Myths About Afghanistan
Victor Davis Hanson on whether Afghanistan is really the "graveyard of empires ..."
Closing GITMO has its price. The Chinese Muslims at GITMO, called the Uighurs, included four who had been cleared of charges by the U.S. Bermuda has agreed to take them in and allow them to pursue citizenship. As for the balance of the Chinese terrorists captured on the field of battle, all thirteen of them? Well, the tiny Island of Palau with a population of 20,000 has agreed to take them in for whopping $200,000,000. This amounts to $10,000 per person for every citizen.
Now. Let’s assume that front, rear and side SAPI plates (small arms protective inserts), plus the soft panel ballistic protection against shrapnel, plus the carrier, costs a total of $2000 for complete body armor (this figure is slightly to moderately exaggerated). This means that for what we have spent on sending thirteen terrorists to the Island of Palau we could have purchased 100,000 full sets of body armor for Soldiers and Marines.
It also means that wounded warriors who are being denied coverage will still have to plead with the authorities for full recognition of their wounds from war, both mental and physical. So while our warriors need body armor and rehabilitation and assistance, Chinese Muslim terrorists have been released to Bermuda (where most people cannot afford to go on vacation) and other such Islands.
This means that to finally address the issue of each Chinese Muslim terrorist has cost us $15,384,615. Extremely conservative estimates are that Baitullah Mehsud has around 20,000 fighters at his disposal. Disposal of them will cost us a mere 308 Billion Dollars if history is any indication of the future. It’s time for another spending package. Call up Timothy Geithner and tell him to get the printing presses rolling.
Note: Updated with Further Thoughts on the Uighurs
On June 12, 2009 at 9:49 am, Warbucks said:
The wisest man I every met, you ask? I think it may have been Paul. Right out of college, Paul married a South Pacific Island real live traditional princess, which means she was schooled in ….oh… so many things …. and went off immediately to live on her island. I see Paul’s guiding hand print on that $200,000,000.