This would be funny if it weren't so tragic. It's like somebody coming to your town and telling you that they don't want prisoners in their town and want you to take them. And YOU say, well, heck, if YOU aren't even willing to take these prisoners, why the heck should I?

The hitches that have developed in admitting some of the Uighurs to the United States have, in turn, severely hampered efforts to send the nine other Uighurs to Germany.

"It's very clear that the [Obama] administration has to bring some of them to the U.S.," said Susan Baker Manning, a Washington lawyer who represents two Uighurs seeking to go to Munich.

"Our European allies have made it quite clear that they expect our help and participation in solving the problem of Guantanamo, which we created," she said.

More from sCOTUS blog

The brief holds to the position of the Bush Administration that a court’s power to issue a remedy in a habeas case — even in the wake of the Supreme Court’s mandate last year that the detainees have a constitutional right to seek their freedom — is limited to a finding of eligibility for release, without an actual release from captivity while diplomatic negotiations to resettle a prisoner continue.  The brief seeks to draw a clear distinction between “simple release” and “release into the U.S.”

The filing also clearly embraces the Bush Administration view that detainees cleared for release may be held for a “wind-up” period of indefinite duration, while resettlement efforts proceed. The brief does not specify how long such a period could last, saying only that it would be “a reasonable period of time.”  But it cites examples from past history suggesting that it could run for “several years.”