Comments on: Smart Power http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/ Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy. Thu, 24 May 2012 04:39:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: teqjack http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173504 teqjack Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:29:39 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173504 Much as I fail to see signs of above-median intelligence in this administration, the failure here is even more in Bermuda. Looks like our admin failed to know Bermuda is not a fully independent country, which is rather glaring, but some second-level type there failed to notify his superiors on the island let be the UK Foreign Office. Yes, ignorant and arrogant types come in many styles and backgrounds. Much as I fail to see signs of above-median intelligence in this administration, the failure here is even more in Bermuda. Looks like our admin failed to know Bermuda is not a fully independent country, which is rather glaring, but some second-level type there failed to notify his superiors on the island let be the UK Foreign Office. Yes, ignorant and arrogant types come in many styles and backgrounds.

]]> By: Dave Price http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173497 Dave Price Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:28:52 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173497 Yes. Their foreign policy is controlled by the UK. So when China demands the UK turn them over, the UK has to to take a stand one way or the other. Yes. Their foreign policy is controlled by the UK. So when China demands the UK turn them over, the UK has to to take a stand one way or the other.

]]> By: zach http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173495 zach Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:06:26 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173495 is it obvious the uk needed to have been consulted? i'm not an expert, and would happily be corrected on this score, but bermuda seems to me at first glance to have a similar arrangement with england that we have with the marshall islands, etc. they have their own senate, premier, laws, and constitution - despite falling under the protectorate of the uk. is it obvious the uk needed to have been consulted? i’m not an expert, and would happily be corrected on this score, but bermuda seems to me at first glance to have a similar arrangement with england that we have with the marshall islands, etc. they have their own senate, premier, laws, and constitution – despite falling under the protectorate of the uk.

]]> By: Dave Price http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173494 Dave Price Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:53:45 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173494 Yeah, they're harmless. <i>Three of the four Uighurs transferred to Bermuda also admitted that they had firsthand ties to senior terrorists such as Hassan Mahsum and Abdul Haq – the leaders of the ETIM/TIP. Haq was recently designated an al Qaeda terrorist by the Obama administration’s Treasury Department, which noted that he is also a member of al Qaeda’s elite Shura council. Mahsum was killed in a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in northern Pakistan in 2003.</i> Could have happened to anyone. "Calling them terrorists is just wrong, factually and ethically." Then why have three Western countries (including ours, under Obama) declared they won't take them? Maybe they smell bad? Weren't you just demanding in your last post that we call a spade a spade? If a random lunatic shooting a Holocaust museum guard is a terrorist, then these guys ought to merit the label too. Yeah, they’re harmless.

Three of the four Uighurs transferred to Bermuda also admitted that they had firsthand ties to senior terrorists such as Hassan Mahsum and Abdul Haq – the leaders of the ETIM/TIP. Haq was recently designated an al Qaeda terrorist by the Obama administration’s Treasury Department, which noted that he is also a member of al Qaeda’s elite Shura council. Mahsum was killed in a Taliban and al Qaeda stronghold in northern Pakistan in 2003.

Could have happened to anyone.

“Calling them terrorists is just wrong, factually and ethically.”

Then why have three Western countries (including ours, under Obama) declared they won’t take them? Maybe they smell bad?

Weren’t you just demanding in your last post that we call a spade a spade? If a random lunatic shooting a Holocaust museum guard is a terrorist, then these guys ought to merit the label too.

]]> By: Aziz Poonawalla http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173492 Aziz Poonawalla Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:18:25 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173492 they are sending some to Palau, others to Bermuda, etc. These guys are the easy ones tod eal with, they arent even terrorists. they are sending some to Palau, others to Bermuda, etc. These guys are the easy ones tod eal with, they arent even terrorists.

]]> By: Aziz Poonawalla http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173491 Aziz Poonawalla Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:15:28 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173491 the Bush Administration, not the Obama one, is the one that freed the Uighurs and determined they were not a threat. Calling them terrorists is just wrong, factually and ethically. the Bush Administration, not the Obama one, is the one that freed the Uighurs and determined they were not a threat. Calling them terrorists is just wrong, factually and ethically.

]]> By: Dean Esmay http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173490 Dean Esmay Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:57:51 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173490 There are screwups in every administration. It's usually easy sport to just look for the screwup of the week and talk about it. Nevertheless this seems significant. It may, however, not have been a screwup so much as deliberate. If the administration doesn't much care what the British think, and they found it politically convenient to drop these guys here like that... There are screwups in every administration. It’s usually easy sport to just look for the screwup of the week and talk about it.

Nevertheless this seems significant. It may, however, not have been a screwup so much as deliberate. If the administration doesn’t much care what the British think, and they found it politically convenient to drop these guys here like that…

]]> By: agmartin http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173487 agmartin Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:03:46 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173487 What happened to sending them to Palau? What happened to sending them to Palau?

]]> By: foobarista http://deanesmay.com/2009/06/12/smart-power-2/#comment-173483 foobarista Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:24:51 +0000 http://deanesmay.com/?p=16219#comment-173483 It sounds like Obama tried to put one over on the UK, and pulled it off in this case. He's not noted for his <a href="http://www.luoamerican.com/baldilocks/2009/03/vengeance-is-his.html" rel="nofollow">love of the Brits.</a> It sounds like Obama tried to put one over on the UK, and pulled it off in this case.

He’s not noted for his love of the Brits.

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