Posted on 06/08/2009 10:34:24 AM PDT by Schnucki
US President Barack Obama had been hoping that Germany would take nine Guantanamo detainees deemed ready for release. But Berlin has presented a list of conditions -- which likely can't be met.
During his brief visit to Germany last week, US President Barack Obama told the gathered press in Dresden that, when it came to the possibility of Germany accepting some of the Guantanamo prisoners due to be released, concrete demands were not yet on the table.
"We have not asked (Chancellor Angela Merkel) for hard commitments, and she has not given us any hard commitments beyond having a serious discussion about (whether there are) ways that we can solve this problem" Obama declared.
Strictly speaking, that may be true. But according to information obtained by SPIEGEL, Germany has long since blocked the idea of accepting Guantanamo detainees -- and has done so without having to issue an outright rejection.
In talks at the end of May, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble presented US Attorney General Eric Holder with a list of criteria to be fulfilled before Germany would take nine Uighur detainees. Schäuble said Washington needed to present a clear case as to why the Uighurs, members of a Muslim minority in north-western China, couldn't be taken in by the US or other countries. He also said America had to offer proof that they weren't dangerous, and that they had a personal connection to Germany. He told Holder that Germany was unable to accept people who couldn't travel to the US on a simple tourist visa.
While Schäuble didn't say "no," the criteria may be prohibitive. In reporting on the discussion to the Chancellery, Schäuble's office presented the conversation as a rebuff of the US request.
As part of Obama's efforts to close the Guantanamo prison, the White House
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Why should Germany or anyone in their right mind want them?
Send them back to China, they’ll be glad to see them!
That would be worse than waterboarding. ;)
It really is fun hearing the talking heads try to pronounce the name without over-pronouncing the name.
You know what I mean ;)
Germany has no reason to accept them, they have nothing to do with Germany. If we don’t care enough about them to keep them locked up, why should anyone else?
And if we no longer consider them a threat, if they would be safe living in Germany, then why not the United States? If we don’t want them, why should anyone else want them?
The right answer, if it isn’t safe to return them on the next flight to China, is to return them to Afghanistan where they were found and let them find their own way from there, let them decide from there what they want to do.
Exactly. That is the right answer. Either send them back to Afghanistan or Pakistan if we don't consider them a threat, and let them figure it out from there. Or else let the Saudis step forward and make room for them; they use a large number of foreign workers there, they would fit right in.
preconditions? Let me guess.
They all must pay for their own healthcare...
They all must be self-supporting...
They all must become fluent in German...
Give ‘em all a shovel and have them each dig a six-foot-deep hole. You fill in the rest. No muss — no fuss. And let it be known that this is what happens to people who act this way.
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