Gregory D.

Lee

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June 19, 2009

Another Towel Please, Mohammad; Uighur Terrorists Head for Bermuda

Just when you thought the Obama Administration couldn’t further mismanage the global war on terror, renamed “man-made disasters” or “overseas contingency operations,” it did.

The U.S. quietly flew out four Uighur Chinese Muslim detainees from Guantanamo Naval base to, of all places, the British-possessed island of Bermuda, just off Florida’s east coast. There they will become “foreign guest workers” and presumably assimilate into the population. GM has a better chance of making a profit this year than there is of that happening. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton violated the British chain-of-command by negotiating directly with Bermudan authorities who also conveniently failed to notify their British caretakers – and the Brits are not happy. Britain may assert its authority and send the four Uighurs back to China where they are badly sought.

So long as these four trained Muslim terrorists reside in Bermuda with the intent to someday overthrow China by violent means, there is a good chance Americans and Brits will encounter them. Imagine being a snowbird who is poolside at a luxury hotel next winter in Bermuda, and the attendant handing you a soft, terry cloth towel for your chaise is one of these characters. Would you blink in disbelief?

I wouldn’t take Attorney General Eric Holder’s word that these guys don’t hold a grudge against the U.S. They were rounded up by U.S. troops in Afghanistan and held for seven years in Gitmo without trial until a federal judge ordered them released last year. The U.S. government ignored the order until it could find any country, other than China, willing to take them. Even if they didn’t hold a grudge against the U.S. when they were captured at an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, they may now. No matter how you slice it, these guys conspired to overthrow an established government and kill people to advance their delusional cause. Doesn’t that matter to anyone in this administration?

Our government is now in negotiations with Palau, a former U.S. protectorate and small Western Pacific island near the Philippines, to take the 13 remaining Uighur Chinese terrorists held in Gitmo. Apparently the negotiations are going well for Palau. It’s managed to get Hillary’s special envoy to agree to $200 million in “aid” money. That equates to $10,000 for every man, woman and child living in exchange for allowing these yahoos to become foreign guest workers. With the current exchange rate, every Palauan will probably make more, in terms of real buying power, then the CEOs of GM, Chrysler and AIG combined thanks to a pay czar who determines their paltry salaries.

Obama needs to replace Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner with whoever is doing the negotiating for Palau.

Giving aid to Palau or any other country in exchange for accepting Gitmo detainees is an ugly and expensive precedence. In the eyes of the world, we are now not only viewed as weak, but stupid. That’s quite an accomplishment. Any country could accept Gitmo detainees on “humanitarian” grounds in exchange for huge amounts of money, and then later renege and send them back to their homelands on any flimsy excuse.

On top of all this, when terrorists are now captured in Afghanistan, Holder’s U.S. Justice Department has ordered FBI agents to read them their Miranda rights before they are interrogated. Why would terrorists voluntarily give up any actionable intelligence if he can receive a free lawyer, a free trip to the U.S. and a job in Bermuda or Palau if he keeps his mouth shut? This tells me Gitmo will not be replaced, and law enforcement will conduct “overseas contingency operations” instead of the military and the CIA. Terrorists will be routinely tried in U.S. federal courts instead of military commissions, and all progress made in this mighty struggle since 9/11 will evaporate. The entire war effort has gone full circle, and the security of the U.S. could be in the balance.

The Obama Administration never misses an opportunity to further weaken National Security.

Warning to infidels: Check your towel for a hand grenade wrapped in it the next time you’re in Bermuda or Palau.

Gregory D. Lee is a nationally syndicated columnist for North Star Writers Group. You can contact him at: info@gregorydlee.com.

© 2009 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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