Andrew Sullivan on Jose Padilla

In the Time of London. Via Steve H on the SOC list.

The government put you in a box until you go crazy and doesn't have to explain why

Jose Padilla's lawyers are now alleging that he is unfit to stand trial because his confinement has driven him insane. Also the NY Times has obtained a video of a dental visit Padilla received while in confinement.

“Today is May 21,” a naval official declared to a camera videotaping the event. “Right now we’re ready to do a root canal treatment on Jose Padilla, our enemy combatant.”

Several guards in camouflage and riot gear approached cell No. 103. They unlocked a rectangular panel at the bottom of the door and Mr. Padilla’s bare feet slid through, eerily disembodied. As one guard held down a foot with his black boot, the others shackled Mr. Padilla’s legs. Next, his hands emerged through another hole to be manacled.

Wordlessly, the guards, pushing into the cell, chained Mr. Padilla’s cuffed hands to a metal belt. Briefly, his expressionless eyes met the camera before he lowered his head submissively in expectation of what came next: noise-blocking headphones over his ears and blacked-out goggles over his eyes. Then the guards, whose faces were hidden behind plastic visors, marched their masked, clanking prisoner down the hall to his root canal.

Please remember that although the government has accused Padilla in public first of being involved with 9-11 and then with plotting to use a dirty bomb, it has pressed none of those charges in court. Originally, of course, the government didn't want to have to charge Padilla with anything, or even explain what they were doing. Once the supreme court announced that it would rule on the legality of his confinement, he was quickly transferred to the civilian prison system, and charged only with sending money and other material support abroad to Muslim groups in Chechnya and Bosnia.

Padilla is not the only person to receive this treatment while on US soil. Less well publicized is the case of Ali al-Marrihas been declared an enemy combatant and held for four and a half years in a South Carolina prison. The conditions of al-Marri's imprisonment closely match Padilla's: the focus is on extreme isolation with periodic threats, including the threat that he would be raped, or that his wife would be raped in front of him.

Doesn't it make you proud to be an American? Oh yeah, and via Niel at Unfogged, ABC news caught army recruiters on tape telling potential enlistees that the war is over:

"Nobody is going over to Iraq anymore?" one student asks a recruiter.

"No, we're bringing people back," he replies.

Another good one:

Yet ABC News found one recruiter who even claimed if you didn't like the Army, you could just quit.

"It's called a 'Failure to Adapt' discharge," the recruiter said. "It's an entry-level discharge so it won't affect anything on your record. It'll just be like it never happened."

"We're not at war. War ended a long time ago," another recruiter says.

Torture Stories

I'm collecting torture stories for a teach-in to be held in a few weeks. Right now I'm taking notes on a few individuals to decide who to focus on. If anyone stopping by can think of other good names or sources, let me know. The main category of person I am interested in are those who have been...

Held for years, tortured, and then released without charges

Muhibullo Adulkarim Umarov: Native of Tajikstan, traveled to Pakistan to earn money for his family. Arrested by Pakistani police after a bombing that was later shown to be the work of a Pakistani, Sohail Akhtar. No charges were pressed by Pakistan, but the Pakistanis were eager to find evidence that the bomber was a foreigner. Transferred to US control at a time when the US was offering a bounty on any terror suspect. Held at Baghram and Gitmo and subjected to psychological torture. His captors said his frequent movements between Pakistan, Tajikstan and Afghanistan (all countries where he has relatives) were suspicious. Captors demanded that he reveal the location of Osama bin Laden. After two years, it is decided he is completely innocent, and he is released. (wikipedia, Mother Jones)

Maher Arar Syrian born Canadian citizen. Detained by US, based on false information from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Extraordinarily rendered to Syria where he was tortured into a false confession. Cleared of all charges and released. RCMP apologizes. The only concrete piece of evidence ever offered against him is a lease he signed that was witnessed by a friend of his family's who is now also being held in Syria. No explanation as to why the other man is being held, or signing a lease with him as a witness is damning evidence of anything. (maherarar.com, the Canadian government's commission on Arar)

Ruhal Ahmed, Asif Iqbal and Shafiq Rasul (the Tipoton three) British citizens who travel to Pakistan for a wedding. They then go to Afghanistan to see the effects of US bombing for themselves. (imdb page for the movie about them. BBC story)

Moazzam Begg, Martin Mubanga, Richard Belmar and Feroz Abbasi. Other british citizens: BBC page here. The BBC page refers to five other Gritons who were held at Gitmo and then released without charges. I'll need to get their names later.

The other important category of person I want to highlight is the

American Citizen who Has Been Tortured.

Jose Padilla: Picked up shortly after 9/11 at O'Hare as a "material witness" to the 9/11 plot. He is declared an enemy combatant, and tortured. After three years, he is finally charged in a civilian court with "conspiracy to murder, kidnap, and maim people overseas." The move to civilian court seems to be aimed at avoiding supreme court scrutiny of his treatment by military courts. (LizardBreath's last post on him. His motion to dismiss the charges against him, wikipedia.)