Today in Washington D. C. - June 12, 2009 - Chinese Muslim Terrorists Resettled in Paradise

The Senate voted to expand government yesterday by passing H.R. 1256 (79-17) which allows the FDA to regulate tobacco; House expected to adopt Senate version of the bill.

GITMO in the News: In the wake of President Obama’s hasty decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility by next January, the administration began scrambling to find places to send some of the detainees and officials said that some detainees would be settled in the U.S. However, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times report today that after weeks of vocal opposition, much from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, the Obama administration has abandoned those plans today. But then again the news has been known to get it wrong.

The LA Times writes, “The Obama administration has virtually abandoned plans to resettle in the United States some detainees from the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, officials said, a recognition that the task had become politically impossible because of congressional opposition. . . . The administration had hoped to move some of the Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, to the United States as a signal to other countries that they were not dangerous. But the swift backlash forced the administration to reverse course.”

So, the Times reports, “The administration now is scrambling to find countries willing to accept the Uighurs . . . .” And in the last couple days, hasty transfers of several Uighur detainees to Bermuda and Palau have been arranged. But it seems that residents in those countries are just as concerned as Americans about accepting detainees who were reportedly trained in terrorist camps. The AP reports, “The tiny Pacific nation of Palau’s decision to allow 13 Chinese Muslims from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp to resettle there has sparked anger among islanders who fear for the safety of the tranquil tourist haven.” And Bermuda’s newspaper noted that reaction there “was swift and overwhelming with The Royal Gazette being inundated with e-mails as well as comments on our Facebook page. The number of e-mails was unprecedented, with no issue causing such an outpouring in recent memory.” According to The Royal Gazette, “E-mails to the news desk yesterday indicated that born Bermudians and foreign workers alike were opposed to the resettling of four Chinese Muslim Uighurs released from Guantánamo Bay.”

Those aren’t the only problems resulting from the short-notice transfers. ABC’s Jake Tapper reported yesterday that “London is seething because it says it was not adequately consulted about a decision to move four Uighurs -- Chinese Muslims -- to Bermuda today. ‘They’re pissed,’ admitted a senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.” And the LA Times adds, “British officials were frustrated by the lack of consultation by the U.S., and complained that they were informed of the transfer just hours before it occurred.”

As the Los Angeles Times explains, “The flurry is a sign that the administration is painfully aware of its promise to close Guantanamo’s prison within a year. With only seven months to go, the U.S. has about 232 remaining detainees to either transfer to other countries, charge in federal courts or military commissions, or consider holding without trial.”

And what about the cost of these relocations? The South Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed to accept an American offer to absorb 17 trained al-Qaeda members in exchange for some $200 million. ABC News' polling director Gary Langer points out, "proportional to population, sending 13 Uighurs to Palau is like sending 188,993 Uighurs to the United States."

Also, how difficult is it to get from Bermuda to the U.S. and all points out of the country. With London being upset with the Obama administration resettling the terrorists in their commonwealth country without discussions indicates desperation on the part of the Obama administration. You can bet this will cost more money.

The lives of these Chinese Muslim Uighurs are numbered unless the Obama administration is providing 24 hour protection (didn't they have that at GITMO). Agents of the Chinese government have probably been or will be dispatched to Bermuda and Palau to "address" these terrorist threats to their country.

But it seems that the administration could have avoided much of this trouble if it wasn’t so determined to close Guantanamo by a date certain without a plan for how to do so. As Sen. McConnell said back in April, the administration decided to put “symbolism ahead of safety. . . . [C]losing Guantanamo is not a good option if no safe alternatives exist.”

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