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 As a top Justice Department official in 2009, Monaco was summoned
to the White House Situation Room in the first weeks of Obama's
tenure to discuss how to fulfill his campaign promise to shutter a
facility that had drawn condemnation worldwide.
Nearly seven years later, most of those who were present at that
first meeting have left the government, but Monaco is still there
and charged with completing the unfinished task.
The new plan, which will follow previous attempts that have failed,
would mothball a prison that Obama views as a damaging symbol of
detainee abuse and detention without charge that he inherited from
Republican President George W. Bush.
Senior administration officials told Reuters the plan would be
unveiled in early November.
Obama, a Democrat, is adamant that Guantanamo be shut down before
his successor takes over in 2017, giving Monaco, 47, one of the
biggest challenges of her career.
“I can’t say with certainty that we’re 100 percent going to get
there, but I can tell you we’re going to die trying," said Susan
Rice, Obama's national security adviser, in an interview.
 Monaco has laid out the plan's key elements. It would transfer
eligible detainees to foreign countries; prosecute those who can be
prosecuted; and move foreign terrorism suspects who cannot be
prosecuted but are deemed too dangerous to release to a U.S.-based
facility, an option that is now barred by law.
That approach, and Monaco's stewardship of it, has plenty of
critics. Lawmakers such as Republican Senator John McCain are
frustrated with the long delay in addressing the issue. Human rights
activists are irritated by the prospect of moving detainees to U.S.
soil without formal charges being brought against them.
Monaco declined to be interview for this article.
"I’m certain that Lisa shares the president's frustrations on the
lack of progress toward closing Guantanamo, but at the same time the
White House just hasn't taken the actions necessary to move
forward," said Raha Wala, senior counsel at Human Rights First.
It has been up to Monaco, who sometimes drolly answers "peachy" when
asked how she is, to get the Departments of Defense, State, and
Justice to back the plan while helping to persuade lawmakers to
accept it.
Lawmakers recently approved a defense bill that limited transfers
from the prison. Obama vetoed it, but Republicans are sticking with
those provisions.
'OCCASIONAL FRICTION'
Pentagon delays over clearing prisoners for transfer has been
another challenge that Monaco has worked to overcome. Two
high-profile transfers occurred in the last week.
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"Despite some occasional friction (among agencies), we’re working
very well to come together around a common point of view. And she
deserves enormous credit for that,” Rice said of Monaco.
Former colleagues say Monaco's institutional knowledge of Guantanamo
has helped her guide the process of finding consensus on how to
close the prison.
"She's intimately familiar with all of these discussions that have
come before," said former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler.
"That just gives you a huge advantage."
Monaco became Obama's homeland security and counterterrorism chief
in 2013, experiencing what Ruemmler called a "trial by fire" with
the Boston Marathon bombing shortly after her arrival in the job.
Her brief today extends far beyond Guantanamo, encompassing cyber
security, Ebola, and the militant group Islamic State, policy areas
that some critics say have seen mixed success.
The new "Gitmo" plan may face a rough road. A White House official
said it contains no "silver bullet" and does not endorse a specific
U.S. facility for receiving 50 or so prisoners determined to be part
of an "irreducible minimum" that cannot be let go. Some 112
prisoners are held at the prison now, down from 242 when Obama came
into office.
In the end, Monaco may need her boss' help to get Republican
approval for a domestic detention facility.
"There's a limit to what even a shrewd negotiator or professional
like Lisa can do," said Phillip Carter, a former Pentagon official
who worked on detainee policy in 2009. "Some of these things will
have to be resolved by the president and members of Congress
directly."
(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Tom Brown)
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