Starting a different strain on "the movement of people" than we have talked about, in this New York Times article from February 3rd, the author describes the influence of terrorist movement between countries, especially Saudi Arabia's own.
SA's government released a list of wanted terrorists, which included a number of Saudi nationals that were recently released from Guantanamo Bay detention. Upon release, they were sent through a Saudi "rehab" program which was thought to be highly successful, until the release of this list, which included many Saudis who had been treated. After treatment, they apparently fled to re-join terrorist organizations in neighboring nations.
Although this is not our typical idea of 'movement' of people as in immigration, I thought that it was an interesting take on the theme. It is especially interesting to consider the ramifications of this new development (of freed Guantanamo inmates re-joining terrorist activity) to the Obama administration, or even to the ability of people to move freely.
Could developments like this spawn a call for stricter border controls and limitations on the movement of people in places like SA, which has previously been a relatively low priority on the list of security risks? How about for the rights of former Guantanamo prisoners?
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The movement of these eleven ex-Guantanamo Bay inmates is interesting to think about after reading the chapters from "Blood and Oil." With the closing of Guantanamo Bay, recently released prisoners have returned to familiar or sometimes new terrorist organizations, despite the purportedly successful rehab program conducted by the Saudi Government. The United State's relationship with Saudi Arabia seems to be one of quid-quo-pro, with two very different parties involved, so this program should be a priority. With the money to pay for an essential component of national security, Saudi Arabia has exported “one of the greatest material prizes in human history.” Conducting a whole lot of wars and maintaining a booming addicted industrial economy, the U.S. political system has not left itself in any sort of advantageous position. The executive branch probably doesn’t want to deal with this because of the attention on the now dying domestic auto industry and the need to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign oil.
ReplyDeleteI agree that its interesting there are terrorists being allowedd to move freely. But, I think its also important to note hundreds of the detanies that were not terrorists at all being held. Many were regular arabs fom the middle east and held for no reason. It would also be interesting to see think about how easily it is to transfer people or detain them. As done in internment camps during WWII.
ReplyDeleteIt is also interesting to think about the effect the American presence has on the movement of Saudi Nationals - the military bases probably draw all kinds of citizens (GIs are known to be big entertainment spenders throughout history). Also i think a lot of the Guantanamo citizens are Saudi - so we are again responisible for mass movements of people into, out of and around KSA.
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