The Washington Post reports on the administration’s efforts to release and resettle Gitmo detainees:
“Obama has a lot of political capital. Countries want to do something for him, and that allows us to say, ‘This is it, this is what we want you to do,’ ” said a senior administration official. “This is going a lot better than we might have thought.”
The administration puts out a statement on the release of Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi:
The United States deeply regrets the decision by the Scottish Executive to release Abdel Basset Mohamed al-Megrahi. Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which blew up over Scotland on December 21, 1988. As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland. On this day, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live every day with the loss of their loved ones. We recognize the effects of such a loss weigh upon a family forever.
So, the administration can use its political capital to get European nations to take in freed detainees from Gitmo, but can’t convince them to keep convicted terrorists in jail.
