[chrispedersen]

Rights of a British citizen (consular access, jurisprudence etc) are covered under a whole host of agreements, treaties and laws that are already established.

An aide leaking that the Obama campaign *is going* to to shut down Gitmo. etc (as in original post) and making that determination in advance of choosing an attorney general, in advance of consulting with JCS, or your secretary of state, especially in the case of setting legal precedent is troubling.

Closing gitmo may *be* the best course of action. Bush tried to willy nilly establish a new set of rules; he was shot down - but just because Obama is making a diametrically opposite position doesn't mean it is the correct decision, and it doesn't mean it isn't a willy nilly decision. But I would rather have confidence that Obama has the participation of his team on this. I'd rather have the knowledge that the ramifications have been discovered - and on such a polarizing issue, I'd like him to explain the decision.

Some things require haste - the banking crisis. Somethings require deliberative speed.