U.S. plans to accept several Chinese Muslims from Guantanamo
The Obama administration is preparing to admit into the United States as many as seven Chinese Muslims who have been imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay in the first release of any of the detainees into this country. The Uighurs (pronounced WEE-gers) Chinese Muslims would be the first detainees from the prison to settle in America. Many of the Uighurs hold strict views of what is permitted under Islam. According to the article; administration officials also believe that settling some of them in American communities will set an example, helping to persuade other nations to accept Guantanamo detainees too.
This floors me.
Am I the only person who thought when President Obama said he was closing the Guantanamo prison and relocating the detainees, that he meant to disperse them into the U.S. prison system to await trials? Or they would be processed and sent to other coutries where they had lived?
Did it occur to anyone that he meant to resettle them in U.S. neighborhoods and communities???
The Administration is expecting challenges from China and within the U.S.. Chinese officials consider the Uighurs domestic terrorists and want those 17 Uighurs held at Guantanamo handed over for investigation. U.S. officials no longer consider the Chinese Muslims to be enemy combatants and fear they would be mistreated in China.
Well, how did they end up at Gitmo, you might ask. The article says; the Uighurs were sent to Guantanamo in 2002 after being captured in Pakistan. Before that, they had gravitated to Afghanistan, where they received firearms training at a camp apparently run by a Uighur Chinese Muslim separatist.
Some former U.S. officials have said government information indicates that the Uighurs may pose a danger if released. But other officials and human rights organizations insist they pose no threat to the Americans.
"It is kind of hard to tell other countries you would like them to accept some of these guys from Guantanamo if you are not willing to accept them," said the U.S. official, who described the internal discussions on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials did not detail what supervision the Uighurs might receive once they are living on their own. But they said the Uighurs would be allowed to live freely.
I propose that they go and "LIVE FREELY" with the Obama and Co. officials who think they should be "allowed to live freely". I'm sure there are a few extra rooms where they can bunk at the White House.
A lawyer for some of the Uighurs in Guantanamo,Sabin Willett,argued that his clients should be set free immediately, with some measure of protection from people who might mistakenly consider them a threat.
"I fear political opponents of the Obama administration will try to sow fear and paranoia about the Uighurs," Willett said. "Once America gets a look at our clients, all this mythology will fall away and America will feel ashamed at thefact they were in prison so long."
The Uighurs oppose the Chinese government but do not consider the U.S. government a direct enemy. Remember, many of the Uighurs hold strict views of what is permitted under Islam. Does Shariah Law ring a bell?
"At Gitmo, Uighurs were not considered a grave threat and were allowed greater freedom, such as television privileges, than other detainees.
But the TV privileges underscored potential difficulties to come, according to one current and one former U.S. official. Not long after being granted access to TV, some of the Uighurs were watching a soccer game. When the image of a woman with bare arms was shown on the screen, one of the group grabbed the television and threw it to the ground, according to the officials.
Since then, officials at Guantanamo have bolted down the TVs and shown pre-taped programs, editing out any images they thought Uighurs might find offensive.
Well, isn't that special. Could that be part of what might tend "to sow fear and paranoia about the Uighurs"? Maybe it's the fact that they were captured by U.S. military and held for a reason? This is totally outrageous! Even Obama and Co. can't be that obtuse.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gitmo-release24-2009apr24,0,1151031,full.story
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