Obama Unloads Uighurs to Palau at $12 Million a Pop
It looks like the Obama administration has finally found a home for the 17 Uighurs detained at Gitmo.
According to the Associated Press, the small Pacific Island of Palau is reportedly taking some or all of the 17 Uighurs in exchange for $200 million. If true, this raises a few obvious observations and questions.
First, it says much about how poorly the effort to close Gitmo is going that no nation, other than an island resort nation that is heavily dependent on aid from the U.S., is willing to take the Uighurs. The Obama administration considered the Uighurs the easiest bunch of detainees to relocate.
But Canada, European nations, and others have rejected the Obama administration’s various proposals to take them. If the Uighurs cannot be easily relocated, what will come of other detainees that the Obama administration does not want to try or detain?
Second, $200 million is a steep price.
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