The overwhelming odds against shuttering the Guantánamo Bay detention facility before Barack Obama leaves office have left his allies viewing his latest closure plan as an epitaph for an effort they consider marked by unforced errors.

Ever since he took office, Obama has watched the collapse of political consensus on closing Guantánamo Bay – a move endorsed by his predecessor, George W Bush, and his 2008 opponent John McCain. Instead, a wall of conservative opposition formed which Obama has shown no ability to penetrate. Seven years of entreaties, reiterated the president on Tuesday, have yielded only emboldened resistance to wait him out. ...

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