Posted on 05/20/2009 12:28:15 PM PDT by freespirited
The task force on Guantánamo Bay detainees set up by Barack Obama has recommended the administration go ahead and release into the US two Chinese Uighurs held at the prison, the Financial Times has learned.
The White House’s hesitation on its original decision to release the two comes as Republicans increase their attacks on Mr Obama’s plans to close Guantánamo, which would involve transferring a total of some 240 detainees to the US.
Republicans won a political victory on Tuesday after Democrats withdrew $80m (£53m) in funding for the closure of the camp until the administration had come up with an adequate plan to transferring detainees. The plight of the Uighurs illustrates the difficulty Mr Obama faces in trying to carry through his promise to close the prison.
Two government officials told the FT that the task force had advocated releasing two of the 17 Uighurs – Muslims from Xinjiang province – held at Guantánamo as part of the effort to fulfil the president’s pledge to close the US detention facility on Cuba within a year.
The White House was now wavering from its original intention to implement the recommendation under pressure from Congress. One official said the administration had originally overruled the homeland security department and Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had “screamed bloody murder.”
Dean Boyd, a justice department spokesman, said: “We have no announcements on whether any final decision has been made with respect to the disposition of the Uighurs or other detainees at Guantánamo, or on the claim of interagency disagreements.”
Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican senator, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent senator from Connecticut, also introduced legislation that would block the release of the Uighurs into the US.
“Former enemy combatants should not be released into the general population of the US,” said Mr Graham. “Any decision to do this will put Americans at unnecessary risk.”
Mr Graham told the FT there was “huge” support for the legislation. Asked whether any lawmakers were arguing on behalf of releasing the Uighurs in the US, he said: “The Uighur caucus is pretty small.”
Some Democrats have also questioned whether the US should take the Uighurs, who were captured in Pakistan after fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the 2001 invasion.
The Pentagon, which no longer deems the Uighurs as “enemy combatants”, has cleared most of them for release. The US has refused to return them to China – where they are considered part of a terrorist separatist movement – out of concern that they might be tortured or killed.
The administration of George W. Bush spent several years trying to persuade other countries to take the Uighurs, but only succeeded in getting Albania to take five of the 22 detainees. Many critics have argued that the US would have more success obtaining help from other countries by taking some Uighurs itself. Germany and Sweden, which have large Uighur communities, have previously refused to accept any of them.
Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said the administration understood that the US needed to take some of the detainees in order to encourage Europe to help, but that the congressional rhetoric would complicate those efforts.
“You can’t argue these people are too dangerous to be released in the United States and then ask Germany to take them, that doesn’t work.”
Wont work. Europe may be PC but it doesnt want terrorists.
Send them back to China.
Perfect solution. The Chinese will deal with them in the manner they deserve.
My sentiments exactly. I find it confounding that here we are trying like mad to excuse and/or exonerate terrorists so that we can close a base but at the same time want to secure some sanctuary for them.
Irony of irony - We are closing Gitmo because of BS publicity of flushing Korans and torturing prisoners and now they want to keep them there or somewhere where they won't be tortured or killed.
These are people who trained with terrorists to carry out terrorist attacks on China. We are not at war with China, so why would we harbor terrorists who were training to attack China?
How would we feel if China took Bin Laden and his buddies since he didn’t attack China?
Excellent analogy.
Wasnt that long ago that we operated under a doctrine that anyone who harbored terrorists or aided them was as guilty as terrorists themselves. Now we are doing a 180... protecting people who trained with Al qaeda.
agree 100%, why the hell would we want to protect terrorists being trained by the same terrorist groups we are at war with. Liberals are out of their frigging minds.
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