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I think the actual problem is where to put him. No single state in the US volunteers to take him on. It's not so much about the rather small risk that he could
by bayesian_horse 7y ago
I think the actual problem is where to put him. No single state in the US volunteers to take him on. It's not so much about the rather small risk that he could be a terrorist (or might have become radicalized/motivated by treating him as such) but rather that some voters might THINK there is still a risk, however small. And a politician that advocates for taking him in will be (figuratively) flogged if the former prisoner commits anything worse than a parking ticket in his further life.
Similar pressures apply to Pakistan and to other countries who might feel even less responsibility to free him.
- franga2000 7y agoBut he still has citizenship, right? In Pakistan? They already know he's not who they thought he was, so what argument/law could they possibly use to not let him back into the country?
- bayesian_horse 7y agoI don't know the details, but I could imagine they would prefer to not know that he is a Pakistani citizen. In that part of the world, citizenship and identity can be a messy subject. None of those countries is ethnically or linguistically homogeneous, not all of them can reliably track all citizens if they lost their papers. And I can imagine he wouldn't be a "gift" for the Pakistani government itself, considering political implications.
- beerandt 7y agoThe government of Pakistan were the "kidnappers" that originally turned him over to the US. (He leaves that part out of his story.) They don't want him, and he was previously expelled from Saudi Arabia. I don't know what other options he might have.
- jstanley 7y ago> (He leaves that part out of his story.) No, he doesn't.
- aritmo 7y agoSurely he can apply for asylum in many countries, considering his extraordinary circumstances.
- bayesian_horse 7y agoYes, he could, if he were able to make it to any of those countries...