Obama's Third Gitmo Closure Envoy: Is Third Time the "Closing" Charm?

Among the sore points in US-Cuban political relations is Guantanamo Bay. The military base rankles Cubans; the terror prison rankles the world. In the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Barack Obama asserted he would make every effort to close the Gitmo slammer. Seven years later show a distinct lack of progress toward that goal. The president has hired, and accepted resignations from, two emissaries called "Special Envoy for Guantanamo Closure." Their job was to negotiate prisoner release to the home countries of the incarcerated. Those discussions were filled with obstacles and a general sense the prisoners were not welcome to return.

Lee Wolosky
(Image: blfllp.com)

Obama's third envoy is a New York attorney named Lee Wolosky. According to a story in today's Miami Herald, the 46-year-old barrister brings more than Harvard Law smarts to a very rough game. He's worked with both GOP and Democratic administrations on sensitive national security matters. Wolosky currently represents clients suing the Bank of China for its alleged role as a conduit for terrorist funding. He's a partner in David Boies' law firm. In case you're keeping score at home, the publicity-welcoming Boies has repped the likes of former A.I.G. Maurice Greenberg, Al Gore's ill-fated legal action in the 2000 presidential election, and Apple. One can suppose from that background that Wolosky can manage "difficult" clients, intransigent counterparts, and complex cases.

Gitmo will certainly challenge Wolosky's skills. Meanwhile, let's see if Obama's third Gitmo envoy is the charm that brings this bizarre episode to a desperately needed ending.