Guantanamo

President Obama has promised to close Guantanamo before the end of the year. His administration is under pressure to find a home for the 450 inmates remaining in this little carribean paradise. A real paradise, these are the words used by an inmate recently relocated in Britain when he compared the camp to his previous experience, a stay at the "black hole" camp in Kabul. There , according to an interview on the BBC, he spent 6 months in total darkness on a dirt floor, with constant loud music..... the same rock record for months on end.
Of course, in Guantanamo he was made to sign a confession under torture, and lived in conditions unworthy of a human being. Guantanamo probably caused more harm to the US than several divisions of jihadists, not to mention the trashing of the American model of democracy, so needed by the rest of the world.
What to do with the soon to be former inmates? The Administration has created a Task Force, in charge of reviewing each case. Many are innocent, sold by their brothers to US forces for a reward. Others cannot be sent home for fear of a terrible fate. A few will land in the US, either to be judged or freed.
The European Union has sent a high Level delegation to Washington to negotiate the intake of the rest of them. Problem: some EU member states refuse to have anything to do with them. Some agree to take a few, but want the US to apologize for its behavior. And some accept to welcome some of the lost jihadists only if they can negotiate a bilateral agreement.
Europe now has the "Shengen Area", a system that allows the citizens of its member states to travel , settle and work freely in any country. Borders have been abolished. So if a former Guantanamo guest were to be sent to Portugal, he could decide to move or stay anywhere within the zone.
After so many fervent prayers, vigils and demonstrations against the existence of this infamous camp, it seems now that it will be even harder to close it down.

Child soldiers

I just attended a DDR conference. It stands for Disarmement, Demobilisation and Reintegration. The World Bank, and a few NGOs are spending millions of dollars in post-conflict countries, one of the saddest and most enduring consequences of these endless conflicts is the enrolling of thousands of children. Kids know no fear of death and, once coerced, can be very cruel. Besides, the devastation caused on the continent by HIV-AIDS, is leaving behind millions of orphans. Meet the "orphan generation" of Africans. Little boys used as child-soldiers to amputate and mutilate civilians, usec to settle accounts with AK-47, and little girls used as camp whores.
DDR operations aim at reinserting these children in the village, to live side by side with their former victims.
What do you do with millions of kids who grew up to hate maim and kill, without any morals nor exemple? How much money and for how long will be necessary to give them a place in society?

And what are we to think of the thousands of palestinian children, goose-stepping in full regalia and touting so proudly their Kalashnikovs? Prepare some demobilisation.