President-elect Barack Obama pledges to shut down Guantanamo Bay

Obama promised he will close Guantanamo Bay prison when he was running in the primaries and during the presidential elections. He confirmed that promise and said it will be one of the first things he will do when he takes over the White House.

Last night, Barack Obama gave a special interview to Steve Croft of 60 Minutes in which he talked about various things related to the presidential transition, challenges he faces, and plans he has when he takes office in the next few months. Recently, there were doubts whether President-elect Barack Obama would fulfill his campaign pledges to end torture. The Wall Street Journal said it would be unlikely that Obama would overhaul the controversial Bush administration intelligence policies. Steve Croft questioned Obama about that issue and asked him whether he plans to shut down Guantanamo Bay and change U.S. torture practices. Here is part of the transcript:

STEVE CROFT, CBS: There are a number of different things you can do early on pertaining to executive orders.

OBAMA: Right.

CROFT: One of them is to shut down Guantanamo Bay. Another is to change interrogation methods that are used by U.S. troops. Are those things that you plan to take early action on?

OBAMA: Yes. I have said repeatedly that I intend to close Guantanamo, and I will follow through on that. I have said repeatedly that America doesn’t torture, and I’m going to make sure that we don’t torture. Those are part and parcel of an effort to regain America’s moral stature in the world.

He also said he will go after Osama bin Laden and that capturing or killing him will be the main priority for Obama’s team. Here is Obama’s full interview, video and transcripts from the show and you can also watch it above.