Is there any reason the Uighurs in question can't sue Gingrich for inaccurately portraying them as criminals?

This is much more alarming that I realized.

We are going to admit Uighurs who have not yet revealed or formed their alliance with AQ. This is much more dangerous than at least getting them AQ Uighur Auxiliary membership cards we can keep track of, and maybe little lapel pins or colored ribbons. Worse, their discipline and training is so complete that they can, by some kind of incredible mysterious Oriental mind control, not throw a TV when it is right in front of them!

As any fool can plainly see -- I can see -- they will throw TVs when it will cause the maximal damage to American values, presumably during the last drive of a tied Super Bowl. And they will throw it right into the beer cooler. You want to expose your country to this? Shame!

Hilzoy, I've read each and every installment of the Uighurs piece you've written. I personally cannot think of many cases that would so easily qualify as a 'travesty of justice' as the indefinite detention of anyone without access to habeas corpus guarantees; but for our to continue to incarcerate those that have so obviously not been a party to crime against our nation is an injustice that claws at the pit of my stomach. I too am not certain that I would have "shown so much forbearance." There are countless crimes I could think of that I might have been guilty of had I been put into their shoes (and had access to something heavy).

While I'm not certain that this reporting will make a short-term difference in their lives (though you never know what might capture the public's attention), I want to thank you for working so tirelessly to bring an accurate picture of their tale to light.

Second Shantyhag's sentiments. Christ, this is disgusting.

Anybody can claim anything about another country or foreign national.

The (neo-con) LATimes is only reporting what Newt *said*, not taking a stand on whether it is true or not. If there was someone, say, a Democratic politician with a spine, willing to stand up and say, "no, not true", then the LATimes might report the he said/she said story. But there is an asymmetry: everyone can score points demonizing certain kinds of foreigners (Muslims), no one can score political points or ad revenues by defending a foreigner.

Hilzoy is doing it here, which is awesome.

Newt could say that (the long dead) Osama bin Laden claims he is gonna strike the US, that Rita Katz told him so; what American politician would say, "that's highly doubtful"?

Crucial bits of narrative, firmly woven into our national discourse, are pure lies. Often, easily confirmed lies.

Just to add, as I'm sure everyone knows by now, thanks to lies by the likes of Gingrich, and the spineless Senate Dems, it doesn't look like Gitmo will be closing anytime soon.

Despicable.

Does that mean the car in front of me sporting a "Kill Your Television" sticker is piloted by a freedom-hating Uighur? I'll have to be more careful.

Seriously, your series of posts about the Uighurs has been quite an eye opener. Thank you.

"and the spineless Senate Dems, it doesn't look like Gitmo will be closing anytime soon."

Nah. This is just Kabuki theater. Congressional dems want some political cover, so they make a little push-back to insist that the Obama administration doesn't just unload all the Gitmo inmates on the tarmak. When the administration shows they have an orderly plan of arrival, Congress will approve the funding (over furious GOP bleating) and Gitmo will close.

"Abbas, however, says that the detainee who went off on the TV has already been released to Albania and that it had nothing to do with any bare arms."

Actually, it was the first three minutes of a two-hour "According to Jim" marathon combined with a broken remote.

This might be totally in tinfoil hat territory ... but it's interesting to me that the Uighur has been released to Albania for several years now. I do know that former Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge had been lobbying - as well as being a security consultant - for the Albanian government for several years since he resigned from DHS. (That made the news when he was being considered as a VP pick for McCain - he was discarded as an option since there were some irregularities about whether or not his firm was properly registered as a lobbying organization in the US). I wonder if Ridge's firm had advised the Albanians on anything regarding the detainee, or if the two are just coincidental.