The Arar case

The Arar case is finally recieving front page coverage. (NYTimes) (WaPo) (AP)

In brief, Canadian computer consultant Maher Arar was grabbed by the US as a terror suspect as he changed planes in New York. He was "rendered" to Syria where he underwent torture. He was completely innocent. It's truly horrible.

Although this retelling of Mr. Arar's story should immediately put an end to all argument that the Bush detainee policies should be made law as it's the ultimate proof of their failure, I don't think that's going to happen. This issue has moved from reality to politics, and Mr. Arar's experience will only be injected into the debate as it is useful to the politicians involved.

That's where we are. A man is detained and tortured in error by the US government and his experience is reduced to an uncomfortable question to be dodged in an interview. Happy Constitution Week.

But if you want a real example of what the Bush detainee policies will mean going forward, take a look at this clip from the AP coverage.

The commission concluded there was no evidence Canadian officials participated in or agreed to the decision to send Arar to Syria. But O'Connor recommended that in the future, information should never be provided to a foreign country where there is a credible risk that it will cause or contribute to the use of torture.

The policies currently being pushed for by the White House will actually discourage cooperation and the sharing of information. If you talk about stopping terror attacks in the US, Canada is the key. Terrorists are quite likely to enter the US across the northern border. Wouldn't it be nice if the Canadians felt they could mention it.

(Right now, CNN is framing the story as a Canadian intelligence error, not a statement of US detainee policies.)