el-Masri case dismissed - Protecting torture is in the national interest.
Khaled el-Masri has been denied his right to sue in US courts because, "moving forward with Khaled el-Masri's case would risk national security by exposing state secrets about CIA activities vital to the U.S. war on terrorism."
el-Masri you might remember was the completely innocent man who was snatched up in Macedonia, drugged, beaten, rendered to Afghanistan where he was held for a few months, then released when interrogators realized he was not the man they were looking for. (released by dumping him on a dirt roadside in Macedonia.)
So, an innocent man gets snatched up put through the worst the CIA has constructed for top Al Qaeda leaders, and then has no recourse, thus shielding another dubiously legal program and those who created and authorized it.
But, I guess it's all moot anyhow, because "we do not torture," right? The US would never torture anyone, especially the innocent. That would be a war crime.
(Just as a side note, remember this is the case in which Condi Rice intervened to get Mr. el-Masri freed after the mistake was recognized.)
Update: The UN Committee on Torture said the US must come clean over torture and renditions. That's right, America is being examined by the UN Committee on Torture and found lacking. Did you predict that seven years ago?
el-Masri you might remember was the completely innocent man who was snatched up in Macedonia, drugged, beaten, rendered to Afghanistan where he was held for a few months, then released when interrogators realized he was not the man they were looking for. (released by dumping him on a dirt roadside in Macedonia.)
So, an innocent man gets snatched up put through the worst the CIA has constructed for top Al Qaeda leaders, and then has no recourse, thus shielding another dubiously legal program and those who created and authorized it.
But, I guess it's all moot anyhow, because "we do not torture," right? The US would never torture anyone, especially the innocent. That would be a war crime.
(Just as a side note, remember this is the case in which Condi Rice intervened to get Mr. el-Masri freed after the mistake was recognized.)
Update: The UN Committee on Torture said the US must come clean over torture and renditions. That's right, America is being examined by the UN Committee on Torture and found lacking. Did you predict that seven years ago?
posted by mikevotes at
9:10 PM
4 Comments:
Sometimes I'm embarrassed by my country...
No that's not right. Sometimes the people governing my country -- and those you voted them into office -- are an embarrassment to me.
By
-epm, at 10:12 PM
"and those you voted them into office"
I'm assuming you mean who, and are not implying that I had anything to do with mess.
Because if that's what you're saying, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to step outside.
Mike
And I agree with your real main point. I was virtually politically inactive until that moment of realization that America had turned into something I no longer recognized.
By
mikevotes, at 10:23 PM
No, seven years ago you wouldn't because the world turned a blind eye to Cinton's misdeeds. I'm still trying to figure that one ont.
By
Praguetwin, at 7:45 AM
Yup. I often get this sense that not only are we on "the wrong track," but just how far down that track we've travelled.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 10:39 AM
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