While Cheney is coming out of his undisclosed locations just long enough to try to rewrite history and to fabricate some form of legacy for himself, others are already hard at work trying to correct some of the wrongs he helped create.
One of these wrongs is the stain and shame that is Guantanamo.
Several European nations, Portugal and Germany notably among them, have already started formal and informal discussions on how to resettle detainees from the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Up to now, European governments have been very cool to the idea of accepting detainees from Guantanamo.
But now that the Obama administration is getting ready to assume power, things are changing rapidly and for the better as the Europeans see Bush as having created the (Guantanamo) problem and Obama as the one who will solve it—and they are ready willing to help him do it.
In the Watching America-translated Dutch article, “A Dutch Offer to Obama,” we learn that Washington has submitted requests to accept detainees from Guantanamo to 70 countries.
So far, only Albania has accepted five Uyghurs from Guantanamo—Muslims from north-west China who had fled to Afghanistan before 2001, because Peking considers them to be dangerous separatists. According to the latest reports, they lead a poor and bleak existence in a reception camp just outside of Tirana.
And
Once the Obama administration is in place, it is likely that Washington will quickly come to the European allies with a request for help with receiving Guantanamo prisoners. Then refusing this will be difficult. By letting it be known in advance that the innocent prisoners, as well as Washington, can count on us, we not only help the detainees and Obama, but also ourselves.
According to the Dutch writer, Juurd Eijsvoogel,
But if it really matters that much to us, that Guantanamo is rapidly closed, then there is much to be said for each country, or for the E.U. as a body, to make a gesture.
Not because we have a legal obligation to do so, but because there are strong political and moral arguments in favor of it.
It would be a signal that the restoration of respect for America, and the country’s return to the letter and spirit of International Law is something that we value. This is especially true for a country like the Netherlands that feels so strongly about International Law and Human Rights.
Help, goodwill, improved relations and renewed mutual respect are on the way.
The author is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and a writer.