The report on Robert Gates’s speaking favorably of the “Saudi government’s rehabilitation program for jihadis” is not unfortunately an isolated instance of unintended hilarity. We would expect the former commander of the U.S.S. Cole to be infuriated, but it remains a puzzle as to why no one in the Obama administration seems aware of how bizarre this will all seem to average Americans. Release the Uighurs into the U.S.? Sure. Send the U.S.S. Cole bombers to a Saudi camp where they can mouth some platitudes to the Saudi “therapists” and reunite with their fellow terrorists. Why not?

It is as if the president and his advisers have put aside both national security and political considerations in favor of some other wacky agenda designed only to please MoveOn.org and European politicians. This agenda may reflect Obama’s deepest sensibilities and desires, but it is a dangerous game (where and when will the released terrorists pop up and kill Americans?) and a political train wreck in the making. Someone in his administration should suggest the president hit the reset button.