Michael
May 29th 2009, 02:19 PM
Congress Shoots Self in Foot
BERLIN, May 28 -- The Obama administration's push to resettle at least 50 Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Europe is meeting fresh resistance as European officials demand that the United States first give asylum to some inmates before they will do the same.
Rising opposition in the U.S. Congress to allowing Guantanamo prisoners on American soil has not gone over well in Europe. Officials from countries that previously indicated they were willing to accept inmates now say it may be politically impossible for them to do so if the United States does not reciprocate.
Source - WaPo (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803920.html)
Well, imagine that. A couple of countries that had agreed to take some of the Gitmo prisoners, are now refusing based on the partisan grandstanding in Congress claiming these prisoners are too dangerous to be allowed into the USA.
Until the US agrees to help deal with some of the fallout from their own torture policy, no one else is going to help. There is a principle at stake here. It is high time the US Congress learns that.
Note: Germany is NOT objecting to the prisoners themselves - they had previously agreed to take some of them - it is the attitude in the US Congress that is pissing people off.
US Congress seems to be trying to bury their collective heads in the ground. Not very impressive for a bunch of toadies who normally like to call themselves the 'greatest deliberative body in the world'. They look like a pathetic bunch of idiots to me.
The 'bedwetter caucus' is apparently in the majority and it includes equal parts Republicans and Democrats.
BERLIN, May 28 -- The Obama administration's push to resettle at least 50 Guantanamo Bay prisoners in Europe is meeting fresh resistance as European officials demand that the United States first give asylum to some inmates before they will do the same.
Rising opposition in the U.S. Congress to allowing Guantanamo prisoners on American soil has not gone over well in Europe. Officials from countries that previously indicated they were willing to accept inmates now say it may be politically impossible for them to do so if the United States does not reciprocate.
Source - WaPo (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/28/AR2009052803920.html)
Well, imagine that. A couple of countries that had agreed to take some of the Gitmo prisoners, are now refusing based on the partisan grandstanding in Congress claiming these prisoners are too dangerous to be allowed into the USA.
Until the US agrees to help deal with some of the fallout from their own torture policy, no one else is going to help. There is a principle at stake here. It is high time the US Congress learns that.
Note: Germany is NOT objecting to the prisoners themselves - they had previously agreed to take some of them - it is the attitude in the US Congress that is pissing people off.
US Congress seems to be trying to bury their collective heads in the ground. Not very impressive for a bunch of toadies who normally like to call themselves the 'greatest deliberative body in the world'. They look like a pathetic bunch of idiots to me.
The 'bedwetter caucus' is apparently in the majority and it includes equal parts Republicans and Democrats.