Was Guantanamo worth it?

With only one clear conviction thus far (Australian David Hicks who took the equivalent of a plea agreement) and courts throwing out key elements of the administration's justifications and policy at Guantanamo (not to mention Congressional moves,) the Bush administration is now magnanimously discussing closing it down.

The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere, The AP has learned.

President Bush's national security and legal advisers are expected to discuss the move at the White House on Friday and, for the first time, it appears a consensus is developing, senior administration officials said Thursday.

Although this is definitely a right step, assuming it comes off, we should not forget the broader question, "Was Guantanamo worth it?" What did we gain(?) vs. what did it cost us?

(I'd be very curious to know the genesis of this story. Obviously somebody on the "shut it down" side leaked this in an effort to isolate Cheney and the DoJ. Should be a rough meeting.)

And, what do you do with Khaled Sheik Mohammed and some of the other "high value" detainees that were fairly inarguably tortured? Do you move them to US military courts? US criminal courts? Haven't you made them untriable?

Also, Please don't miss one of the key bits at the bottom. The "strong women" around Bush are all pushing for the closure.

Officials say that Bush, who also has said he wants to close the facility as soon as possible, is keenly aware of its shortcomings.

His wife, Laura, and mother, Barbara, along with Rice and longtime adviser Karen Hughes, head of the public diplomacy office at the State Department, have told him that Guantanamo is a blot on the U.S. record abroad, particularly in the Muslim world and among European allies.

Update: Maybe I got the leaker's motivation backwards. Within the White House denial it sounds like the exposure has led to the cancellation of the meeting, so maybe the leak was designed to scupper the decision.