Barack Obama refuted reports in the American media that Germany had balked at taking the Uighers from Guantanamo Bay, saying that he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had only talked in general terms about Gitmo and German assistance. Der Spiegel reports today that Obama didn’t tell the entire truth. In fact, the German government has made clear its conditions on accepting any Gitmo prisoners as Obama tries to find ways to close it, and the terms constitute a de facto refusal:
During his brief visit to Germany last week, US President Barack Obama told the gathered press in Dresden that, when it came to the possibility of Germany accepting some of the Guantanamo prisoners due to be released, concrete demands were not yet on the table.
“We have not asked (Chancellor Angela Merkel) for hard commitments, and she has not given us any hard commitments beyond having a serious discussion about (whether there are) ways that we can solve this problem” Obama declared.
Strictly speaking, that may be true. But according to information obtained by SPIEGEL, Germany has long since blocked the idea of accepting Guantanamo detainees — and has done so without having to issue an outright rejection.
In talks at the end of May, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble presented US Attorney General Eric Holder with a list of criteria to be fulfilled before Germany would take nine Uighur detainees. Schäuble said Washington needed to present a clear case as to why the Uighurs, members of a Muslim minority in north-western China, couldn’t be taken in by the US or other countries. He also said America had to offer proof that they weren’t dangerous, and that they had a personal connection to Germany. He told Holder that Germany was unable to accept people who couldn’t travel to the US on a simple tourist visa.
That last requirement makes a neat and unassailable way to refuse cooperation on relocating any Gitmo detainees, not just the Uighers. The US will not take the position that any of the detainees at Gitmo should get tourist visas. The eruption of outrage would be enormous; even allowing them to enter the US as max-security prisoners has touched off a bipartisan firestorm on Capitol Hill.
Of course, the German position points out the basic flaw in Obama’s strategy to get Europe to house Gitmo detainees. If they’re not dangerous for Europe, why not just let them loose in the US? The answer — that Obama wants to win another term as President and would get crushed in 2012 if he released them here — also applies to Europe’s politicians, perhaps even more so. Who wants to run on the platform, “We made ourselves America’s halfway house for terrorists?” That might win the Green vote, but as the latest elections showed, that’s tantamount to political suicide on its own.
Apparently, Merkel and the Germans made their feelings known in concrete terms. Why did Obama essentially lie about it? Obviously, he’s playing for time, but I doubt it will help. Without relocation offers from Europe, Obama can’t close Gitmo, and certainly not by next January — which means he’s going to have a lot of egg on his face, and soon.
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