Conservatively Speaking

Turns out the US is paying Paleu $12 million per Uigher a total of $240 million in “aide.” to take them from Gitmo.

AP reports four Guantanamo Bay detainees, part of a group of Chinese Muslims, have been resettled in luxury in Bermuda with U. S. taxpayers paying the bill.

Abdul Nasser, one of the four detainees who landed in Bermuda early Thursday morning, issued a statement through his lawyers, saying: “Growing up under communism we always dreamed of living in peace and working in free society like this one. Today you have let freedom ring.”

It’s the first time since 2006 that the U.S. has successfully resettled any of Guantanamo’s population of Uighurs (WEE’-gurs), whose fate has been wending through the courts for years. The U.S. government had determined that they weren’t enemy combatants and should be released. But China resisted their release, contending they were part of a Chinese separatist movement, and it had been unclear where they would go free.

The Uighur detainees are from a Chinese region that borders several Central Asian nations, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they were captured in 2001. Thirteen other Uighurs remain to be freed from Guantanamo.

The Justice Department on Thursday issued a statement thanking the government of Bermuda for helping resettle four of the detainees. Arrangements are being made for other Uighurs to be sent to the Pacific island nation of Palau.

It is strongly believed that Bermuda’s and Palau’s acceptance of the Uighurs came at a very high price to American taxpayers.

The Uighurs’ lawyers said they will be part of Bermuda’s guest worker program.

“We will consult regularly with the government of Bermuda on the status of these individuals,” said Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd.

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss negotiations between the two nations, said the four would not be allowed to travel to the United States without prior approval from American authorities.

The departure of the four detainees for Bermuda - a British territory - leaves 234 detainees remaining at Guantanamo, and comes in a busy week at the military base in Cuba including:.

1. On Tuesday morning, authorities brought detainee Ahmed Ghailani to New York to face trial in civilian court for the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa. And the president of Palau said his nation will take some Uighurs.

2. At the same time comes news that combatants will and in fact are being read Miranda rights when captured that muist leave them and certainly our troops scratching their heads. The Miranda warning says,”

• You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand?
• Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?
• You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand?
• If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand?
• If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand?
• Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?

No one is explaining what happens if a captive says they do not understand their rights but, it is clear American taxpayers will get the bill for lawyers.

The Uighurs are a unique group among the Guantanamo detainees. A federal judge ordered last year that they be released in the United States, but an appeals court overruled that decision. U.S. officials would not return them to China out of concerns they would be tortured or executed.

Albania accepted five Uighurs from Guantanamo in 2006, but declined to take more. Many nations have said no to receiving the Uighurs, out of concerns that doing so would anger the Chinese government.

Uighurs are from Xinjiang, an isolated region that borders Afghanistan, Pakistan and six Central Asian nations. They say they have been repressed by the Chinese government. China long has said that insurgents are leading an Islamic separatist movement in Xinjiang.

At one point, officials had considered bringing some of the Uighurs to Virginia, but the possibility provoked intense opposition in Congress, and the plan was shelved.

Nobody told the UK that the US would send four Gitmo detainees to Bermuda - its protectorate. The Brits are disquieted by Obama’s arrogance or what some say is something worse. Bermuda’s parliament is unhappy. Now Bermuda’s majority party is saying they will only be there temporarily aftrer becoming citizens they are free to leave including China were they are wanted for capital crimes and could be executed.

  Running on a slogan “Deeds Not Words” R. Creigh Deeds (D), a longtime Virginia legislator from rural Bath County, won a stunning come-from-behind victory in the Democratic primary for Virginia governor overwhelming a pair of better-funded and better-positioned opponents.  Deeds stomped Washington DC insider Terry McAuliffe and Brian Moran getting more votes than their combined totals sweeping 11 of its 12 Congressional districts including Moran’s father’s district. Observers say it is a litmus test that shows BIG shift in last 6 months.

Deeds, 51, will face Republican Robert F. McDonnell in a general election battle that amounts to a rematch of the race for attorney general four years ago, which McDonnell barely won after a late surge by Deeds.

Republicans hungry for a victory think they see light at the end of the tunnel will spend millions of dollars in Virginia to try to win back the governor’s mansion as the nation watches. Obama and Virginia Governor Kaine both see Virginia as a litmus test for liberal White House policies. In recent weeks Republicans have taken the lead among voters who trust them more on economic and hence job issues. That surge is part of Obama’s latest campaign to prove his liberal spending agenda is working.

Moran was the early favorite until McAuliffe jumped in pulling him left to support the homosexual agenda, and to oppose off shore oil drilling, for instance and tossing the door open for Deeds who stayed closer to the middle.  McAuliffe and Moran worked aggressively to push back against the surging Deeds by reminding voters of his right-leaning record, which included support for allowing concealed weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol and opposition to a ban on restricting handgun purchases to one a month. Perhaps that devided the liberal vote between them and Deeds squirted out.

Northern Virginia, around Washington DC, is peopled by largely liberal federal workers while the southern and more rural areas are much more conservative. In any case it promises to be a dustup this Fall.

What’s becoming increasingly clear is that Americans are surly about federal borrowing and spending and don’t think Obama’s “stimulaus plan is working. Forty-five percent (45%) of Americans say the rest of the new government spending authorized in the $787-billion economic stimulus plan should now be canceled. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 36% disagree and 20% are not sure.

 According to news reports, only $36 billion of the stimulus plan had been spent as of late May and it is increasingly seens as an bankrupting boondoogle.

During his fast-moving two days stay in the Middle East, crowned by a speech from Cairo to the world’s Muslims on June 4, Obama pursued some practical politicking behind the scenes. His private talks with Saudi King Abdullah and overnight stay in Riyadh June 3 and his conversation with Hosni Mubarak at the presidential Quba palace the next day cemented a new coalition between the US, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

 

This was the first strategic bond ever signed by those three nations as a combined front for combating Islamic radicalism, chiefly al Qaeda and Taliban, and applying the brakes to Iran’s drive for a nuclear weapon. Osama bin Laden was quick to respond by warning Muslims that “alliances with Christians and Jews would turn them into apostates.”

 

For all three allies, it is a major transformation, but most of all for Israel, from whom Obama proposes to minimize America’s strategic ties. This means that the US president and his advisers intend to start cutting down on their military and intelligence discourse with Israel. Instead of conferring with Israel on its military and undercover moves the Middle East and Muslim world, Washington will make Cairo and Riyadh the crux of its regional team, only turning to Jerusalem when unavoidable.

 

Administration leaders have opted for this policy reorientation because they seek to enter into negotiations with Iran unencumbered by Israeli baggage. Close US ties with the Jewish state are also seen as a burden in Obama’s prospective diplomatic engagements with Arab and Muslim governments such as Syria, which he wants to see harnessed to his new Arab line-up. Should Israel suffer or even cease to exists seems of only limited interest to Obama.

 

When he said in his epic speech “America will align its policies with those who seek peace,” he was saying that his hands are free to henceforth pick and choose US allies without being bound by the past.

A 35 year old unemployed mortgage worker from Southern California had the luck of his life this week: he hit the jackpot twice in two days. Sean Sanders won $1,400 from Tuesday night’s California Lottery draw while there, he checked his Mega Millions ticket and found he had won an additional $141,519. Californias tax collectors are reportedly stalking him with a tax bill.

In perhaps the biggest foreign policy shift in six decades and after repeated snubs and waffling by Obama Israel and Russia are holding ” exploratory” talks on weapons exports with the goal of resolving differences and potentially enhancing strategic cooperation.

Officials said the Kremlin has agreed to an Israeli offer to inform the Jewish state of the weapons requests by such countries as Iran, Lebanon and Syria.

“It is very important for us to elaborate a single approach on arms supplies to our regions the Middle East and the Caucasus,” Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.

Lieberman met Kremlin leaders during his visit to Moscow on June 2 in what officials said marked the most serious Israeli effort to improve strategic cooperation with Russia.

Lieberman, a Russian native and fluent in the language, has advocated strong ties with Moscow amid the expected decline in U.S. relations with the Jewish state.

Officials said both Israel and Russia have complained of the arms policies of the other. Israel has cited Russia’s desire to sell weapons and nuclear technology to Iran and Syria, while Moscow has been angered by Israeli military supplies to Georgia. Those supplies have largely been part of a cooperation with the US to keep Georgia in place as a democracy on Russia’s southern border that sits astride it major Caspian gas pipeline going from Eeast to West.

This is bad news for Georgia, presuimably the U. S. and good news for Russia that seems determined to unravel western relations with it. Under the proposed framework, Israel and Russia would consult on any arms sales to rival and hostile states. Officials said Israel severed the flow of weapons to Georgia since the brief war with Russia in August 2008.

In April, officials said, the Kremlin suspended plans to sell at least six MiG-31 fighter-jets to Syria. They said the Russian decision came after numerous requests by Israel and the United States.

During Lieberman’s visit, Israel and Russia agreed to continue cooperation in the realm of space and satellites. Israel has used the Russian Cosmodrome in Baikonur, Kazakhstan for the launch of dual-use satellites.

“Foreign Minister Liberman and his hosts discussed Israeli-Russian relations and agreed to continue promoting economic ties between the two states and cooperation in the realms of space technology and hi-tech, cultural cooperation, and the international law for the protection of investments,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry statement said on June 3.

Meanwhile, Obama has refused to commit to major weapons deals with or technology transfer to Israel including sale of the F-22 or F-35 stealth fighters. Those warpalnes are believed to be capable of penetrating Iran’s Russian supplied air defense network. .

“The requests are being thoroughly examined for their impact on U.S. national security,” and could take months - in other words “No.”an administration source said.

Israel’s requests were discussed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak during his visit to Washington in early June. On June 4, Barak met Defense Secretary Robert Gates and senior Pentagon officials in a discussion on Iran and U.S. military assistance to Israel.

“Secretary Gates assured Minister Barak that the U.S. is prepared to continue on-going dialogue regarding our security assistance and cooperation with Israel to address common challenges,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

But the sources said Gates did not commit to any Israeli request for advanced U.S. airborne platforms, weapons and other systems. The sources said a key issue was whether these sales would bolster Israel’s capability to threaten Iran amid a U.S. reconciliation effort with the Teheran regime.

Israel, which received $2.4 billion in U.S. aid in 2009, has also sought to purchase at least six AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopters for the air force. The sources said the Israeli request has been submitted for an interagency review to determine the Longbow’s impact on any Israeli attack on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Apache was extensively used by the Israel Air Force in the 22-day war with the Hamas regime in the Gaza Strip in early 2009. The sources said the administration was dismayed by the use of the helicopters in attacks in which Palestinian civilians were killed.

Barak and Gates discussed the Israeli requests during a private meeting at the Pentagon. “The two defense leaders met in private before joining senior advisers to discuss a range of security issues,” the Pentagon said.

The sources said Barak has also urged the Pentagon to approve an Israeli request to install indigenous electronic warfare systems in the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. So far, the United States has insisted that the JSF platform would not be modified for export clients.

The administration was not expected to approve major U.S. arms sales until Israel accepted Obama’s plan to end all Jewish construction in the West Bank, launch talks with Syria and agree to establish a Palestinian state. In mid-June, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was scheduled to address Obama’s demands in what was billed a major speech.

“Right now, it is safe to say that the Palestinian issue has topped our strategic agenda [with Israel],” the source said.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.– Ralph Waldo Emerson

  The Iranian-backed Shi’ite forces are engaged in a military buildup in Iraq and are stockpiling weapons watching the U. S. pullout.  Shi’ite forces financed and sponsored by Iran are accelerating weapons acquisition to prepare for a civil war in Iraq. Shi’ite militias, particularly the Mahdi Army, have concluded that the weapons would be required against Sunni forces financed by Saudi Arabia in a renewed power struggle.

“Right now, everybody is waiting to see whether and how fast the United States withdraws from Iraq,” an official said. “From that point on, the fighting for control begins.”

On June 1, Iraqi police were reported to have captured one of its biggest weapons caches in Shi’ite areas of Iraq. The police seized a cache that contained 50 surface-to-air missiles and 10 improvised explosive devices in the province of Thi Qar.

“The cache was found on Monday morning in the Bherat area of Suqal Shyukh suburb, 30 kilometers south of Nasseriya,” a police statement said. “The cache consisted of 50 air defense missiles and 10 roadside bombs.”

Nasseriya, located 360 kilometers south of Baghdad, has been regarded as an emerging stronghold of the Mahdi Army. Mahdi, headed by Shi’ite cleric Moqtada Sadr, has been challenged by the traditional Shi’ite leadership aligned with other elements in Iran.

Officials said Shi’ite militias have been intensifying the smuggling of weapons from neighboring Iran in 2009 to prepare for the power vaccum expected to result from the U.S. military withdrawal. The U.S. military has been committed to withdrawing from all Iraqi cities by June 30.

In a related report the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran has expanded its operational gas centrifuge fleet to nearly 5,000.

The agency said the increase in the centrifuge fleet has hampered efforts to monitor Iranian nuclear activity. In a report, IAEA said the centrifuges enabled Iran to increase its stockpile by 500 kilograms of enriched uranium in 2009 to reach a total of 1,339 kilograms.

In all, Iran has reported the operation of 4,920 centrifuges, with another 2,132 machines installed and undergoing vacuum tests. The figure marked a 25 percent increase in centrifuges since Obama took office.

The total number of centrifuges at the Natanz uranium enrichment center has reached 7,231. Iran plans to operate 54,000 centrifuges for an industrial nuclear fuel program.

Between Jan. 15 and May 23, 54 kilograms of UF6 was fed into the 10-machine IR-3 cascade, the 10-machine IR-2 cascade and single IR-1, IR-2, IR-2 modified, IR-3 and IR-4 centrifuges at Natanz. The rate of fuel enrichment was said not to have exceeded five percent.

The report said Iran continued to hamper agency inspection efforts. On May 19, IAEA said, Iran did not allow an inspection team to enter Natanz because of a security exercise. Since August 2008, Teheran has also banned inspectors from the IR-40 heavy nuclear reactor at Arak.

In as much as all four major candidates in Iran’s recent presidential election supported continuing its nuclear program it is unlikely anything with change in its pursuit.

Ironically some are saying that Obama’s Cairo speech likely hardened the position of Iran’s ruling Mullahs’ and could even have contributed to what many now see as manipulated results resulting in a “landslide” by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad