During what can only be described as a bizarre and someone tense first outing with the press earlier Friday, Donald Trump riffed on "The Caliphate," it's demise, and how to wrap up the loose ends, particularly the "thousands and thousands of ISIS fighter prisoners."
I checked. There are indeed thousands of prisoners alleged to be ISIS fighters held in Syrian prisons, but none are held by the U.S., nor have any been sent to Guantanamo Bay, nor are any planned to be sent to Guantanamo Bay. The Stable Genius may want to take all the credit for running ISIS into the ground, but the prisoners are someone else's problem.
Neverthless, he insisted.
"The United States is not going to have thousands and thousands of people that we've captured stationed at Guantanamo Bay, held captive at Guantanamo Bay for the next 50 years and us spending millions and millions of dollars," he declared with a firm note of defiance. After all, when money is involved, he's not spending it on brown folks unless they are in cages on our border.
He blathered on. "We did Europe a tremendous favor -- they mostly come out of Europe -- and we've done them a tremendous favor. And the United States is not going to pay the cost of thousands and thousands of ISIS fighter prisoners in Guantanamo Bay or someplace else." Did anyone request this service, or is he just pre-emptively denying the request?
"We won't do it," he said firmly. "So they have to make their decision or else we're releasing them at the border."
What WE is this, I wonder? Is he going to pal around with Assad and Putin to place these prisoners at European borders? Who is he threatening with this? And why?
This wasn't the only time he threatened it. Clearly it's on his mind to release dangerous terrorists into Europe, presumably so he can point to the danger of "open borders" or some such while he bolsters his fellow fascist Boris Johnson. Whatever the reason, the threat is ridiculous and vicious, all at once. Maybe don't bother with war if you can't figure out what to do with the defeated ones.
