A task force from the Obama administration has cleared at least 75 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay for release as part of the administration’s effort to shut down the camp by January 22, 2009, according to the Associated Press,

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said to ABC News in an interview that was broadcast on Sunday that “it’s going to be tough” to meet the deadline that President Barack Obama had set.

However, Gates also added that if the administration found that the prison couldn’t be closed by January 22nd, but had a “a good plan [for closing the prison], then [the administration is] in a position to say it’s going to take us a little longer but we are moving in the direction of implementing the policy that the president set. And I think that’s the position that we’re in. “

In the meantime, Reuters reported that there is a review team that will examine each prisoner to see who will be kept for trial and who will be released to go home or transferred to other countries

The officers at Guantanamo have also posted a list in the camps showing who will be released. According to the Associated Press, the list is written in Arabic, Pashto, and English to directly communicate to the captives. Instead of pointing out specific prisoners, the list just shows how many from each nationality would be free to go.

“It was an opportunity to just provide better communication,” said Navy Lieutenant Commander Brook DeWalt, a spokesman for the detention camp, to Reuters, adding that the list of released prisoners helps put information “in a more succinct context” for military officials.

Two freed Uzbeks have been sent to Ireland on Sunday for resettlement and a Yemeni returned home after seven years as a Guantanamo prisoner. According to Reuters, this shows progress in reducing the number of prisoners who are not considered a threat.

The AP reported that the 75 other captives who are set for release include “26 prisoners from Yemen, 13 from China, nine from Tunisia, seven from Algeria” and a handful of other prisoners from a variety of middle eastern countries.

As Commander DeWalt said, the rest of the prisoners are aware that Obama wants the camp closed, and they have spoken to their lawyers and relatives during calls arranged by the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to Reuters.

“We are not focused on whether the deadline will or won’t be met on a particular day,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. “We are focused on making ... the most progress that is possible.”

Our Take:

I’ve always been the one vouching for the shutdown of Guantanamo Bay. There were a lot of prisoners that I felt shouldn’t have been there, because they really are not a threat, as the officials from the White House and our military are starting to realize. I believe our nation is much better off without this camp, and I’m glad to see that more captives are being cleared for release.