Makes you proud to be British - a Christmas special
We haven't seen anything like it since, well, the last time. Whatever happened to the Tipton Taliban and all those other innocents abroad illegally kidnapped by the hated Bush/Hitler/that bloke from Spooks while attending computer courses/weddings/fill in any old drivel you like in Afghanistan/Pakistan/Terminal 4?
As I said a couple of weeks ago, el-Banna and his two oppos from Club Gitmo are nothing to do with us.
They are not British citizens, not even British 'residents'. When they had their collars felt, they were 'resident' somewhere else.
El-Banna, a Jordanian who the Americans say is a prominent Al Qaeda recruiter and financier, was picked up in The Gambia.
So why the hell, I repeat, was Sarah Teather, the Liberal MP for Brent, getting herself all lathered up with indignation about his detention?
Given the choice between the CIA and some dopey bird from what used to be the SDP, I'm with the boys from Langley, Virginia, every time.
Here's what she said yesterday: "His family are very excited and we all have our fingers crossed that he will be home to spend Eid with his family.
"It is good to see the Government has now agreed to use its influence to bring pressure on other countries to take their responsibilities seriously towards Guantanamo Bay. We can only close Guantanamo Bay if other countries are willing to accept back their refugees and residents.
"I hope the Government will continue to negotiate for the release of Binyam Mohammed, who has suffered extensive torture at the hands of the U.S., and that they will ensure the safety of Shaker Aamer."
Silly cow. For the record, Binyam Mohammed is an Ethiopian soon to be put on trial for terrorism. Shaker Aamer is a Saudi citizen negotiating repatriation to his homeland, where they will probably chop his head off after a decent interval.
They are about as British as I am French on the strength of spending a long weekend in St Tropez.
It is beyond me what any of this has got to do with either the LibDem MP for a scruffy part of North London or the British Foreign Office.
Well, I can see what's in it for soppy Sarah. She needs the Muslim vote to hold on to her seat and there are no limits to the depths to which opportunist politicians are prepared to abase themselves in cynical pursuit of popularity.
But the Foreign Office? The Government, which is letting people die on the NHS because life-saving drugs are too expensive, spent £100,000 chartering a private plane to fly the three Gitmo 'residents' back to Britain.
That's enough to keep cancer sufferer Collette Mills, who I wrote about on Tuesday, alive for two years.
I‘m sure it's a great comfort to her to know that Labour thinks the money is much better spent ferrying foreign terrorist suspects across the Atlantic in the style of a Hollywood superstar.
We're not talking Lord Palmerston here. Gunboat diplomacy has been replaced by NetJets chauffeur service.
It took ten Old Bill to keep them company on the way 'home'. Oh, and they were given a special prayer room on board, bless 'em.
I wonder what the relatives of those slaughtered on 9/11 make of the British government laying on prayer rooms at 30,000 feet for Islamonazi terror suspects.
Talk about a sick joke.
This is how Gutless Gordon chooses to distance himself from the Bush White House. Makes you proud to be British. Teather could have gone along as a stewardess, handing out alcohol-free lager and halal peanuts.
I'm Sarah, fly me. In the case of el-Banna and one other of the British 'residents', they are wanted in Spain.
In which case, why didn't the Spanish send a jet for them?
It seems Spain takes the threat of terrorism more seriously than we do. They haven't forgotten those killed in the Madrid train bombings.
Here, the dead of 7/7 have been swept under the carpet while the caring, sharing, multi-culti 'liberals' concentrate on beating up Plod over the shooting of an illegal immigrant who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So much for No Retreat, Baby, No Surrender. The game's up. We are all going to hell in a handcart.
Maybe that should read: We are all going to hell in a plane.
Littlejohn.
---------------------------------------------------
***
This is just about my take on this sorry affair, and it is widely shared here. It is a pragmatic view of the necessity of an establishment such as Gitmo, existing as it does openly in full view of the world and saying 'Sorry, it has to be done and someone has to do it.' It is easy for those who benfit from it to weep crocodile tears and complain about one-way human rights.
