Democrats spent the years after 9/11 insisting that they could keep America just as safe as Republicans, given the chance.  Maybe they had a different set of Democrats in mind than Barack Obama and Eric Holder.  The Attorney General briefed reporters yesterday on the plans for releasing Gitmo detainees, which apparently include releasing the terrorists inside the US:

Attorney General Eric Holder said some detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, may end up being released in the U.S. as the Obama administration works with foreign allies to resettle some of the prisoners.

Mr. Holder, in a briefing with reporters, said administration officials are still reviewing individual cases of the approximately 250 detainees to determine which will be put on trial and which may be released to comply with plans to close the detention facility by next year.

What a great idea for national security!  Why, most of these fellows could never have made it inside the US had we not captured and detained them on the battlefield.  Now we’ll just bring them in ourselves, bypassing all of those nasty border- and transportation-security systems designed just to keep these very radical Islamist terrorists from entering the country.  Brilliant!

Why will Holder consider releasing them in the US?  The Obama administration found out that talk is cheap among our European allies.  Most of the detainees can’t return to their home countries, because their home countries will either kill them (Saudi Arabia, China), torture them and then kill them (Egypt), or send them straight back to al-Qaeda with lovely parting gifts (Yemen).  Obama wants Europe to take them, since most of Europe spent the last seven years criticizing Gitmo and demanding their release.  Now that Obama actually called their bluff, Europe suddenly discovers that they don’t want dangerous terrorists in their back yards, either.

Call it a survival impulse that the Obama administration lacks.  Obviously:

For “people who can be released there are a variety of options that we have and among them is the possibility is that we would release them into this country,” Mr. Holder said.

So which community would like to volunteer first?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?

Addendum: I find myself growing nostalgic for the days when American government kept Americans safe, instead of the terrorists.