By Andrew Walden
LINK: PDF of Greenwell Letter to Kenoi , PDF of Greenwell letter to Obama
Bermuda and Palau may not be the only beautiful tropical islands to host illegal Islamist combatants being released from US custody at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. If a Hawaii County Councilman and a Kauai County activist get their way, some would get a new home—and complete freedom--on two of Hawaii’s most beautiful islands.
Robert Greenwell represents the North Kona district where activists recently protested against training US military personnel at Pohakuloa Training Area. They may not want US soldiers and marines, but al-Qaeda fighters are welcome. According to a flattering article in West Hawaii Today June 25:
Greenwell recently sent a letter to President Barack Obama, asking the Hawaii-born commander-in-chief to consider sending prisoners to be released from the prison at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay to the Big Island. The idea isn't to incarcerate the prisoners here, the councilman said, but to release them and begin a process of healing and forgiveness.… "I think if we want to be known as a place of love and aloha, this is a place to express it."
Hawaii has a substantial Chinese community. A Uighur detainee named Abdulghappar says: "I have one point: a billion Chinese enemies, that is enough for me. Why would I get more enemies?"
Another detainee, Abdul Nasser, explains: "I don't know if it was an AK-47. It was an old rifle, and I trained for a couple of days (at Tora Bora)." Abdul Semet says, "The reason we went to Afghanistan doesn't mean we have a relationship with al-Qaeda or some other organization; we went there for peace...." Another claimed he was in a cave at Tora Bora waiting for a visa to Iran--even though the nearest Iranian embassies were far away in Kabul or Islamabad.
In spite of this, Greenwell is not alone. The Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice sent letters to President Obama and Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle requesting that Islamists from western China being offered a new home on Palau be brought to settle on Kauai instead.
Wrote spokesperson Ed Coll:
"...the Kaua‘i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice calls for you, as Hawai‘i state officials, to extend an invitation to the Uighur national former detainees to come and settle on the Hawaiian Islands....We presume that you all are moved by aloha to extend welcome to the mistreated individuals and help them resettle and become useful members of the Hawaiian society...
"...After more than six years of illegal (sic) confinement, the United States owes these men more than their freedom, it owes them an apology and we can offer them the aloha spirit. “What better aloha than this humanitarian gesture from Hawai‘i already known for its rich and diverse ethnic population? Hawai‘i can much more easily absorb these men than our Pacific Island neighbors in Palau. By helping these innocent men rebuild their shattered lives you, the elected representatives of the State of Hawai‘i will confirm your belief in serving justice and supporting valuable Hawaiian traditions of aloha with action."
Coll is not alone in thinking that Palau is not good enough for the Islamist head-choppers. AP reports that most of the detainees still at Guantanamo are rejecting the resettlement proposal. Citing their attorney, AP reported June 17 that "(GTMO detainees) Dawut Abdurehim and Anwar Assan, both 34, are 'very open' to the idea and asked for more information regarding their future legal status and living arrangements...."
Like the protesters in Greenwell’s district, Coll’s group has also worked to drive the US Armed Forces out of Hawaii. The Kauai Alliance was involved in anti-Superferry protests which kept Honolulu ferry passengers off of Kauai. After rejecting both military personnel and Honolulu residents, the Alliance extends an “invitation to the Uighur national former detainees to come and settle on the Hawaiian Islands….”
The Uighur detainees were among the illegal Islamist combatants captured during the December, 2001 battle of Tora Bora as Osama bin-Laden fled from Afghanistan into Pakistan avoiding US forces advancing south.
They were training with the al-Qaeda allied “East Turkmenistan Islamic Movement” under the supervision of the group’s leader Abdul Haq.
In a video statement, Haq explains:
“...until we make Allah’s religion supreme…and we live a precious life in the shadow of Islamic Shariah law, or else be rewarded with martyrdom in the cause of Allah…We are plotting for the Chinese to suffer the torture of Allah, or else by our hands….”
But the Uighurs are only the beginning. As the Kauai Alliance letter explains:
“Inspired by this action, other countries such as Australia, Germany, and others may reconsider and accept other former detainees once it has been determined they are not enemy combatants. The Kaua‘i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice urges other progressive, peace, justice, religious and sovereignty groups and organizations to support our efforts in serving true justice.”
Greenwell told West Hawaii Today: “We can't continue to live in a culture of fear that has been perpetuated because of political reasons." Ironically his proposal exists only because some Americans have been made fearful of defending themselves by decades of politically-motivated political correctness. Ignorant of history, they believe that a show of submission will bring peace with Islamists.
The Hawaii Legislature voted in May to designate September 24, 2009 “Islam Day”. September 24, 2009 is September 11, 2009 on the Julian calendar. Kauai's State Senator, Democrat Gary Hooser--now a candidate for his party's Lt Governor nomination--launched his campaign website with the anti-Semitic 9-11 troother site www.WhatReallyHappened.com listed as part of Hooser's "Regular Reading Regime." Muslims involved in promoting the September 24/September 11 Islam Day resolution threatened this writer with a lawsuit after allegations of fraud were exposed concerning an abortive effort to construct a mosque in North Kona. The article is still up and no lawsuit has been filed.
According to West Hawaii Today Greenwell, “acknowledged that some Americans might be unhappy with his offer to accept the detainees, but said that he anticipated negative reactions to be only about 10 percent of the total responses.”
In spite of Greenwell’s anticipation of support, reaction on the two islands is decidedly negative. Kona residents are planning a protest Friday morning to demand Greenwell’s resignation.
Neither Coll nor Greenwell responded for a request for comment from Hawaii Free Press, but one Hilo resident offered an analogy:
“You go into a dark room and turn on the light – what do the cockroaches do? They run. The cockroaches run because they have an instinct for self-preservation.
“Clearly these guys offering our island to al-Qaeda terrorists have no instinct for self-preservation. I know that many of them consider themselves revolutionaries. They want to rise up.
“I agree. They should rise up. They should rise up and elevate themselves to the level of cockroaches.”
According to West Hawaii Today, "Greenwell admits that the idea 'may sound insane.'"
Hawaii Revised Statute 334-60.2 explains that: "A person may be committed to a psychiatric facility for involuntary hospitalization...(if)...the person is imminently dangerous to self or others...."
LINK: PDF of Greenwell Letter to Kenoi , PDF of Greenwell letter to Obama
Advertiser: Reprints the WHT article with some of the fluff and flattery trimmed