'Why Can't Guantanamo's Inmates Stay in America?'

Der Spiegel | Jan. 22, 2009 (News Analysis)

Since December, when President-elect Obama extened an olive branch to irritated European allies and asked them to absorb some of these prisoners -- on the condition that America would, too -- a debate has simmered in Germany. Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in January that Munich might be a reasonable place for 17 Chinese Uighur minority prisoners to settle, since Munich has the largest Chinese Muslim community outside China. But a ... Full Story »

Posted by Peter Barnett

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Related Comments: Obama Administration (3)

3.8

by Kaizar Campwala - Jan. 22, 2009

A great compendium of opinions on the closing of Guantanamo from across the political spectrum in Germany.

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4.1

by Peter Barnett - Jan. 22, 2009

A presentation of diverging opinions on the subject.

Der Spiegel is expressing opinions on accepting inmates from Guantanamo that are held most indigenous Europeans. Guantanamo may be an Aegean stable created by the Bush Administration, but Hercules Obama isn't!

While they have joined calls for Guantanamo’s closure, European countries are divided on the question of whether to take in ex-inmates. Also, the legal process to ... More »

Peter posted this story.

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3.7

by Jim Lang - Jan. 22, 2009

This article presents a range of German editorial comments on Obama's action to close Guantanamo. The reaction is uniformly positive but there are differences in positions on what should be done with current prisoners, particularly those cleared for release. Interestingly, the positions don't reflect ideological (left vs right) alignment.

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3.5

by Randy Morrow - Jan. 23, 2009

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3.8

by Derek Hawkins - Jan. 22, 2009

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4.3

by Joel Kulenkamp - Jan. 22, 2009

This is really refreshing to see a European perspective; I really like how this gleans from sources all over Germany (as well as the political spectrum)--including Spigel's competitors such as Die Welt and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Let's hope this can get G'tmo worked out with our allies.

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3.5

by Kenneth Sibbett - Jan. 22, 2009

With differing idea's in Germany, can you imagine what the rest of the world thinks. The U.S. has one year to figure out what to do with these prisoners. The Constitution was written in shorter time.

If there's 250 prisoners, there can't be no more than 50 who are as bad-ass as Cheney talks about. Most have been in Gitmo for years. How much time would they had gotten if they had went to trail. No more than eight years I'm sure. So you really only have 50 who need extensive care. Bush say's we had 25 to 30 coalition partner's. Give them each two and let them handle it. We've sacrificed enough.

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