U.S. Says It Fears Detainee Abuse in Repatriation – New York Times:
“The military has so far sent home 267 detainees from Guantánamo after finding that they had no further intelligence value and either posed no long-term security threat or would reliably be imprisoned or monitored by their own governments. Most of those who remain are considered more dangerous militants; many also come from nations with poor human rights records and ineffective justice systems.
But Washington’s insistence on humane treatment for the detainees in their native countries comes after years in which Guantánamo has been assailed as a symbol of American abuse and hypocrisy — a fact not lost on the governments with which the United States is now negotiating.
“It is kind of ironic that the U.S. government is placing conditions on other countries that it would not follow itself in Guantánamo or Abu Ghraib,” said a Middle Eastern diplomat from one of the countries involved in the talks.”
Ain’t this a blip. Now the US Government is worried about torture and human rights abuses. It’s unfortunate that our hands had to be caught in the Abu Ghraib/”rendition” cookie jar for us to begin to act responsibly on the world stage. Diligent, pain in the ass press combined with a mobilized electorate…hey this is an election year!
No, that’s just too cynical. This administration does not make important foreign policy issues based on the political consequences. Never in a million years.