Everyone please feel free to correct and amend the facts, as my knowledge of this is very sketchy.

I heard that the administration is in the process of making an agreement to send the 17 Chinese Uighurs to Palau. It is my understanding that Palau will receive about $200,000,000 to act as "hosts" (Palau representative's word) for these people.

What does this mean? Are the 17 just trading one prison for another? If so, how does that protect their rights, if indeed they have rights under the law? How does this differ from rendition? Will they be free to leave?

If they are innocent, why not free them in the US? I would suggest a sanctuary city, maybe San Francisco.

What in the wide wide world of sports is going on here?

As I understand it (and it may not be an accurate understanding of the situation), these 17 men (plus 5 already sent to Albania) were caught fleeing from a very low level al-Quida operated training camp when the US went into Afghanistan and were sent to Guantanamo as a result. Since that time, they have been cleared of wrongdoing (or at least been told there is insufficient evidence to try them), but the US has classified them as "too dangerous to release:" Meanwhile, the Chinese have classified them as terrorists. None of them have travel visas and no country will issue them one. Thus the 5 in Albania are stuck in Albania while those in Cuba are stuck there.

The biggest problem for the US is that China has demanded that if any nation takes these folks, then they must be extradited to China to stand trial. Palua doesn't have that problem because it is one of the few nations in the world that recognizes Taiwan and NOT China! Notable, Palua is essentially a US protectorate - it native born people can even travel to and from the US without a passport or visa! Being heavily dependent on the US for tourist and military development dollars, Palua has a serious incentive to help the US with the problem of emptying Guantanamo so it can be closed.

As far as why they couldn't be released in the US, it is my understanding that the WH suggested that, but could not get the requisite approvals from Congress and didn't want to risk having a presidential decress overridden by Congress at this point in time. I don't know why there is such a vehement reaction in Congress, but apparently there is.

FWIW. Correct away - I'd like to learn something new about the situation too!

If they are sent to Palau, do you expect them to stay there?

We will ship them over to the Pacific, and everyone will lose interest.

Probably around Christmas there will be a news story that the 17 Uighurs "disappeared" and nobody knows what happened to them.

No biggie. It's like all the Yemeni AQ members that we have already transferred from Gitmo back to their homeland. Two months after they get back to Yemen there is a "prison break" and they all "escape."

We have already recaptured 3 previously released Yemenis in Iraq where they were helping the Sunni Terror Gangs.

Well, this morning the news reports say that 4 Uighurs from Gitmo have been resettled in Bermuda rather than Palau.

I guess they prefer pink sand beaches over white sand beaches.

From Slate:

http://www.slate.com/id/2220224/