It is indeed humiliating that small countries like Bermuda and Palau are willing to do the right thing, unlike the cowards here in the U.S. (yes we can, Obama?). Thank you, Hilzoy, for continuing to follow the story of the Uighurs and for reminding us of our country's moral obligations.

shameful.

Well, I hope that Bermuda's immigration laws are friendlier than those of Palau. Because, in Palau "paradise", they'll never be permitted to buy land or become citizens (not eve through adoption) and other little things like that. Wonder if their families will be allowed to join them, assuming that China would even let those families emigrate...

I'd definitely prefer to see them here, settling in some large city which already has a sizable Chinese population and a mosque or two, so that they wouldn't stick out like sore thumbs and might be assimilated in the future. Wouldn't, quite, make up for all those years wasted in Gitmo but...

Worst disaster ever to befall a people

I understand the coward comment. I am guilty of using it myself to push the argument a certain way.
But it really doesn't wash. Here is why:

9/11 was the most played and replayed massacre in the history of our American empire. It was the hypermedia event of the century. It makes one small step for man look like one small black-and-white photo in Look Magazine.

The American consciousness is seared with real-time 9/11 images. To ask people to think rationally about that day, even 9 years after, is to demand too much of our collective psyches.

You can argue:
Look tobacco kills 400,000 a year!
40,000 die yearly in automobiles!
And only 3000 died in 9/11...

All to no avail. The mind doesn't work that way. It weighs statistics poorly. And can be completely and forever corrupted by a hypermedia event.

That is what has happened here. Face it: Americans are mentally ill when it comes to 9/11. Calling them cowards won't move the ball forward much...

Don't forget that a wise man chooses his battles. We are still waiting for Obama to pick one. If he really is just a get-a-long guy, man, have we been sold a bill of goods. The practical ones are the enemies of change, until it's too late.

My solution is to make the Uighars permanent contestants on "Survivor" so then they can move to a different island every 6 months....

(Sorry for the tasteless joke, but the only way I can deal with this insanity is black humor. If only we had a leader with the moral courage to do the right thing.)

"But the Bermudan government defended its decision to take the Uighurs, who the U.S. feared would face torture if sent to China."

I just about snorted coffee through my nose at that one. Let's see, some portion of the detainees at Gitmo were likely at least abused, perhaps even waterboarded (which is torture), but the U.S. won't send the Uighers home because it FEARS they would face TORTURE???

Oh, my. The irony, the (late and too-long delayed discovery of) humanity.

Shameful is indeed the correct term for our country's cowardice, to not only face the fact that we have imprisoned people without trial, some innocent, tortured them, and now refuse to make any amends. And wash our hands of even finding out what exactly happened, calling it politics as usual, no harm no foul.

If there is not a self examination and honest reckoning for this black episode in our history, I fear it will become a malignancy that could well become metastatic on our national souls.

Their cases should be investigated in an open forum, and if it is determined they are not criminals, they should be compensated. With very large sums.

I'm not sure how much of it's cowardice per se. Why do Americans not want to take in even detainees who have been shown not to harbor anti-American sentiments? Could it be because Middle America just doesn't like Muslims of any stripe?

You know, the people who are most rabid about this are often the people who tell us we are a Christian nation.

Isn't it funny how silent those same people are about this claim, in this context?

Between Bermuda and the U.S. which showed itself to be the Christian nation?

Disregarding all the humanity aspects, how the US handled the problem of the Uighurs has to be political stupidity of one of the highest degrees.

No doubt, there are difficult aspects to deal with in the process of closing the prison camp in Guantanamo. Some of those will be real tough, but the Uighurs, who are by all indications innocent, should have been just about the easiest one to solve.

The smart thing would have been to settle the Uighurs in the US and use them as an example to persuade other countries to help out with some of the remaining prisoners.

Now that the US has refused to take even the Uighurs, how and why should foreign governments stick out their head and face opposition from their own people towards settling some of these prisoners in their countries? And that opposition will come in each and every case.

Congress and the administration have maneuvered themselves into a corner by their cowardice and settling some of the other prisoners will cost more than the $200 Mio aid package promised to Palau.

"We have people here, taken against their will, proven to be innocent, and now they want a chance to survive and earn a decent living," James said, earning loud laughter from opponents.

This is the kind of thing the opposition party laughs at in Bermuda? Who knew the U.S. Republican Party had a branch there?

I'd definitely prefer to see them here, settling in some large city which already has a sizable Chinese population and a mosque or two, so that they wouldn't stick out like sore thumbs and might be assimilated in the future.

I'm not sure a "sizable Chinese population" would help; the Uighurs are not ethnically Chinese, although they probably speak the language. The problem is that there were Uighur communities in the U.S. that offered to take them in, and were rebuffed.

The Uighur issue makes the disparity between Obama's lofty rhetoric and the cravenness of his actions that much more obvious. In contrast to his campaign promises, Obama has adopted the beltway approved, ultimately disastrous approach of cowardly caving into the Republicans on any national security related issue.

The comments by Michael7843853 imply another reason for not releasing the Uighurs to the U.S. It would be too dangerous for them. They'd be gunned down by right-wing crazies in no time.

As far as Bermuda tourism is concerned, the fact that Bermuda accepted these innocent detainees makes me more, rather than less, interested in visiting.