LONDON, 29 June 2004 — Guantanamo Bay has been labeled a legal black hole, a hall of torment and another American prisoner scandal. This weekend, as President Bush stood next to the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) proudly announcing a united Western alliance, free of differences and obstacles, the controversial detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay came staggering back into an otherwise solid Westminster-Washington relationship.
It is striking that while the president is making new ties with the rest of Europe, his long-time friend and ally, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, is changing the direction of their ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ alliance. Maybe not so loud and direct but the British government has criticized George Bush’s idea of military tribunals in the case against the four British detainees still being held at Guantanamo Bay. Attorney General Lord Goldsmith said that the US proposed military tribunals would not be sufficient to bring about fair trials.
The Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has insisted that Lord Goldsmith’s announcement is not sudden and that the problem has existed from as long ago as February this year. He further insisted that this does not indicate a sudden break down in the Bush-Blair relationship.
Then this happened: Yet another demand by the British authorities to the Americans for greater cooperation and understanding with regards to the British detainees in Cuba. This time the request came directly from Blair to President Bush. The move was triggered by an application for judicial review by two of the detainees, which the government here has said is unnecessary.
It is not known when the prime minister directly approached Bush regarding the latest demands on Guantanamo Bay but Louise Christian, lawyer for the two detainees (Moazzam Begg and Feroz Abbasi), said that she believes it was last month.
Perhaps it’s not the best of times for the US president to be facing the issue of Guantanamo Bay again. He’s flying all around the world to convince the American electorate that things on the diplomatic side are stable.
Yes, North Korea has threatened to test weapons. The president said that’s okay. A surprising move from him concerning a country he categorized in the “axis of evil” just two years ago. And yes, the UN rejected an appeal by the United States to defer prisoner abuse charges for a year. The president didn’t take that matter much further either. It seemed for a week or so that despite the polls showing George Bush becoming less popular and John Kerry becoming more popular, the White House was getting used to diplomacy. Finally, the Bush administration had learned how to say “okay”.
Diplomatic awareness led the president to Ireland during the weekend to celebrate a transAtlantic relationship, which Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern described is “based on a common set of democratic principles”. It must have been a real achievement for the American president to hear the word “common” after so long.
Now as he arrives in Turkey for the NATO summit, President Bush is surely expecting the same kind of words to pop up in the encounters with his European counterparts regarding the future of Iraq, and indirectly, the future of his presidency. A more international America has woken up from Sept. 11 to realize that without support and friendship of foreign countries, America — whether under Bush or Kerry — will be a dangerous place to live. More importantly, President Bush has realized the importance of international relations and diplomacy.
Guantanamo Bay (or ‘Gitmo’ as it is known in US military terms) has been the long-standing issue between America and its closest ally Britain. When George Bush visited London in November last year, this was the one area that was not seen eye-to-eye by him and Blair.
Though it may not be the broken link in the tight relationship between the two countries, it has been the most enduring and most serious issue of the affiliation that has not been dealt with. Has President Bush forgotten this plea, or is he choosing to ignore it? Whatever the case, it is high time he paid his dues to the British government and listened to the prime minister.
