Who let the Uighurs out?

[Flash]

A federal judge has ordered the immediate release to the US of 17 Chinese Uighurs that were found not to be enemy combatants but who are still at Guantanamo.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=116&sid=1492537

Uighurs are a Turkic minority in western China, some of them have been agitating for autonomy or independence from China. A few of the most radical Uighurs have been responsible for several terrorist attacks in China and some were trained and/or fought in Afghanistan with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. We don't want to hand them over to China because they will be found guilty whether or not they are. And we have not been able to unload them to another country, except for a few to Albania (yes, you read that right) a few years ago. Now, we might be stuck with them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6242891.stm

 

[jorgelito]

Well, if they are for certain not terrorists then I guess, "Welcome to America!". But are we sure?

I had the occasion to make the acquaintance of this Uighur fellow. His name was Wu'Er Kai Shi. It turns out he was a prominent student leader of the Democracy in China movment back in 1989. Nice guy though a bit jaded (don't really blame him after all he's been through). I'm not sure but at the time he was wanted by the Chinese authorities, maybe even thought of as a terrorist. But this guy wasn't violent nor did he advocate violence. There are however, violent, terrorist Uighurs for sure. Some of the ones I met in China when I lived there a few years back were pretty sketchy.

The hard part is figuring out who.

If the detainees are actually terrorists, well we certainly don't want them running around loose around the US. Plus, it may be politically expedient to hand them over to China and a point of statesmanship as well given their support of the US and the GWOT.

Awesome food though. Maybe one of them will open a restaurant.

 

[SkywardET]

This is a very interesting situation. I do not approve of the judge's decision to release them in the U.S., but I definitely approve of the outcome so far. Bringing a spotlight to this situation is the only fair thing to do. We need to develop much better legal frameworks for what goes on now with regards to not only terrorism, but also piracy.

 

[m0tbaillie]

I met an Uighur when I still lived in Turkey. Very strange language to listen to. It had some of the same intonations as Chinese but some of the same words and word roots as Turkish. Creeped me out :O

 

[Nafod]

ive always wanted to travel to that part of china actually.....

i wonder how the hell they ended up in detention in the first place.

 

[jorgelito]

ive always wanted to travel to that part of china actually.....

i wonder how the hell they ended up in detention in the first place.

I think they were picked up by US/coalition forces in Afghanistan so at the very least I would think they would be considered unlawful combatants.

 

[A4sForever]

ive always wanted to travel to that part of china actually.....

Wow. "Actually" ... you're "actually" serious, aren't you ... ??? Gotta love the innocence. Kingsville-style 3rd world is not enough for you ... ???

Mainland China ... a.k.a. communist China is a piece of shit. Taiwan's not much better. The "developed" areas of mainland China are only slightly better than the bush ... it's a big dusty, grey prison.

I've been there ... many times.

ACTUALLY ... one man's opinion ... when we first started flying dewy-eyed Birkenstock backpacker-types to the Workers' Paradise back in 1974 .... 'cause they "always wanted to travel to that part of China (sic) actually ... " they came back out 4-6 weeks later and were huddled masses thanking us for the crumby inflight meals and soiled biffy's (heads) onboard the big silver 747 magic carpet outta' there --- the magic carpet taking them back to civilization.

I guess everybody's gotta' be somewhere ... yea-as ???

 

[Nafod]

im fairly aware that its not like going to london or anything and that it does kind of suck.... a lot. i just want to see it. i dont want to go save anyone or anything. i dont want to live there. i just want to see it.

i should probably get a new pair of berks before i go though, and a poncho. and bring plenty of granola bars with me. and fill my ipod with some lennon.

unlawful conbatants huh.... maybe they were just tourists

 

[Flash]

i wonder how the hell they ended up in detention in the first place.

I think they were picked up by US/coalition forces in Afghanistan so at the very least I would think they would be considered unlawful combatants.

Many were picked up by locals who turned them in to the US for bounties we put out for foreigners. We couldn't really the bystanders from the terrorists in the beginning.

Actually, part of the problem is that we have determined that they are not unlawful combatants, but we have nowhere to dump them. Hence, the quandary we face.