The Supreme Court disgraced itself on Monday by torpedoing the appeal of Maher Arar, the Canadian who was kidnapped at John F. Kennedy International Airport and sent by the U.S. government to Syria for torturing.
The Canadian government has publicly apologized to Arar for providing false information to the U.S. government about Arar’s suspicious connections. The U.S. government has refused to admit it did anything wrong in shipping Arar to the Middle East to be tortured at U.S. behest.
The Obama administration vigorously opposed Arar’s motion to get justice and to discover the details of the U.S. government’s role in his horror trip. Obama’s Justice Department told the court that permitting discovery in Arar’s case could result in unfairly exposing or scrutinizing “the motives and sincerity of the United States officials who concluded that petitioner could be removed to Syria.”
Now we also have sovereign immunity for the reputation of torturers and torture enablers???
Yes God forbid the motives and sincerity of anyone working in the upper echelons of government should be open to scrutiny! Here comes the SCOTUS quash-hammer to save the day! Boy, that was a close one. The slimy inner workings of our national security apparatus were almost exposed.
RE: Obama: So much for being a harbinger of transparency and accountability… Doublespeak FTW.
So it's true! Roland Freisler was spared execution and brought to the United States to write interrogation guidelines for the "Justice" Department.
This little nugget just makes my day. We get a couple hundred thousand Iraqis killed, many more injured and millions displaced, but we meant well. Our war with the Taliban–the one against al-Qaida ended long ago–is to build a new nation in Afghanistan more to our liking and for the Afghanis own good. Whatever you think of Obama (not much, in my case) it's repellent to see Americans mewling for him to "show more emotion" about the Gulf oil gusher.
Welcome to goo-goo America, where we've combined the finest of war weapon technology with simpering imbecility. Where it's all right to butcher a wedding party of people we give the same concern to as we do the anthill by our porches, and yet we have to get in touch with our weepy, gooey inner selves. Americans walk around in a sentimental stupor wearing diapers for their emotions. But woe unto anyone accused of enraging the well-armed little tykes–the sentimentality turns into a bloodthirsty rage in the twinkling of an eye.
I would never question the sincerity of our torturers, never. They are, like all torturers throughout the world, "evil criminals" and I refer to those who actually commit those heinous acts, those who order them, those who support them, and especially those in the media who play them down. There is nothing, absolutely nothing in my Americanism that could in any way support such criminally sick actions.
"In torture we trust." Gots to stamp that on the U.S. currency.
What currency?!
1) Arar testified in front of Parliament that while being tortured, his penis was repeatedly sliced up with a razor blade. His doctor described the injured area as 'in ribbons.'
2) Bush's torture chambers and other war crimes were widespread public knowledge BEFORE the American people rewarded the guy with a second term in power, back in 2004.
So tell me: who's responsible?
God Bless America.
Max: Thanks for taking a peek under those robes. A nasty business, but necessary. You never know who's inside!
You're welcome, Lawrence– Indeed, "You never know who's inside!"
I think it's more accurate to say "you never know WHAT'S inside."
Obama continues to demonstrate that he does not want transparency. In this and many other instances, he continues to oppose anything that will help the world see the truth. I was so naive to believe that he was different. He is not. God help us!!
Mike Renzulli –
You use the phrase "unfortunate incident" regarding slicing up someone's penis? Ever hear this phrase – "full of shit"?
That anyone would attempt to justify rendition and turture for any circumstances is both ignorant and illegal.
To think those thoughts in the dark of one's own basement is bad enough, but to try to justify them in an open forum is unconscionable.
What foreign soil is this beneath my feet? not my america, my heart's land, where freedom, justice and opportunity once stirred the world's imagination with hope and longing; where the oppressed of all nations could breathe deep the oxygen of liberty and slake their thirst in the waters of peace; where dissent, debate and righteous indignation fueled the birth of a nation unique in history, rich with the blessings of independence and possibility.
What path is this? bloodied with the dead of a new generation, where secrets and lies replace decency and honor, the wheels of commerce grind hard-won liberties to chaff, and old men send the young away to die.
We must awaken from this national torpor to demand accountability of our leaders, to right the wrongs committed in our names, and reclaim the sacred moral imperative that formed the bedrock of this once-great nation.
Patti Grant, copyright
The US,"Do as we we say not as we do".
" An appeals court on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a $50 million lawsuit against the United States over then-President Bill Clinton's 1998 decision to order a missile attack on a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant.
Clinton said the El-Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries plant in North Khartoum was believed to be associated with bin Laden's network and to be involved in the production of materials for chemicals weapons.
The plant's owners denied it was a chemical weapons facility or in any way connected to bin Laden or his network. They said the destroyed plant had been Sudan's largest manufacturer of medicinal products.
The owners sued the U.S. government in federal court in Washington for unjustifiably destroying the plant, for failing to compensate them for the facility's destruction and for defaming them by saying the plant had ties to bin Laden.
A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit and the appeals court in a unanimous decision agreed.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N0826685…
What crimes was Sadam accused of by the US?
This person who wrote this comment on facebook is in the ARMY according to his profile. They teach these soldiers to disrepect and post hateful things like this? Is that what the Army teaches?
Steven Seagul | Facebook
Gianni Passakos wrote:.Lalalalalalalalalala!…dirka dirka! Steven jihad seagul ala akseagulbar!….Infidel!!!!! Lalalalallalaal! Saturday at 3:12pm … http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steven-Seagul/371657025204... – Cached
Gianni P. Passakos you have no honor and you never have. Your a disgrace for what you did in Iraq. You should not talk about confidential details of what we did over seas while serving in the Army to civilians. You were a punk in the Army and your a punk now son. Disgrace to your family (civilian) and your company (Army).
Obama continues to demonstrate that he does not want transparency.
It is exhausting for me to believe that individuals who read very little – or under no circumstances in some instances – should presume to put in writing and expect people to like what they've written. Studying is the muse that every one writing is constructed on. After we read, from cereal packing containers to Shakespeare, with Stephen King in between, we take up the examples that we are going to later use to write down. Iwork Industries