by anderson
Tiny Pacific island nation, Palau, has a agreed to accept most if not all of the 17 Uighur Chinese who have been held and tortured for years at Guantanamo Bay. President Johnson Toribiong said that his country would be "honoured and proud" to receive the men as an "humanitarian gesture."
Just think about this for a moment. As Obama tries to divest his administration of at least some of the detainee problem created by Bush, major western powers tremble, twitch, and balk at accepting Gitmo detainees, regardless the fact that most are innocent of any "suspicion," let alone actual crime against the US (the Uighurs are certainly of this category). Americans quiver -- or are told to quiver -- at the thought that the "worst of the worst" could be moved to a Supermax prison run by the largest, most heavily weaponized prison-industrial complex on the planet. But the tiny island nation of Palau opens its borders the Uighurs in a humanitarian gesture -- and probably some healthy remuneration from the White House* -- and declares that it is proud to the receive these men, wrongly held and tortured for so long.
*from the article: "The United States has pledged $200 million in long-term development aid to Palau. But a senior State Department official flatly denied it was a quid pro quo for the detainee deal."
Boy if I was one of the 17 Uighur Chinese I might ask whether the US couldn't find a place that won't be so endangered by climate disruption. Palau has already seen this man made phenomenon cause deforestation of the islands, threaten it with sea level rises and decimate its reef fish populations.
ReplyDeleteI can just see it in 25 to 30 years as the Philippines, PNG and Australia refuse to take any surviving Ulghurs or their families because of the American experience as the islands slip below the Pacific's waves.
Dollars to donuts this isn't the "paradise" these guys were expecting to be sent.
ReplyDeleteNo, probably not. But it sure beats the daily walling.
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