Thursday, June 11, 2009

Guantanamo Bedwetting: Not Just for Americans!

Via Politico, It looks like the British Government is displeased with Bermuda's decision to take some of the Guantanamo Uighurs. To reiterate, the U.S. Government has cleared the Uighurs of any wrong doing, but we have no interest in handing them over to China because we believe (correctly!) that they will be mistreated by the Chinese government.

From across the Atlantic it's hard for me to see precisely why the UK Foreign Office is upset. Once possibility is that they want to avoid a diplomatic row with China. Another is that the Labour Government is incredibly risk averse and just wants to avoid anything that might give David Cameron something to complain about. No matter the cause, it's certainly disheartening; you would think that, after dealing with the IRA and running an Empire, Britain can handle four Chinese Muslims living on an Island thousands of miles away.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Isn't Bermuda the place where things famously disappear? Sounds like a stroke of Machiavellian genius to resettle the Gitmo detainees there.

Nick Beaudrot said...

The most charitable interpretation I can think of is that the UK objects because the UK is trying to get the US to take some of these guys, and it loses leverage if they keep finding homes in places like Bermuda.

t.s. said...

Maybe they're just pretending to be upset, to make nice with China.