The XX Factor: What women really think.

Will Congress Help the Uighurs?

Another early test for Obama and the Democratic Congress on the war on terror front: The D.C. Circuit just stopped the release of the poor beleagured Uighurs, 17 Guantanamo Bay detainees whom the Bush administration admitted posed no threat but refused to let go. A district court had ruled in favor of releasing the men, saying that the president had no legal basis for detaining them. No threat, no detention—seems right. The problem is that it's not clear where the Uighurs should go. They're from a remote northwestern area of China. They're not fans of the Chinese government, and the government hates them right back. Which means they're at risk of torture if we send them home, according to both the government and their lawyers. That means that our government either has to look for another country to bear the brunt of China's anger by agreeing to take them—a deal that apparently hasn't gone well for Albania, which took five other Uighur detainees three years ago—or release them inside the United States.

Why not repatriate the Uighurs here, if the government has determined they're not dangerous? Today's court decision doesn't argue against doing that. Instead, it's about separation of powers. The D.C. Circuit said that a district court can't order the release of an alien from Gitmo without authorizing legislation from Congress. OK, Congress, are you going to move on this? And will the Obama administration support such a bill?