个问题：“我们该把这些战俘送到那儿？”他的共和党同僚预计这些危险的恐怖分子可能会最终投入到当地的监狱。事实上，奥巴马对此曾有设想，想在伊利诺伊州设置一所类似美国“超级监房”那样的设施，战犯一旦被投入监牢，就插翅难飞。但右翼分子煽动公众的畏惧情绪，投票结果也表明公众对关闭战俘营怀有极大的不满情绪。面对反对声浪，当时正被医疗保险改革搞得焦头烂额的白宫当局无暇他顾，对奥巴马提议的支持更是少之又少。见势不妙，民主党人随即就打了退堂鼓。在此后一系列涉及关塔那摩战俘营的投票中，两党都发出对总统关于关闭战俘营决策不满的呼声，进而要求对关闭战俘营的相关资金加以封锁，禁止将在押人员转到美国本土。

　　The White House fought back, defeating an effort aimed at stopping the government from putting the alleged architects of 9/11 on trial in federal court. Then came its boldest move. In November 2009 Eric Holder, the attorney general, announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-conspirators would face justice in Manhattan. The trial would show that America’s civilian courts could handle even Guantánamo’s worst. But just two months later, amid mounting security concerns and rising political pressure, the effort fell apart. Once again, the administration had underestimated the political and logistical challenges posed by its policies.

　　白宫开始进行反击。在对被指控参与谋划9/11恐怖袭击的恐怖分子是否应该在联邦法庭上就审这个问题上，一举击败企图阻挠的势力。紧接着的举动震惊了所有人。在2009年9月，总检察官埃里克.赫德宣布哈立德?谢赫?穆罕默德和他的四名同谋者将在麦哈顿接受正义的审批。它将向世人表明，即使是关塔那摩战俘营中最棘手的案件，美国民政法庭也有能力处理。但仅仅两个月后，出于安全考虑的巨大忧虑以及不断增长政治压力，这一设想不得不草草收场，不了了之。又一次，政府当局对自己制定的政策没有充分考量，低估了在政治上的挑战和移交转移的难度。

　　Succumbing to the obstacles placed in his path, in March last year the president lifted his moratorium on new military-commission trials at Guantánamo and instituted a system for holding some detainees indefinitely. Civil-liberties groups called it an admission of defeat. PolitiFact, an outfit that assesses the accuracy of statements made by politicians, declared Mr Obama’s campaign promise “broken”.

　　许下承诺，无法实现；面对阻力，被迫让步；在去年三月，总统自食其言，重新允许在关塔那摩的特别军事法庭对在押战俘进行新一轮审判，并拟定相关条例无限期扣押某些战俘。民权解放组织称总统此举为承认失败。一家由政界人士创建，旨在评价政令履行程度的团队PolitiFact则宣称奥巴马先生在竞选期间做出的承诺已“随风逝去”。