In November, I wrote about the case of Arar v. Ashcroft, in which the Second U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 7-4 that an innocent man, Maher Arar, had no legal recourse against the government of the United States in redress of his claims of extraordinary rendition by American agents to Syria, where it has been well documented that the man was tortured for nearly one year, before his ultimate release back to Canada. Today, without further comment, the Supreme Court declined to hear Maher Arar's petition for review of his case, which effectively closes the matter for the judicial branch.
Let us review. Maher Arar, it is universally understood at this time, has committed no crime. He was picked up by mistake. The US Government has no current interest in detaining, investigating, or punishing him. The substance of the government's defense against Maher Arar's claims is that his rendition was actually a simple deportation, and that we received assurances from Syria that, if we sent him there in chains and a box so that his alleged ties to al Qaeda could be investigated, he wouldn't be tortured. Assurances from Syria. The Canadian government has performed a full investigation of the matter, and not only exonerated Arar of all charges and excoriated their own personnel and the American agents involved in the rendition, but also paid Arar a $9M settlement in recognition for his year's worth of unimaginable pain and suffering. Being tortured by Syrians. (Follow the link to my original post if you're up for the gory details.) The United States government, by contrast, has come to the final substantive legal conclusion not that Arar's claims are untrue or that no one in the government did anything wrong, but that our system of government doesn't permit him to have the question adjudicated by an impartial court. To repeat - the highest court in the land says that people under no suspicion of criminal activity don't get to petition the court with claims that they were tortured with the full knowledge of the United States government. They don't even get the courtesy of a hearing.
Remember why they hate us - because America is so damned free that they just can't take it.
I am certain to be told, as I so often am, that the case of Maher Arar is yet another sad case of the "realities of war." Much like the targeting of American citizens for assassination, the inadvertent killing of civilians by robot bombers, the operation of secret prisons beyond the reach of due process of human rights evaluation, the erosions of every last civil protection that generations of Americans have died to instill and preserve - these are all just unfortunate, unavoidable circumstances that have been inexorably forced upon this great nation by the intransigence of gangster theocrats. One knows not when it will end, or how far it will go before we can abate our sacred vigilance, only that everything we do must be Right and Good because we are a Right and Good people, who only ever does what is necessary to stave off destruction at the hands of our ruthless enemies, people so vile and cunning and malicious that they care not a whit for human dignity and the sanctity of all life, even to the point that they are willing to torture and kill innocents if it helps their cause. People who hold themselves accountable to no law, no mandate of the people, no standard whatsoever other than victory. Of course, we should and must wage total war against these people, and any self-imposed restraints on which we might rely out of nostalgia or misguided idealism must be wiped away - even if that means torturing and killing innocents if it helps our cause. Even if it means that our government should be held accountable to no law, no mandate of the people, no standard whatsoever other than victory.
It's been some time since I've written a full article on this blog, as opposed to simply posting links that reflect my point of view. I've committed to find the time in the future. There is much to discuss, for those of us with a visceral appreciation for both the blessings and responsibilities of representative government. We just put a stake in the ground that says we can torture innocent people and there's nothing anyone can do about it, and Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court all seem to be on the same page. And I'm guessing most of you only read it here, which means that it isn't even news. Sleep well, good friends.
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