Sixty-Six Percent Oppose Closing Guantanamo Bay

If Barack Obama’s recent exchange of five high profile terrorists for one American soldier was intended to begin to pave the way to close Guantanamo Bay, the controversial move did nothing to sway American opinion in Obama’s favor.

Twenty-nine percent of Americans support closing the terrorist detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and moving its prisoners to U.S. prisons, while two in three (66%) oppose the idea. Despite the recent controversy surrounding the release of five Taliban prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay in exchange for U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Berghdal’s release from Afghanistan, Americans’ views have barely budged since 2009.

The most recent poll was conducted from June 5-8 by Gallup on the heels of the release of Sgt. Bergdahl. It also showed a divided America “on the wisdom of negotiating with terrorist groups….”