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Uighurs relocate to new beachfront property

Some very good news indeed: the Obama administration has finally found a country willing to accept 17 of Guantanamo's Uighur detainees.

And now the funny bit: that country is...the tiny island of Palau. Of course, Micronesian hospitality isn't free. Per HuffPo, "the U.S. was prepared to give Palau up to $200 million in development, budget support and other assistance in return for accepting the Uighurs and as part of a mutual defense and cooperation treaty that is due to be renegotiated this year."

The population of Palau is just over 20,000 people. So we may be effectively paying each resident $10,000. Thank God we didn't pay to settle the detainees in Germany. (Anyone have a spare $800 billion?).

Or maybe we should think of it as a per-detainee payment; it's a steal at only $12 million. Of course, the resettlement is only "temporary," so maybe that's a bit high for a one year lease.

Of course, that $200 million isn't just to accept the Uighurs. It's also for "mutual defense." I'm kind of interested to hear how that would work out if the US was invaded.

All kidding aside, it's a good thing, regardless of cost.

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on June 10, 2009 (boomark / email).