“In a kind of apotheosis of multiculturalism, the choicest al Qaeda suspects captured in the war on terrorism are about to take up residence under the American flag, at Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. Navy base at the eastern tip of Cuba,” Claudia Winkler writes in The Weekly Standard.

The arrival of the detainees from halfway around the world shouldn’t directly affect those not interrogating or guarding them or otherwise involved in their care. The newcomers are currently expected to number in the hundreds–not tens of thousands, like the Haitians (1991-94) and Cubans (1994-96) housed at “Gitmo” in the last decade. Those economic and political refugees (and some criminals unloaded from Castro’s jails) were put up in tent cities that sometimes became tense cities. People complained of boredom and poor conditions. They didn’t like being told what to do by military guards. There were political frictions, too, even riots and a few suicide attempts, before the Haitians were mostly repatriated to “democratic” Haiti, and the Cubans were mostly admitted to the United States.

The new arrivals, high-security prisoners, will hardly be in a position to make demands. Besides, after the crumbling towns and dank caves of Afghanistan, they should find conditions at Guantanamo luxurious. They will trade frigid deserts and mountains for a bright, balmy Caribbean winter. Gitmo also is desert, known for its cactus and iguanas; locals are urged to conserve water, even to pour used water on their gardens instead of down the drain. But there are sea breezes year round. The detainees will be provided proper sanitation, medical care, and a Koranically correct diet, say officials, along with access to the International Red Cross.

Contrast all this with the Taliban’s treatment of prisoners–the five months’ crippling torture meted out, for example, to a Kabul man suspected of having converted to Christianity. The Washington Post’s reporting suggests that the man, who worked in a warehouse of the International Red Cross, was guilty only of liking to read and owning some books.

Any Gitmo detainees familiar with the Taliban’s jails will probably think they’ve gone to paradise.

…Here’s somethin’ for the “root causes” crowd to sink their choppers into: When our military prisons provide more comfort than erstwhile Afghan “freedom,” is it so far-fetched to suggest that these nutbags attacked us in order to find their way to three hots and a cot on the safe side of the globe…?

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