Well there isn’t any doubt that the State Department under Condi Rice and Bush gave Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian terrorist, his multiple-entry US visa. And it was probably influenced by his family’s wealth; rich people get visas easier. And, yes, Bush let the Yemeni al-Qaeda guys go from Guantanamo.
But if some Republicans were not being so hypocritical as to try to blame the Dems for poor security, these things wouldn’t be worth mentioning. Presumably the Guantanamo authorities had no evidence that could put the Yemeni al-Qaeda guys away, and there was no reason to deny Abdulmutallab a visa 18 months ago.
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Dr. Cole,
if you had taken the time to read the classified report on the Saudi art therapy program, you would also know that the purpose wasn't so much to rehabilitate individual detainees with training in art appreciation as it was to show respect for Saudi sovereignty, by letting the King handle his own bad apples.
The closeness between the two royal families, al-Bush and al-Saud, and the closeness between those two entrepreneurial dynasties, bin-Bush and bin-Laden, gave the top decision-makers in our government the confidence to reach out and "take a chance for peace."
It didn't work out flawlessly, but weren't the risks worth it ?
Here's my lingering concern:
the Proletariat, and maybe the House of Representatives, sometimes miss the BIG PICTURE and focus on insignificant details.
This could derail the entire initiative to release those 80 or so Yemenis already "cleared for release."
Our Government has been waiting for Yemen to bring their art therapy/ rehab program up to the standards of the Saudi program. Now it appears that the standards aren't the issue anymore; it's the whole thing about expecting "art therapy" to cure a holy imperative to expel infidels.
Without the Monets and Manets and Gauguins, we don't seem to have made any alternative arrangements for ending their indefinite detention.
So, what is the point of closing Guantanamo, if we're just going to hold them captive in Illinois ?
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Another example of Repubican hypocrisy: for months, Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina has held up the confirmation of Obama's nominee for director of TSA. The reason: the nominee has refused to promise to oppose any effort to unionize the TSA screeners. Apparently Republicans think unions are as evil as al Qaeda.