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Berkeley council rejects proposal to invite Guantanamo detainees to live in city
 Berkeley's City Council Tuesday night voted not to invite two former Guantanamo Bay Naval Base terror detainees, who have been cleared of wrongdoing, to live in the city.Reality. It has a way of clearing the mind. Even for the hardcore. The resolution by the city's Peace and Justice Commission, which lost on a vote of two nos, three abstentions and four ayes, also urged the United States to lift its ban on allowing former Guantanamo Bay detainees to live in the U.S. Three abstentions is a cowardly way of saying "no", don't you think? Federal law bans former detainees from living in the U.S., which would have made Berkeley's resolution symbolic. Aha! So they even admitted defeat! And all this time I didn't think they had a self-preservation instinct. Before the vote, Danny Gonzalez, spokesman for a "pro-troop" organization called Move America Forward, proposed in a statement that Berkeley City Council members "go live in GITMO where they can hang out with hundreds of terrorists." The group said it would pay for their air fare. Apparently there were no takers. Move, check, and mate. The Peace and Justice Commission has a mandate to "promote peace and justice locally, nationally and internationally," according to its report to the City Council. The report said the men probably will face torture, imprisonment and death if they are sent to their home countries, "based on knowledge of what has happened to others who returned home." Ever wonder why that is? The commission recommended the City Council invite a Russian ballet dancer named Ravil Mingazov and an Algerian named Djamel Ameziane to live in Berkeley if they are ever released from Guantanamo Bay. The report said Amezaine likes to cook and play soccer. Shoe peddlers, dammit. They are shoe peddlers! Posted by: gorb 2011-02-16 |
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