U.K. To Adopt Guantanamo Detainees?
(AP Photo)
President-elect Barack Obama wants to shut down the controversial military detention facility which has long been a lightning-rod for criticism by humanitarian groups. To do that, he needs to figure out what to do with about 250 prisoners still held there.
According to the Thursday article in The Times, Britain's leaders weren't willing to help out President Bush by taking "cleared-for-release" prisoners off his hands, but they are eager to start their relationship with Mr. Obama on a high-note, and that may mean adopting some terror suspects.
"Of course the Foreign Office wants to do it, they want to get off to a good start with Obama," the article quoted one government source as saying.
(AP Photo/Shaun Curry/Pool)
He's not done badly in recent polls against the opposition Conservative party, thanks to his perceived sound handling of the economic crisis (ironic, as he was Tony Blair's finance chief during the years of boom which preceded this bust), but if an election were called anytime soon, he'd lose.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Here's a thorough analysis of Obama's Guantanamo prisoner predicament by CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen.
Brown's government has been embarrassed by a seemingly endless series of gaffes this year, and telling the good people of Britain that some new neighbors are on the way... after extended stays at a "camp" in sunny Cuba, may not go down well. Particularly when they mention, possibly as an afterthought, that these folks were arrested as suspected terrorists.
One of the first comments left by a reader on The Times' Web site seems to sum up the likely British public reaction succinctly: "This is so crazy I don't believe it."
But hey, maybe nobody else will notice the news. Most of Britain is sleeping off its collective New Year's Eve hangover today.
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Posted by larryhammick at 03:26 AM : Jan 02, 2009
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I''m British, living in Wales. You may well be right - I''m no expert on these matters. But I do know that, like every government, ours manages to annoy a lot of its citizens.
Assuming you''re right, it follows that it''s only fair for the US to keep these Gitmo prisoners - maybe even put them on trial to see if they''re innocent or guilty. Then lock up any guilty ones again but set the unconvicted free to live in the US, which after all arrested them in the first place.
That way, the US can avoid pandering to the "Muslim fascist subculture" of my country, which "harbours and supports numerous terrorists".
I''m amazed there isn''t a public campaign in America to keep these people far away from a haven as undesirable as Britain - or perhaps there is.
Posted by JackP32
Except that they''re not "criminals". You''re kinda missing the point: these people have been denied any kind of due process or justice and have never been convicted of ANYTHING.
''U.K. To Adopt Guantanamo Detainees?''
The headlines should read:
''U.S. Lapdog Continues Whitewash of Bu$h 9/11 Atrocities''
Their elected officials are preparing to implement a database of every internet user''s emails and web searches.
I find it ironic as to how many Pakistani and Afghan Iranian English based terrorists that come out of England. Even Iranian spies.
The North London Mosque is renowned for training radical ideologies that has been supported by the Prince of Wales. (Charles).
The RIIA should spend more time following radicals than the people''s web searches in the UK.
Perhaps the may need to relocate to Zambia.