The First Draft: From Gitmo to paradise
Barack Obama and Joe Biden head to the Midwest today.
The Chinese Gitmo detainees are heading to paradise.
No, they’re not winging to heaven to enjoy the company of 72 virgins. The Uighurs, as they’re known, are being resettled in various beachy, tropical locales as the Obama administration seeks to empty the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison.
The United States has struggled for months to find a home for the Chinese Muslims, who were scooped up in 2001 during the invasion of Afghanistan. The Uighurs had no beef with the U.S., their lawyers say, but were instead part of an independence movement in China’s far west.
China wanted them to face the music back home, but it sounds like they’ll be facing the music of Jimmy Buffett instead. The Pacific Island nation of Palau agreed to take on all 17 detainees yesterday; today the Justice Department said four have already been resettled in Bermuda.
Six other Uighurs were sent to Albania in 2006, a former Communist state better known for pyramid schemes and bunkers than beaches. Evidently, good things come to those who wait.
photo credit: REUTERS/Tim Wimborne (footprints on an Australian beach — not where the Uighurs are going, but possibly what they’ll be experiencing).
G.Din. Thanks for you post and let me address the points you raise.
First of all, the Uyghur men were cleared to be released into the United States until a few politicians decided to make this a party political issue. Mr. Gingrich and others were, rather cynically, looking to score some points off of the Obama administration by making slanderous accusations against an entire people and by extension the detainees in Guantanamo.
Why were they in Afghanistan? Again, I refer you to the court documents. They were there because they had fled from repression in their own country. The U.S. has routinely documented this systematic economic, social, cultural and political repression in numerous reports. Contrary to international agreements on non-refoulement, countries bordering the Uyghur region often send refugees back to China to face torture and worse for peacefully, and I repeat, peacefully, advocating for their basic freedoms. During the political process which led to the founding of the United States, Britain considered the people of America as British citizens. Wouldn’t it have been Britain’s right to have the founding fathers handed over to their custody? In fact, the Chinese did have a chance to find out what the Uyghurs in Guantanamo were up to. Chinese secret service agents were allowed into Guantanamo to interrogate these men. I’d like to add that the trip was partially funded by the U.S. taxpayer. This interrogation happened as two UNITED STATES congressmen were denied access to the Uyghurs.
I agree with you G.Din that we are all stakeholders in the security and safety of the United States despite our differing opinions. My views are balanced by yours and vice-versa and we hope that a reasoned policy will emerge from the debate. In the effort to secure our country, we also need to face our mistakes. No one enterprise is perfect, and when mistakes are made, we hope that citizens such as ourselves can examine it and correct it. The detention of the Uyghurs was one of these mistakes. That is why they have been given their freedom, something which is not guaranteed in China.
Lastly, you say you are not sure that I know what we are facing in regard to the terror threat. Although I don’t think this is an appropriate forum to discuss my credentials, I have the knowledge and experience on the region and the issues to understand that the denial of having made a mistake in the Uyghur case will not make our country any safer.