Administration Dispersing GTMO Detainees (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
Ten Guantanamo detainees have been transferred so far:
“This week alone, the administration transferred 10 detainees out of Guantanamo. Two were sent to Chad and Iraq, one was brought to New York to stand trial in civilian court, four were sent to Bermuda and three to Saudi Arabia. A deal in principle has been reached with the Pacific island nation of Palau to accept some others.”
Palauans aren’t happy with their government’s decision to accept GTMO Uighurs so that deal may fall through, and the transfer of four GTMO Uighurs to Bermuda also caused hard feelings. The British government is responsible for Bermuda security but it wasn’t told about the transfer until the last minute, making for rocky times with our closest ally:
“ABC News’ Kirit Radia reports: The U.S. may be happy to see four more detainees leave the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, but close ally Great Britain is not. London is seething because it says it was not adequately consulted about a decision to move four Uighurs — Chinese Muslims — to Bermuda today.
“They’re pissed,” admitted a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The UK provides for Bermuda’s defense and foreign affairs, but the State Department today said it dealt directly with the government of Bermuda, who then informed the British Governor General on the island.”
Meanwhile, the three detainees sent to Saudi Arabia sound like test cases:
“Authorities announced Friday that three detainees – Khalid Saad Mohammed, Abdalaziz Kareem Salim Al Noofayaee and Ahmed Zaid Salim Zuhair – had been sent home to Saudi Arabia. Zuhair had had been on continual hunger strike at Guantanamo for almost four years to protest his detention.
The Justice Department said the trio will be subject to judicial review in Saudi Arabia before they participate in a “rehabilitation” program administered by the Saudi government.”
Here are the NY Times’ dockets on Mohammed, al Noofayaee, and Zuhair. Depending on how well they are “rehabilitated” in a Saudi training program, over a 100 Yemenis may follow:
“U.S. officials said they were close to a deal with Saudi Arabia and Yemen under which Saudi Arabia would take about 100 Yemeni detainees and place them in Saudi-run terrorist rehabilitation centers.”
That’s what I call coming full circle.
— DRJ
UPDATE: Hot Air: The Obama Administration intentionally kept Britain in the dark about its plan to move detainees to Bermuda, claiming it wanted to shield Britain from pressure from the Chinese.
Yet another case where the admin is going to act quickly to avoid SCOTUS scrutiny. Can’t possibly risk a ruling that actual release is available as a remedy.
Soronel Haetir (a3f11b) — 6/13/2009 @ 9:58 amThe Obama Administration believes it’s important to close Cuba’s GTMO but its solution is to send detainees to their ideological base in Saudi Arabia and to other islands. Ironic, isn’t it?
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 10:08 amZuhair has been implicated in the death of a U.S. citizen working for the U.N. in Bosnia…
AD - RtR/OS! (42a55e) — 6/13/2009 @ 10:39 amhttp://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/12/obama-wont-rule-freeing-guantanamo-detainees/.
I read that we are going to give Palau $200M for taking 14 Uighurs.
SteveG (c99c5c) — 6/13/2009 @ 10:54 amI say we give four of them to Drew Peterson
Gradually implement one tiny “solution” after another, 3 or 4 detainees at a time, and before you know it, Gitmo will be empty.
Problem solved.
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 11:25 amThe second phase of the “problem solved” that the idiot mentions is to shoot them the next time they are encountered on the battlefield. I suspect that is already going on although, of course, there is no official mention.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/13/2009 @ 11:44 amDo you Mirandize them before or after you shoot them?
AD - RtR/OS! (42a55e) — 6/13/2009 @ 11:52 amYour advice is to just gun down people who pose a political problem, Mike?
Sounds eerily familiar.
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:00 pmThat was a lie, and you are a liar, poon.
JD (5f9cc7) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:08 pmpoon,
A political problem? You make it sound like fighting terrorists is no different than Nixon’s hit list. Please reconsider.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:24 pmDRJ, “poon” is word that apparently means:
Incapable of intellectual honesty, admission of error, or fairly stating the opinions of others.
Steverino (69d941) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:26 pmI’ve updated the post with more from Hot Air on the Brits and Bermuda.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:34 pmDRJ,
Few of the detainees under discussion were captured “on the battlefield” as it were.
Caught unarmed at border crossings, tea shops, flop houses, etc. being the more frequent point of detention for them.
Are we to start gunning down people in cold blood who oppose us politically?
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:39 pmYou said Mike K supports gunning down people who pose a political problem. That may be your interpretation of reality in the war on terror, but that isn’t remotely what Mike K said. That’s what you need to reconsider.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:43 pmAgain, poon misrepresents the words and meaning of Mike K’s post. He explicitly said “on the battlefield”. It’s not hard to understand. But poon deliberately twists the words to suit his own agenda. How ironic, coming from someone who spent all day yesterday lecturing us on how David Letterman alone owned the meaning of his words.
poon, are you going to hold yourself up to the same standard?
Steverino (69d941) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:45 pmI disagree… source? Sounds like you’re taking the detainee’s word for what they were doing when they were captured as opposed to what really happened.
Stashiu3 (ed6467) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:54 pmStash! It is just going back to the “they were all just peaceful goatherders prior to Bush” meme.
JD (5f9cc7) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:57 pmPoon is obviously and idiot. The very best way to get rid of him is to not respond to anything he or she writes. I just reviewed much of what this yo-yo has been writing. I think poon takes the prize as the least accurate poster on any of the blogs I visit. Poon is 100% wrong on every case. That is hard to match.
Zelsdorf Ragshaft III (e8edf3) — 6/13/2009 @ 12:58 pmJD! Of course they were… just ask Daniel Pearl.
Zelsdorf, you’re right of course. I yielded to temptation. Everyone has moments of weakness. I will try to do better. 😉
Stashiu3 (ed6467) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:03 pmThe Uighers, an ethnic group native to China, were captured in Pakistan in late 2001. They have been held without charge in Guantanamo for nearly seven years despite the government’s inability to put forth any evidence of their involvement with al Qaeda or the Taliban or of any conduct suggesting ill will toward the United States. The Uighers do not pose a security threat to the United States; in fact, even the Bush administration acknowledged they are “no longer” enemy combatants.
http://blog.thehill.com/2009/02/19/the-uigher-ruling/
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:09 pmpoon,
I have no doubt you believe the GTMO detainees could be innocent captives but that doesn’t mean you get to rewrite what Mike K said. Thus, I’ll moderate your comments while you think about this more.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:13 pmYour advice is to just gun down people who pose a political problem, Mike?
Sounds eerily familiar.
Comment by poon
Poon, I doubt you know much about battlefields but “political problems” are not what they are about. Reading comprehension would do you a lot of good. I doubt you will get it.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:14 pm#18 I have the feeling that poon is female. Just a guess but the level of understanding seems, how shall I say ? Feminine. I doubt she even knows how many Gitmo former detainees have returned to the battlefield. The number is over 50 and I have read as high at 20%. If the Uighers open a donut shop and settle in to send their kids to college, they are safe.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:18 pmDRJ,
I’ve spoken of those Uighers before and they are terrorists, with terrorist training and goals. They are not innocents and their capture is certainly not representative of most detainees. They were caught up while training with our enemies. They were just training to fight someone else.
Stashiu3 (ed6467) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:21 pmStashiu3,
I understand, plus it really helps to talk to someone like you who has actually been there. (Frankly I can’t believe the Bermuda PM would take the Uighurs and, unlike poon, I doubt anyone ended up at GTMO for no reason.) But I wanted to make it clear to poon and everyone that this little dispute isn’t about why detainees were held at GTMO. It’s about Mike K’s comment and poon’s response.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:39 pmDRJ,
Why would Mike write I suspect that is already going on although, of course, there is no official mention. if he wasn’t suggesting an extralegal solution?
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 1:51 pmI am sure there will be some very interesting talks when the Bermuda PM sits down with those in London discussing the level of funding for his government, probably have some “frank, and serious” discussions on communication.
AD - RtR/OS! (42a55e) — 6/13/2009 @ 2:18 pmMike K,
If you are interested, poon is interested in resuming your debate. Please see new comment 26 (poon — 6/13/2009 @ 1:51 pm) that I just approved.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 3:25 pmpoon
I read that as a dose of pragmatism.. people out in the field might lean a little more towards finality…
SteveG (c99c5c) — 6/13/2009 @ 4:18 pmpersonally, I think Obama will just outsource torture to the Egyptians and detention to Yap Atoll, Palau
But hey, he closed Gitmo…. so that’s a change. of a sort. yay.
I wasn’t precise in my geography
Yap Atoll is in Micronesia and Palau is it’s own entity. Why Yap Atoll came to mind literally and figuratively out of nowhere is a mystery
SteveG (c99c5c) — 6/13/2009 @ 4:25 pmOh c’mon. The terrorists will kill you, your mothers and fathers, children and grandchildren. The anointed tries to make us believe that playing nice with these fanatical fascists will make them like us. It would be in Obama’s best interest to read a history book instead of writing the tripe he has put out.
dave christensen (d4868a) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:22 pmbefore they participate in a “rehabilitation” program administered by the Saudi government.”
I have to laugh at what that conjures up in my imagination: A bunch of terrorists in a location owned and managed by Saudi rehab guides, who tell their charges to sit around a campfire, sing songs to and about Mohammed, and renounce their past by shouting “Praise Allah!!”
Mark (411533) — 6/13/2009 @ 8:15 pmDRJ, poon is not worth a discussion. I discuss things with people who are serious, like you.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/13/2009 @ 9:04 pmWell! I think the Brits would do a much better job if they were not blind-stinking drunk! [“They’re pissed,” admitted a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity”]
Oh….wait… he meant they were angry. [pissed=drunk in slang].
Never mind.
Californio (6657ce) — 6/13/2009 @ 11:42 pm