An American Tragedy

One of the asymmetrical warriors who so fanatically fragmentised the happy atmosphere at Guantánamo Bay was due to be released, his lawyer says. The authorities had declared Mani Shaman Turki al-Habardi al-Utaybi "safe person, free to be released", but they declared it very quietly because they had not yet decided where to send him. Clearly, just because a safe person is free to be released, that doesn't mean he's safe enough to be released into the homeland; and of course Europe only permits such people inside its borders if they are being renditionised to some convenient spot where they can help the security services with their inquiries. It is not clear why al-Utaybi couldn't have been sent to Iraq, where such devastating progress has been made in teaching the natives the meaning of democracy. Asking the man himself where he wanted to go was out of the question, of course.

No doubt the authorities' motives were of the best. We all know how emotionally unstable these Islamic types can be when confronted with freedom; even four years of threat, degradation and imprisonment might not have been enough to acclimatise al-Utaybi to his culturally intimidating fate. If only his two roomies hadn't gone and persuaded him that a little publicity is worth dying for, he might have been one of a hundred and forty-one prisoners who are due to be released. It just shows what can happen when people don't trust poor, bumbling, big-hearted Uncle Sam to get it right in the end.