Gitmo gets H1N1 Vaccine

[Casual Observer]

Gitmo detainees set to receive swine flu vaccine
Some critics say the terror suspects should not get vaccine priority

updated 3:51 p.m. CT, Sun., Nov . 1, 2009
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Terrorism suspects held at the Guantanamo Bay naval base will soon get swine flu vaccines, despite complaints that American civilians should have priority, a military spokesman said Sunday.

Army Maj. James Crabtree, a spokesman for the U.S. jail facility in southeast Cuba, said the doses should start arriving this month, with guards and then inmates scheduled for inoculations.

He acknowledged there may be an "emotional response" from critics who argue that terror suspects should not be allocated swine-flu medications while members of the U.S. public are still waiting due to a vaccine shortage.............

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33576821/ns ... -terrorism

I would be one of those critics.

[Crochet Lady]

ditto on being one of those critics.

[garymaize]

I find it funny that with the slow dispensing of the vaccine, they were reporting on Nation news last night that there were 150,000 distribution centers to dispense the vaccine. Do the math.

[Casual Observer]

I find it funny that with the slow dispensing of the vaccine, they were reporting on Nation news last night that there were 150,000 distribution centers to dispense the vaccine. Do the math.

That's most likely a true statement, when they get the vaccine to distribute.

[Keeper Of The Zoo]

well i guess it's good people willing to kill americans should get the shot, now they can be water boarded without the worry of any getting the flu... and we the tax payers are paying for it. yep that makes since.

[ShiksaPrincess]

It would make some sense if the detainees are sources of information that could potentially save American lives, but the rationale for giving them priority appears to be more diplomatic than strategic. The fact that these men are detainees and not convicted criminals is probably a consideration, as well. I do think that convicted criminals should be at the bottom of the pecking order as recipients of the vaccine.

While I can understand the rationale for giving the detainees the vaccine, I'm not sure I agree that these individuals should be given priority over American citizens. The United States may have "certain basic obligations" to these prisoners, but it also has basic obligations to its own people. Using taxpayer money that "we, the people" have provided in securing the vaccine and then giving precedence to our alleged enemies in receiving the vaccine seems basically wrong to me. I think that "we, the people of the United States" should come first.

[brown eyed girl]

I couldn't have said it better!

[ShiksaPrincess]

According to a press release by the White House there is no swine flu vaccine on the way to Gitmo detainees and there never has been. The allegation was false.

[morbius]

According to a press release by the White House there is no swine flu vaccine on the way to Gitmo detainees and there never has been. The allegation was false.

.. i have no idea of the validity of the story...but in the original poster's defense....i don't think he got it in blogland....the story was on mainstrean news channels and wire services....

[ShiksaPrincess]

.. i have no idea of the validity of the story...but in the original poster's defense....i don't think he got it in blogland....the story was on mainstrean news channels and wire services....

That much is true, Morbius. It seems that pundits have once again spent an inordinate amount of time over-analyzing a non-issue. It's business as usual in Medialand.

[minuteman101]

According to a press release by the White House there is no swine flu vaccine on the way to Gitmo detainees and there never has been. The allegation was false.

Thank you Shiksa... these folks have worn me down to the point I see no point in correcting the stories that get posted. I still have fun reading them though.

[Casual Observer]

According to a press release by the White House there is no swine flu vaccine on the way to Gitmo detainees and there never has been. The allegation was false.

Probably damage control after the uproar from the story. It was an AP story reported through the mouthpiece of the administration, MSNBC.

[kev6872]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33576821/from/RSS/

hmm.... interesting.

[Free Man]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33576821/from/RSS/

hmm.... interesting.

Would like to see a link to the MSNBC or AP retraction of that original story along with new quotes from the individuals named in the story denying that they ever said what they are quoted as having said.
Until that comes around, I will assume that the White House Press Release is just a knee jerk attempt at damage control and only related to the truth in that they denied it. I would be one who would not be inclined to give the White House the benefit of the doubt on much of anything.

[Free Man]

According to a press release by the White House there is no swine flu vaccine on the way to Gitmo detainees and there never has been. The allegation was false.

That of course does not necessarily mean that the original story is untrue. That could mean that the logistics of designating an allocation and obtaining and shipping the vaccine are not an accomplished fact and never have been, while not addressing that it was intended to be accomplished prior to the stink. The White House press release may well be parsing “and never has been” much like Clinton’s “it depended on what the definition of “is” is". They are so quick to launch their damage control that it seems that sometimes they don’t think it out very well.

It also seems that it would be a forgone conclusion that guards and staff of any high security prison operated by the US Government would be at the front of the line for inoculation just to be able to maintain a healthy staff through which to maintain security and the press release did not deny that was planned or intended. And, I can’t see how the US Government now being administered by those who are super sensitive to what others around the world think about us, and under the watch of the UN and its Human Rights Freaks, could allow themselves to deny vaccine to those poor abused, misunderstood mass murderers and killers of innocent men, women, and children.

The original story in its entirity does make sense. The White House denial does not.