US Senate paralyzed on what to do about Guantanamo

WASHINGTON (AP) U.S. senators on Tuesday showed their paralysis over what to do with the Guantanamo Bay prison, voting down dueling bills to loosen and tighten restrictions on transferring detainees.

Almost 12 years after its creation and almost five years since President Barack Obama vowed on his first day in office to close the prison, 164 suspects remain at the U.S. naval facility in Cuba. Restrictions imposed by Congress have brought transfers to a virtual standstill, even though more than half the men there have been cleared for transfer.

An amendment to the Senate's annual defense policy bill proposed by Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain would have eased the Obama administration's ability to detain and try suspects in the United States or release them overseas. But it fell eight votes shy of the 60-vote threshold needed for passage. The vote was 52-46.

McCain read a letter from 38 former U.S. military leaders voicing their support. It called Guantanamo a "symbol of torture" and a recruiting tool for al-Qaida.

Earlier, an opposing amendment championed by Republican senators that would have made it even harder for Obama to move prisoners was defeated 55-43.

One of the backers, Sen. James Inhofe, defended the treatment of Guantanamo detainees and said one of their biggest problems was obesity.

"They're eating better than they've ever eaten at any other time in their life," Inhofe said.

The stalemate leaves language in the defense bill that only slightly advances Obama's cause. The White House has called the bill constructive while insisting that more be done to provide officials with the necessary flexibility to close the prison.

Any final law needs the Republican-led House of Representatives' support, and such a scenario is highly unlikely.

Obama's effort to loosen restrictions on Guantanamo detainees faces dogged resistance, with opponents citing the cases of some suspects who've been released to foreign countries only to later join terrorist efforts.

Earlier this year, the House banned sending detainees to Yemen, where more than half the remaining detainees come from. Yemen is also home to perhaps al-Qaida's most active branch.

Obama established his own ban on Yemeni transfers after a Nigerian man tried to blow up a U.S.-bound flight on Christmas four years ago with explosives hidden in his underwear. The bombing instructions came from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen.

Obama lifted the moratorium in May, calling Guantanamo a "symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law."

Senate advocates of closing Guantanamo repeatedly cited the high cost of maintaining the facility: $2.7 million a year per prisoner.

Total spending on Guantanamo amounts to $454 million a year, according to the Defense Department.

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Associated Press writer Bradley Klapper contributed.