"So much of what defines us as a nation in the last decade is crystallized at Guantanamo. And whatever you think about Guantanamo ... it will soon be gone."

-- Director Jon Else

As reported today in the news, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay is something of a controversial topic. Over the past eight years this military prison has been a lightning rod of controversy.

Allegations of torture, illegal incarceration and human rights abuses have turned this military detention center on the island of Cuba, created following the September 11 terrorist attacks, into a potent symbol of America's war on terror. Now facing closure, "Gitmo's" legacy -and the fate of its estimated 250 remaining detainees -- remains in question.

As President-elect Barack Obama discusses options for shutting it down, National Geographic Channel's Explorer offers viewers a surprisingly intimate portrait of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay in its twilight. In a special two-hour episode premiering in April 2009, Explorer: Inside Guantanamo goes behind the razor wire to document what life is really like for the detainees and the military personnel who guard them.

Explorer's crew spent nearly three weeks inside the prison, documenting the pressurized interaction and contest of wills among soldiers and detainees, as well as briefings and operations that have previously been off-limits. The film includes candid interviews with troopers at Guantanamo, top officials who believe there is an active al-Qaida cell in the facility, a former interrogator and former detainees, as well as attorneys representing those still being held.

Have an opinion of whats going on in Guantanamo?  Tell Us.  Sound off in our Explorer forum.