Boehner on Obama, Gitmo closure: 'A campaign pledge he shouldn't keep'

House Republican Leader John Boehner (Ohio) is happy the president missed one of his key deadlines.

Tweeted the GOP leader Friday:

One year since the President's executive order to close terrorist prison at Gitmo, a campaign pledge he shouldn't keep: http://is.gd/6OaZc

Obama promised in 2009 that he would close the Guanatanamo Bay prison in Cuba within his first year in office, primarily because he felt the facility had become a recruiting tool for al Qaeda extremists.

However, a series of administrative delays and political debates over where to house Gitmo's detainees forced the White House to cast doubt on its own deadline as early as December. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs admitted earlier this week White House officials "don't know" when the prison may close.

That uncertainly may be a source of consternation among Democrats, but Boehner and other GOP leaders are hardly dismayed by any delay. Republicans have long charged Obama's decision to close Gitmo was unfounded, partly because they argue U.S. prisons are inappropriate places to house suspected terrorists.

Boehner advanced that argument in a Town Hall op-ed on Friday, again imploring Obama to keep the prison open and active.

"As we saw on Christmas Day, deadly terrorists continue to wage war on the American people," the GOP leader wrote. "Terrorist groups like al Qaeda work daily to rally new recruits against the United States, our political and social values, our economic freedom, and our military — all of which were targets on September 11, 2001 when they committed an act of war against our country, targeting our civilians and our military.

"Where we detain their fellow combatants — Guantanamo Bay, Cuba or Thomson, Illinois — does not change how they view us, but it does affect the security of the United States and the safety of American communities," he added.