Wednesday, June 10, 2009

In Which, "What The Hell Is A Uiger?"

I have to say, until tonight, I had never heard of "weegers." I accept without question that they, whomever they are, have been held at Guantanamo for years, even though they are no longer considered "enemy combatants." I do question however, how in the hell some Chinese guys from Xinjiang, Muslim or not, ended up there. A blog article from ABC's "Legalities" in October of 2008 sheds some light.
The men, a group of Chinese Muslims known as 'Uighurs,' had weapons training from the Taliban in camps in Afghanistan. They were picked up in Afghanistan and Pakistan after Sept. 11th, and have been at Guantanamo ever since. They are no longer considered 'enemy combatants,' because China, not the United States, was their enemy.
This map however, really tells the story. Look at all those "'Stans" bordering Xinjiang: (you can click on the image to enlarge it)

I think I would rather live in Palau than Washington D.C., but then I'm a beachy kinda girl.

Update: Per Spencer Ackerman, a Maddow favorite, the Uigers, at least a significant number of the 17, are goin' to the shore.
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 10, 2009 at 5:12 AM

    Did you miss the episode where Rachel gave a thorough lesson on how to pronounce and spell "Uiger"? Very useful information.

    Also, is it me or has Rachel's commentary been particularly engrossing and informative this week? Maybe it's because there are so many big things going on at once - Dr. Tiller and the ensuing abortion debate, DADT and marriage equality, Sotomayor, healthcare, various Republican douchebaggery - that makes her insight even more interesting than usual. But even when the discussion is disturbing or frightening, there's little part of me listening to Rachel and going "Mmmmm, brain food...."

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  2. ConchExPatJune 10, 2009 at 9:02 AM

    No, I don't remember that episode at all. And I've seen them all too. Memory like a sieve.

    Yeah, even when she's making me laugh, I'm learning.

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  3. SabrinaJune 10, 2009 at 8:47 PM

    Yea, Rachel has talked about them before...I can't recall exactly when either. I remember first hearing about them and thinking, HUH? LOL...it's just odd, I guess because they are Chinese. I didn't know Al-Qaeda enlisted Muslims of any nationality, I thought they just enlisted people from their region. I dunno why I thought that.

    Well..that's why I love Rachel's show. She's informative and at the same time fun and adorkable. Her show just feels different from the rest of the cable news show.

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  4. AnonymousJune 20, 2009 at 8:23 PM

    they aren't ethnic Chinese, so calling them "Chinese guys" isn't quite accurate. They are ethnically a Turkic people. China needs to GTFO of Tibet and Xinjiang, those places don't belong to ethnic Chinese, called "Han".

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