Portugal: Europe should take Gitmo detainees
posted at 10:32 am on December 11, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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The US would like to release some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, but have a big problem to resolve: where will they go? Some of the home countries won’t take back suspected terrorists, showing a great deal more sense than some Americans. Some would have to return to countries who want them back a little too much, like the Chinese Uighers that will almost certainly face torture. A few nations, notably Yemen, can’t be trusted to keep terrorists locked up.
With international pressure and a building domestic consensus demanding the closure of Gitmo, who will take its detainees? Portugal says today that Europe should volunteer:
European Union countries should offer to take in any detainees released from the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo, Portugal’s foreign minister said in a letter published Thursday.
Portugal is willing to grant asylum to Guantanamo detainees who cannot return to their home countries, Foreign Minister Luis Amado said in the letter sent to his EU counterparts. …
EU nations agree the prison should be closed. But human rights campaigners have said many inmates would face persecution if sent back to their home countries.
Amado said the EU “should send a clear signal of our willingness to help the U.S. government resolve this problem, namely by taking in the detainees,” according to the letter.
Well, I’d trust them more than I’d trust Yemen to keep an eye on these detainees, but that’s not saying much. I give Portugal high marks for offering more than just criticism from the cheap seats, though. If they’re willing to take the Uighers and other detainees in limbo, then we should facilitate that transfer.
Will the rest of Europe take Amado’s challenge? I’m skeptical. Europe talks about how they support the war in Afghanistan against radical Islamist terrorists, but most refuse to engage in actual combat, with the notable exceptions of France, the UK, and our non-European partners in Canada and Australia. Somehow I get the feeling that they’ll offer the same kind of limited enthusiasm for releasing Gitmo detainees — insistent on it happening, and equally insistent on avoiding any risk to themselves while scoffing at American security concerns.
Maybe Europe will surprise us. I have a feeling they’ll disappoint Portugal instead.
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I was under the assumption that Europe had been accepting people who should be in Gitmo for years already.
YellowDawg on December 11, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Suicide socialism goes large.
the_nile on December 11, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Take my terrorists, please.
Vashta.Nerada on December 11, 2008 at 10:38 AM
With apologies to Rodney Dangerfield.
Vashta.Nerada on December 11, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Absolutely, we need Gitmo for the indictments from Chicago…I think we are going to fill that place up.
right2bright on December 11, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Great idea.
lodge on December 11, 2008 at 10:39 AM
heh. well said
brak on December 11, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Why not send them all to the UK? Bradford perhaps? It’s full of radical islamist terrorists, a few more would hardly make a difference.
Ares on December 11, 2008 at 10:43 AM
Henny Youngman
thomasaur on December 11, 2008 at 10:45 AM
LOL What could possibly go wrong?
That’s so true I’m weeping with laughter ;)
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Exit question-How much are we willing to offer in the form of “aid” to get one of these countries to take these prisoners off our hands?
canditaylor68 on December 11, 2008 at 10:49 AM
that or give them houses by our liberal supreme court judges, and liberal members of congress
right4life on December 11, 2008 at 10:50 AM
I’ll believe it when I actually see it. I wonder if Spain would be happy to see more terrorists show up on the Iberian peninsula.
rbj on December 11, 2008 at 10:51 AM
Europe: a kinder, gentler Gitmo.
Shy Guy on December 11, 2008 at 10:52 AM
With better cheeses.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 10:53 AM
But what do they mean by “taking them in”? Putting them on the dole and letting them continue to foment jihad on the taxpayers’
dime.10 Euro?flipflop on December 11, 2008 at 10:55 AM
But human rights campaigners have said many inmates would face persecution if sent back to their home countries.
Gee, Mr Peabody – why would these innocent folks, snatched up from the battlefield for no reason at all, face torture if returned to their home countries?
And hey! The compassion crowd hasn’t mentioned anything about human rights violations anywhere but in Gitmo, so it must not be happening, right?. Right?!
landshark on December 11, 2008 at 11:02 AM
And the finest whines.
:)
Shy Guy on December 11, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Let the Portuguese authorities send them to the smallest island of the Azores, with a ball and chain on each of them.
Steve Z on December 11, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Gee, I’m confused. I thought The One had carefully reviewed each one of these poor soul’s cases and determined that the evil empire that is the United States was wrong. So open the doors and let his people go.
What did I miss? I thought this thing was a no-brainer?
JeffinOrlando on December 11, 2008 at 11:07 AM
It is. I can’t see a single brain out there.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Plenty of good stuff, for sure, but also gallons of battery acid ;)
I have always been a lover of ‘new world’ wines, and a recent convert to the superb American regional wines.
But our cheese….the FDA bastards have screwed it all up…until you’ve eaten unpasteurized cheese, you haven’t eaten cheese.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Chip them like we do dogs and then drop their asses in the middle of the Sahara. Anyone who survives making it out of the desert can then go to Portugal. We can say we are working with the Europeans but also getting justice that our courts seem to want to deny us.
grdred944 on December 11, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Translation?
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Portugal is a pretty small country. I’d be real wary of letting Islamic militants live there.
Then again the country is literally filled with Christian icons, statues, churches (hardly filled of course), monuments to their liberation from muslim oppression, and Christian place names, that it would drive a jihadi nuts.
Iblis on December 11, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Eh, let them stay in Gitmo or go to home countries that will punish them, not praise them. As far as persecution goes, the EU thinks the US persecutes prisoners with our life and death sentences. So, I consider the EU perspective on human rights nuts.
Blake on December 11, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Remember the Achille Lauro hijackers. The Italians let them loose shortly after they had them in custody.
pseudonominus on December 11, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Microchip, a tiny transponder the size of a grain of uncooked rice. This is a permanent radio-frequency identification (RFID) chip implanted under the dog’s skin and read by a chip scanner or wand. Implantation is done with an injector that places the chip under the loose skin over the dog’s shoulder. If the dog is separated from its people, any veterinarian can scan the chip for owner information.
RushBaby on December 11, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Gotcha. I had horrible visions of “Fargo” for a moment there….not that I mind woodchipping terrorists, but not dogs.
Except shelties. Chip those F’ers.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Better hope Entelechy isn’t reading this thread!
RushBaby on December 11, 2008 at 12:32 PM
or seen what the inside surfaces of your guts look like.
DarkCurrent on December 11, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Actually I have. Watched my own endoscopy live.
There’s nothing wrong with unpasteurized cheese. Perfectly safe. Very good for your gut (flora) too.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Throw a few papillons in there for good measure ;)
What the hell…..chip all the ‘toy dogs’ and recycle them as cat treats.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Now you’ve really got my appetite going :-)
I’m sure it’s safer than the seafood I get in China. There’s many times here I’d go for a block of unpasteurized cheese as an alternative.
DarkCurrent on December 11, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Yeah, that’s a great idea.
One hijacked plane later and the detainees are free to go.
danking70 on December 11, 2008 at 12:55 PM
I guess it’s much like home-canning – provided you know what you are doing, are sanitary and cautious, the product will be fine. Europe has been making the stuff since forever, and we didn’t all drop dead.
America is way too anal about sterilizing the soul out of everything it eats. Live a little! Cheese is supposed to have a flavor, y’know ;)
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 1:02 PM
I get duck neck chunks with spine filling served at our staff meeting on Fridays. I’m living the dream!
DarkCurrent on December 11, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Mmmmm….I’m partial to chicken feet myself ;)
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 1:18 PM
We got ‘em!
Have you tried the split goose heads? The little brains are the best part. They’re like little grey nuggets of unpasteurized cheese that’s been slowly roasted over a low flame.
DarkCurrent on December 11, 2008 at 1:26 PM
$0.02 bullet would be cheaper on the battlefield. Not to mention less paperwork. If that’s harsh, what would they do to us?
Static on December 11, 2008 at 1:35 PM
My personal favorite in all of Portugal, and one that REALLY makes jihadis nuts!
It’s found here, and has the following text: “The ornate sarcophagus of Don Juan of Austria, inside the Royal Pantheon. In 1571, the 24-year-old illegitimate son of Charles V led a Christian fleet to victory over the Turks in the naval battle of Lepanto.“
dmh0667 on December 11, 2008 at 1:42 PM
Send them to Chicago to clean the place up.
crash72 on December 11, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Sounds interesting, but I don’t (knowingly) eat brain/spinal matter for reasons of caution.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 1:52 PM
I have an idea.
The government should buy a house in Justice Breyer’s and/or Steven’s neighbourhoods (with all the foreclosures these days, I am certain some nice properties are available at reasonable prices) and put them there.
If the arguments of the Justice Department are unpersuasive, let’s try a little reality.
Blaise on December 11, 2008 at 2:05 PM
They should be housed in the college dorms around America.
LimeyGeek on December 11, 2008 at 2:10 PM
dmh0667: Sorry, wrong country. That’s in Spain.
madne0 on December 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
They don’t need asylum. They need imprisonment, preferably in a well-defended supermax in the middle of a desert that makes escape unlikely and intrusion even harder. Or, since most of the detainees come from hot places, in the middle of northern Alaska and a long way from the pipeline. The Alaska ANG should be given authority to use live weapons on unauthorized vehicles or escapees.
njcommuter on December 11, 2008 at 3:03 PM
Europe = finishing school for terrorists. Mohammed Atta gives it two thumbs up.
Django on December 11, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Thank you RushBaby for the explaination before I could get back. Yes, I did mean microchip them. As to their disposal I do prefer the option of leaving them in the middle of the desert.
grdred944 on December 11, 2008 at 4:38 PM
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