Rudd WILL listen to Obama's Gitmo pleas

We will listen to Obama's Gitmo pleas

Geoff Elliott and Patricia Karvelas
The Australian
January 05, 2009

THE Rudd Government would still be open to overtures from the incoming Obama administration to reconsider its refusal to take inmates from Guantanamo Bay.

After formally rebuffing for the second time the Bush administration on taking former terror suspects being held at Guantanamo, Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia would consider subsequent requests from the US as it tries to close the notorious island prison.

But Ms Gillard played down the prospect of accepting any former prisoners.

"We will consider any future requests on a case by case basis against these stringent criteria for both national security and immigration," she said.

Despite the latest rejection, there were no hard feelings from Washington - at least for now.

A State Department spokesman said "no derogatory shadow is being cast" on the announcement from Ms Gillard to deny the request made in December to take a small group of inmates.

"We realise that a lot of the people coming aren't the kind of people you might want, so there are no negative signs being hung on this," the spokesman told The Australian.

The Bush administration has been looking at ways to close Guantanamo for the past 12 months, including asking more than 100 countries if they might consider taking some of the 60 or so detainees already cleared for release but facing possible persecution if they were returned to their homeland.

In all, there are about 250 detainees in Guantanamo, including many never likely to be released, such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

After revelations in The Australian, Ms Gillard said the federal Government advised the US on Saturday that Australia would refuse the latest request.

A spokeswoman for Ms Gillard yesterday said the Government had not received any more requests to resettle inmates. "The Government has received two requests to resettle persons from Guantanamo. Both these requests were considered, and rejected," the spokeswoman said.

"The Government has not received any other request. Any future request would be considered on the same basis, which led to the rejection of all earlier requests."

Referring earlier to the two requests to help house detainees from the war on terror, Ms Gillard said: "Those resettlement requests were considered on a case-by-case basis against Australia's stringent national security and immigration criteria.

"Assessing those requests on a case-by-case basis, (they) have not met those stringent national security and immigration criteria and have been rejected."

Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis said the request should never have been considered by Australia.

"We are speaking about people, terrorism suspects captured on the field of battle, detained in Guantanamo Bay who are among the most dangerous people among the world," Senator Brandis said.

President-elect Barack Obama has said closing Guantanamo is a priority; already there have been several overtures from European countries, including Britain, Portugal and Germany, indicating they could resettle detainees.

While the Bush administration requests have fallen on deaf ears, analysts believe soundings from Europe indicate a willingness to turn over a new leaf with the incoming administration and build bridges with Washington.

However, the public has been to ask why the US cannot sort out a mess of its own making and resettle all the detainees in the US, either releasing them or continuing the incarceration.

The State Department spokesman said it was perfectly understandable that many felt the US should be responsible for any resettlement, and noted "many regions in the US are not looking at this favourably either".

"But we may end up having to take them all," he said.

The father of former Guantanamo inmate David Hicks said he thought Australia should consider taking prisoners from the military prison. Australia had been "hand in hand with the American Government on Guantanamo and "should look at it", Adelaide-based Terry Hicks said yesterday.

He said he thought any security concerns about inmates coming to Australia could be addressed by the existing screening process for refugees. "We take people from all over the world, we don't know what their thoughts are," he said.

"I can't see any difference from Guantanamo people and people we bring from overseas through the settlement process."

The left media here in Australia has made a big deal of demanding that Madame Gillard tell that terrible Pres. G W Bush what he can do with HIS prisoners, after all, he captured them and he should take care of them if HE wants to shut down Guantanamo Bay,fair enough, however these same commentators have been demanding the closure of Guantanamo Bay and the release of it's prisoners because Guantanamo Bay is not necessary because there are no terrorists interned there,for instance, David Hicks or "Our David " as his leftist cheer squad preferred to call him, well if there are no terrorists interned there whats the big deal with these internees coming to Australia ? surely an Australia full of "Our David" clones cant be a bad thing ?
The Left in Australia, the Australian Labor Party,has told Australians since 911 that protecting our nation from terrorism by the implementation of stricter immigration and passport regulations was simply GWBush and John Howard beating their chests inciting fear amongst the Australian and American populations, Australia has nothing to fear from Islam, hey just ask Sheik Hilalie, Keysar Trad and David Hicks aka "Our David"

I saw Madame Gillard refuting any suggestion that her government would accept any Guantanamo Bay internees as requested by GWBush, she then went on to say that every applicant would be accepted on a case by case basis, so if Pres.GWBush says for instance "hey Madame Gillard can you take 20 Muslim terrorists off my hands" she says "no way", however if the United States government (aka Barack Obama) says "hey Madame Gillard can you take 20 Muslim terrorists off my hands" she will look at each one on a "case by case basis", so Obama's Muslim terrorist internees are somehow not a threat to Australia but Pres.GWBush's Muslim terrorist internees are?
It must be said here that Australian PM Kevin Rudd, is, along with all things China and it's political system,one of the most gushing Barack Obama groupies on the planet, he leapt to Obama's defence when the previous PM John Howard suggested that the Taliban would prefer an Obama / Democrat president be elected in 2008 than a Republican, Rudd reacted as would be expected he do so, as all good leftists China,Chavez, Obama groupies,would, when one of their political and ideological soul mates,especially a black one, came under attack from a member of the evil "coalition of the willing" or someone who believed that Islamic terrorism was a threat to the west, the politically correct thought police here rolled out the specter of racism and defied any one in the community to dare agree with Howard lest they suffer Tar and Feathering for daring to criticise one of the "enlightened ones" that are the left.

Now let me see Madame Gillard,President Bush's Islamic Terrorists are BAD,but President Barack Obama's Islamic terrorists are not necessarily BAD,in fact they could, in all likely hood be good, given the election of a man to the US Presidency who is a Black Democrat,and also an apologist for Islam and there fore they should be considered on a case by case basis......mmmmmmmmmm I see.

Given PM Rudd's promise to allow the entry of over one million immigrants into Australia before the year 2010, with a preference given to NON English speaking UN Skilled applicants will these referees from Comrade Obama be included in the one million or will they be in addition to the one million NON English speaking UN skilled quota ?

Madame Gillard will your government ever explain to the Australian people as to why the previous Hawke / Keating Labor government allowed the entry into Australia of Muslims from the middle east,who were refused entry / residency by the Australian Immigration Department in particular Lebanon, just why did the Australian Labor Party over rule the Australian Immigration Department and allow these Muslims into Australia against all advice ?
and could you explain to the Australian people why your party or any government would give preference to immigrants who have declared their hatred for Judeo Christian values and the culture manifested by it, why would the Australian Labor Party in particular enforce a policy of Muslim immigration into Australia, a nation the very antithesis of every thing that the Islamic manifested culture and religion of Islam stand for, just what is it about Australia you despise so much you are so determined to destroy?