The Washington Post has a story out today about the Administration's decision to stop pushing Congress to allow freed Guantanamo detainees to settle in the United States. Although they've found homes in Bermuda and Palau for the Chinese Uighurs who were released without charge, abandoning efforts to settle detainees here complicates the Administration's requests for countries like Germany, France and Australia to accept prisoners. Like U.S. representatives, foreign politicians will have a tough time explaining to their constituents that detainees that the U.S. Congress refused to release on American soil should be settled in their communities. The Administration's best hope now is to find other small nations, like Palau, who are willing to take detainees in the hope of receiving increased aid.

It's unlikely though that this move signals that Obama will put the brakes on his plans to close Guantanamo by the end of his first year in office. Administration aides told me recently that although they were somewhat surprised by the Congressional resistance they've met so far, they have no intention of letting the GOP win this fight. One aide noted that the public had been engaged in a debate of national security for the better part of the last two years, and resounding triumph for Democrats at the polls meant their views won out. Adminstration officials are likely reminding Democrats on the Hill, in no uncertain terms, not to forget that they were the winners here. Don't be surprised either if the President ultimately decides to take a similar course of action on Gitmo as he did with the stimulus package and now with healthcare: Making his case to the people himself. He is after all, his own best messanger, and populist undertones of this debate will require the President to employ his most persuasive oratory in order to win this one. He began this process with his recent national security address at the National Archives, but we'll likely be hearing that message more, particularly once healthcare reform exits the headlines.