Wasting away in Marga-Uighur-ville

By Michelle Giametta on 06/22/2009

Question: Is the American government sending the right message to terrorists around the world?

Closing down Guantánamo Bay may have sounded like a good idea to Democrats and the Obama Administration during the 2008 presidential campaign, but now it seems more like a headache to the Obama Administration than anything else.

A recent article by CNNPolitics.com addresses this very issue, "President Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo facility, raising questions of what will happen to the more than 200 remaining detainees. A political backlash against bringing any of the detainees to the United States has increased the focus on sending them to other countries."

According to an article by Newsweek, "A federal court has ordered the release of Gitmo's 17 remaining Uighurs. But they can't be returned to China because they would likely be tortured or executed." The problem is where should we send these suspected terrorists? No country wants anything to do with the Uighurs, especially the United States. Therefore the US has to resort to paying the Bermuda government to take in four of these detainees and is in the process of settling an agreement with the Pacific nation of Palau to take the remaining thirteen.

Now these four former Gitmo detainees are shacking up in horrendous settings- living in their own house on the beach complete with a pool and view of the ocean. Not to mention that the United States will be giving the men money for resettlement- the average in such cases is $100,000 per person. Since their release the four Uighurs have enjoyed leisurely activity such as swimming, fishing and eating ice cream. Is it possible for conditions to get any worse for these Chinese terrorists?

Think again! It seems like the suspected terrorist can't catch a break from the paparazzi frenzy. The media has gone wild over getting interviews with the four celeb-tainees. The infamous foursome have been bombarded with countless interviews over the last few days. What's next for the Uighurs? Maybe a reality television show?

Even though the Uighur detainees were deemed not a threat to America, they were still trained in Al Quaeda terrorism camps with the purpose of committing terrorist acts most likely in China. Is the media downplaying the dangers of releasing these potentially hostile terrorists?

In the meantime the Uighur debacle has been made fun of by everyone on the political spectrum from Bill O'Reilly and Glen Beck to Jon Stewart. Mail Online reported that, "the latest developments have sparked a rash of jokes with Bermuda's tourism slogan 'feel the love' satirically changed to 'Bermuda, it don't GITMO better than this'."

All joking aside, is the American government sending the right message to terrorists around the world? Has the US softened their stance on combating terrorism or is it simply using a different approach? The question still remains, do American's need to worry that future Gitmo detainees will be released on American soil?

[Additional Photos: The Associated Press, 2009; "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", June 2009; The Associated Press, 2009]