I HAVE an uneasy feeling that in committing Ireland to accepting Guantanamo detainees, the Government is exhibiting one of our distinguishing national characteristics: individually and collectively, we are prone to the generous gesture not thought through.

When she met Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin last week, Hillary Clinton politely began her campaign to hoist Europe on the petard of its own self-righteousness.

Referring to detainees who refused to go home because they feared ill-treatment, she said: "We need help to avoid the human rights problems that might arise with the release and resettlement of the detainees. And we are trying to do the best we can with the problem that we inherited, and that certainly is something that Europe, from one end to the other, called upon us to do. So we would hope to have the cooperation of European governments."

Mr Martin accepted what he described as the "compelling logic" of her position: "We wanted to see the closure of Guantanamo. We believed it was overall injurious to the public perception of the West, the public perception of the US and also in terms of the human rights dimension to it. We have said that we are willing to respond with an offer of assistance."

And so he offered to help in January, as a welcome present to US President Barack Obama, who had committed himself on the electoral trail to shutting down Guantanamo. The need to fulfil this commitment has added to the greying of Obama, who is already suffering the consequences of his propensity to make crowd-pleasing promises that come back to haunt him.

Liberals are disappointed that he's postponing flinging wide the gates, while many within his administration are petrified at the prospect of releasing inmates who may launch a terrorist attack on American soil. Say what you like about the iniquities of the Bush regime, some of them are whispering, but he kept America safe.

There are similar worries in the EU, which has been split on the issue for months, but which must agree a common position. Sweden and the Netherlands, for instance, are deeply concerned that their security may be put at risk because countries like Ireland, France and Portugal are prepared to take risks to please Obama. There are also tensions in several countries between foreign ministries and those responsible for domestic security.

EU officials have been in the US trying to find out what they are being asked to take on and probing why the US seems so reluctant to accept any detainees themselves. "We understand you have a big problem," said one of them anonymously to the 'International Herald Tribune'. "And we appreciate what Obama has said about closing Guantanamo. But that doesn't automatically mean putting all the remaining inmates on a plane and sending them to Europe."

Interviewed on CNN, Taoiseach Brian Cowen accepted the need for an EU-wide approach, but he was still in 'Is feider linn' (Yes we can) mode. Unlike most European governments, he wasn't even confining his generosity to the 60 or so detainees who have been cleared as safe for release. Mr Cowen is uneasily aware that our neutrality may dent our popularity: Obama may have noticed that Ireland refuses to join NATO yet hides behind it, and that we will not be helping out in Afghanistan.

He did, however, show some caution on numbers: "We will take a proportionate amount, a small number." And "we will keep an eye on them very closely".

It isn't that simple, Taoiseach. Especially if we don't even know what kind of people we're keeping an eye on. To the frustration of the EU officials who are demanding "total transparency" and "maximum information", US intelligence sources are proving coy, which gives rise to the suspicion that they believe they have insufficient evidence to charge many of those who may well be terrorists.

Here are a few of the questions that should be answered before we accept anyone. What exactly were they doing that caused them to be picked up? Why does the US want to get rid of them? What is known about their politics? Are they religious fundamentalists? Would they like to see the black flag of Islam flying over the Dail?

We have shown no grasp of the Islamist threat within our own borders, let alone anywhere else. Clonskeagh mosque is still home to the European Council for Fatwa and Research, headed by that nasty piece of work, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, elder of the sinister Muslim Brotherhood, whose enthusiasm for suicide bombing and the execution of those he considers to be sexual deviants have him banned from the US and the UK.

Preoccupied with the threat of dissident republicans, our security forces are ill-equipped to deal with a more exotic and dangerous enemy.

Is there anyone thinking this through?