Free Republic

Diplomacy:Should the U.S. scrap its special relationship with the U.K. to fulfill an ill-considered campaign vow? That's the trade-off the Obama administration made by secretly foisting terrorists onto Bermuda. It's wrong.The British Foreign Office had a right to be angry at the U.S. transfer of four Uighur terrorists from Guantanamo detention to the U.K. colony of Bermuda without its knowledge. After all, Britain is a sovereign state and, like any nation, has a right to know who's on its territory. Instead, it got treated like some banana republic. It didn't learn of the move until after the four Gitmo detainees...

Four Muslim Chinese Uighurs who spent more than seven years in the Guantanamo Bay detention camp plan to open a restaurant serving their native cuisine in breezy Bermuda, where the United States deposited them this week, The Post has learned. The men said they were ecstatic to be restarting their lives and expressed deep gratitude to Bermuda for taking them in after the United States determined they were not "enemy combatants" -- even as the relocation set off diplomatic fury among allies. Café Kashkar in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn is a local Uighur spot and could show the budding restaurateurs a...

Obama has elevated Gitmo prisoners to 'celebrity' status. With high ranking members of his administration actually escorting the Former Prisoners to Bermuda, and of course the Obama idolizing press on hand to show the Arab world how we take care of our enemies. And with them swimming around in the warm waters, it's only a matter of time, before they are interviewed, and made chic. Photos published of them sashaying around town in new duds, smiling, eating ice cream at a local parlor, probably aren't doing a lot as far as instilling fear into our enemies. I wonder if the...

* U.S. accused of 'riding roughshod' over UK as Guantanamo detainees are sent to Bermuda in secret deal * But Washington insists deal was kept from London in an effort to protect UK's relationship with China * Bermudian opposition tables no confidence motion in Prime Minister as deal ignites political firestorm on the island * PM admits he may not have agreed to take detainees in had he known the controversy it would cause * EU agrees to take in detainees They look like ordinary tourists as they stroll along the seafront on the British territory of Bermuda, but these...

EU member states say they are ready to help resettle detainees freed from the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Washington will share information about detainees and will consider, on a case-by-case basis, paying for the costs incurred by the states receiving them. But the issue of EU states accepting released detainess is controversial, partly because Europe's open borders mean former inmates accepted by one state will be able to travel freely through most of the region. Jonathan Faull, a senior European Commission official, said: "It will now be for each country in the EU to decide whether to take detainees from...

ST. GEORGE, Bermuda — Almost exactly seven years after arriving at Guantánamo in chains as accused enemy combatants, and four days after their surprise predawn flight to Bermuda, four Uighur Muslim men basked in their new-found freedom here, grateful for the handshakes many residents have offered and marveling at the serene beauty of this tidy, postcard island. In newly purchased polo shirts and chinos, the four husky men, members of a restive ethnic minority from western China, might blend in except for their scruffy beards. Smelling hibiscus flowers, luxuriating in the freedom to drift through scenic streets and harbors, they...

With nation after nation turning down the "opportunity" to house detainees from Guantanmo Bay, I thought Obama discovered Palau by ordering Robert Gibbs to spin a Replogle globe and stop it with his finger. I was wrong.

A resolution has finally been found for a group of Muslims who are apparently not guilty of being terrorists, not guilty of being enemy combatants, can't be proven in a court of law as having done anything wrong, but are still considered to be "worst of the worst" criminals far too dangerous to be allowed into the United States. These, of course, are Muslim men of varying ethnic backgrounds and nationalities that were captured in Iraq or Afghanistan or Pakistan, transported to the American Guantánamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba, and held incommunicado and without trial in unpleasant conditions for...

The four of the Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, released to Bermuda from the Guantanamo Bay prison told FOX News that they are innocent, glad to be free and hold no grudges against the United States for their captivity. The men, who range from 31 to 38 years old, also said they think life in China, where they face persecution, is worse than life at Guantanamo. With the help of a translator, they said they didn't know anything about Al Qaeda or Usama bin Laden, despite past allegations that they had aided the terror mastermind's escape.

The White House opted not to tell British authorities about a deal to resettle the four Chinese Uighurs (Guantanamo detainees) in Bermuda.

FOX News spotted the newly freed detainees at a guest cottage complex on the island without security or electronic monitoring, but their attorney said they will have to periodically check in with local police The four of the Chinese Muslims, or Uighurs, released to Bermuda from the Guantanamo Bay prison told FOX News that they are innocent, glad to be free and hold no grudges against the United States for their captivity. "We are not terrorists," they told FOX News with the help of a translator. "We don't know what Al Qaeda is. We don't know Usama bin Laden. The...

    Perhaps the Bermuda parliament is “fear-gripped”, too — or maybe just angry that their Premier cut a deal to admit al-Qaeda trained Uighur separatists into their country without consulting them or the British.  Bermuda’s House of Assembly scheduled a no-confidence vote against Ewart Brown, which would result in immediate elections and throw the Bermuda government in disarray: The United Bermuda Party today moved for a motion of no confidence against the Government led by Premier Ewart Brown.Opposition leader Kim Swan proposed the motion in the House of Assembly this morning.He said it was necessary as the Island is...

The four Chinese Muslims released from Guantánamo Bay to come to Bermuda say they had never even heard of al Qaeda until they arrived at the US prison camp where they have been confined for the past seven years. And in an interview with The Royal Gazette, the ethnic Uighurs said they had never seen pictures of what happened on September 11, 2001, but they did not approve of the terrorist attacks that killed about 3,000 people in the US. The four men — Abdulla Abdulqadir, Salahidin Abdulahad, Ablikim Turahun and Khalil Mamut — spoke last night of their excitement...

Late on Wednesday night, British officials received a telephone call from the Obama administration informing them that four Uighurs - Chinese Muslims - were about to board a plane at Guantanamo Bay bound for Bermuda. It was a fait accompli, arranged directly between the Obama administration and Ewart Brown, the Bermudan premier. The UK had no choice - it was too late for any debate about the issue. The Uighurs (lucky them, for the alternative was Albania) would be on Bermudan soil by Thursday morning. The problem is that Bermuda is one of 14 British sovereign territories - the oldest...

Earlier in the week, I applauded the president's move in transferring some of the Uighers to Palau. I referred to the move as "shrewd". Well, it might appear that I was patting the president on the back a little bit too early. It appears that the transfer is being met overwhelmingly negatively in the country. Palau President Johnson Toribiong explained his decision to grant the Uighurs entry as traditional hospitality, but public opinion has appeared overwhelmingly negative. Some complained Friday that the government failed to consult the people. “I totally disagree” with allowing the Uighurs onto Palau, Natalia Baulis, a...

London -- If you won't take them, why should we? That question has ricocheted across Europe as the Obama administration tries to fulfill its promise to shut down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Though Europeans laud that goal, many countries in the region remain skeptical about taking in former inmates, especially as the United States appears increasingly unwilling to allow any within its borders. Comments by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble illustrate just what a hard sell it is for Washington. "If none of the U.S. states are ready to take in Guantanamo inmates, then you will have...

Military intelligence officials have quietly told Congress they advised against transferring 25 of the 60 Guantanamo Bay terror detainees deemed eligible for relocation by the Obama administration, including five who are considered to be highly dangerous and likely to return to the battlefield. But the Defense Intelligence Agency officials did not raise any formal objections with the administration because they concluded the decision to move prisoners already had been made, according to a letter Sen. Tom Coburn, a member of the intelligence committee, sent Tuesday to Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair. In the letter, obtained by The Washington...

  President Obama has named Hajiakbar Abdul Ghupur as GM's new CEO.  Although Ghupur had never seen a car, his rich experience as a yak herder and Al Qaeda middle manager made him the obvious choice. After several high-profile policy changes, President Obama announced an unconventional solution to relocate Guantanamo Bay's 17 Uighur detainees. "Effectively immediately, these individuals will be transferred to General Motors," Obama declared in a written statement. "There the Uighurs will be able to put their lives back together while they help this proud company regain its footing." The Uighurs (pronounced “wee-gers”) are Chinese Muslims caught...

The United Bermuda Party today moved for a motion of no confidence against the Government led by Premier Ewart Brown. Opposition leader Kim Swan proposed the motion in the House of Assembly this morning. He said it was necessary as the Island is “increasingly subject to the politics of one man rule”. Said Mr. Swan: “Why have we moved a motion of no confidence? The public affairs of Bermuda are increasingly subject to the politics of one man rule under the Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown. We consider this unhealthy and not in Bermuda’s best interest. “This is not just about...

The four Uighurs recently released from the Guantanamo terror prison have already begun to make themselves at home on the beautiful island of Bermuda. On their first full day of freedom after seven years behind bars, the Chinese Muslims took care of the basics: buying toothpaste, a few clothes and going for a much-longed after walk. They also spent a large chunk of their day phoning loved ones. "They came with basically nothing," their lawyer Sabin Willett told the Daily News. "They came with some prison garb, a caricature of street clothes, looking bearded and scraggly." In stark contrast to...