ACLU Sues Tenet and CIA Over Secret Prisons
Posted on December 7, 2005
Hat tip: The Political Pitbull
The leftwing blogs and MSM are celebrating the latest from the ACLU! Crooks and Liars has a video
NY Times German man sued former CIA Director George Tenet and other U.S. spy agency officials on Tuesday for wrongful imprisonment, mounting a legal challenge against one of the CIA’s most prominent tactics in Washington’s declared war on terrorism.
The suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Khaled el-Masri claims that in 2003 he became the innocent victim of a CIA tactic known as extraordinary rendition, ACLU and court officials said.
…Masri spoke at an ACLU news conference in Washington via a satellite video link from Stuttgart, Germany, after he was denied entry to the United States on Saturday night in Atlanta. ACLU officials said he was put on the first available flight back to Germany.
The suit, which the ACLU called the first legal challenge of the CIA’s rendition program, charges that Tenet and other CIA officials violated U.S. and universal human rights laws and they authorized agents to kidnap Masri.
“His unlawful abduction and treatment were the direct result of an illegal CIA policy,” the ACLU said.
This is war, and mistakes will be made. If the facts end up that all of the allegations the ACLU are making is true, then this man should get some kind of apology. But there is more to it than one mistake made by the CIA. I still have serious questions. In a time of war, how can a foreigner be represented by the American Civil Liberties Union? Shouldn’t this incident be worked out between the American and German governments first? And its more than a mistake the ACLU are going after, they are going after the entire practice of secret prisons. I hate to break it to all the terrorist sympathizers, but these thugs are trained well on misinformation, and it takes more than “understanding” to get a straight answer out of people who are crazy enough to strap on a bomb belt and blow their self to smithereens for Allah.
Obviously this man was not one of those crazies, as the CIA has admitted to making a mistake. Let it be known that the ACLU are certainly correct, if the evidence stacks up, that holding this man for six months after they knew he was innocent deserves investigation, and that this man deserves some kind of apology and restitution. I do, however, question that it is the ACLU’s job to do this. I would love to see them go to court over one of our own innocent people being captured and abused by the terrorists. But then, our enemy isn’t in the practice of admitting mistakes and releasing any of their captives are they?
Tid bits from The Raw Story
“Kidnapping a foreign national for the purpose of detaining and interrogating him outside the law is contrary to American values,” said Anthony D. Romero.
This is irrelevant to the case. It is unimportant what the ACLU thinks American values are. Perhaps they should see MSNBC’s latest poll.
Neptunus Lexus has a nice summary that would argue otherwise.
For clarity’s sake, I’m not unsympathetic to the plight of a man mistaken for someone else and treated shoddily – if in fact that’s what the truth ends up being. Nor am I immune to fears that left unchecked, even the most nobly intended governmental authority might in time transform itself into a more benign form of tryanny. That it might, in other words, become what it had beheld.
I just don’t think we’re anywhere near to that point just yet, I really don’t. And frankly, given the hysterical and fevered scrutiny being applied to nearly every political or military action by a hostile and hyperventilated national media, not to mention feckless European politicians preening in front of the mirror of self-satisfied anti-Americanism, I don’t see us getting there anytime soon.
The Constitution is not a suicide pact: The collective security of the nation will always trump the rights of an individual, or else we never would have had a draft, just for one example. I would far rather see the folks entrusted with our security acting as vigorously and quickly as they can in the world, understanding that mistakes may well occur but believing also that punctillious legal prissiness in a time of war may well cost us more than we are prepared to pay.
And just as an aside, conceding the merits of the suit being brought arguendo, can someone please tell me what standing the ACLU has to take a suit against the US government for actions taken by its agents in a foreign country upon the person of a foreign citizen?
I think that is a question we need to consider in this. Here is another quote from the ACLU.
“The CIA’s policy of extraordinary rendition is a clear violation of universal human rights protections,”
We’re not bound by “universal human rights protections” and they do most definitely not fall under the jurisdiction of U.S. courts.
In summary, a major mistake was made by the CIA here, but while the left celebrate over another scar on the face of America, and preaching about how people are innocent until proven guilty, they are already touting that this man was tortured. While the CIA have admitted to a mistaken identity of this man, nowhere have they admitted to his allegations of torture. The rest of the suit is nothing but allegations, which is the way lawsuits work. Of course, the ACLU are presenting it as fact and the media are doing nothing to suggest that everybody, even the CIA, are innocent until proven guilty. It wouldn’t fit with their agenda, after all.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller backs me up with this summary.
The only thing serious about this whole storm in a cup of water, and a very serious thing at that, is that the ACLU is determined to undermine our intelligence service’s ability to acquire information that might save American lives, all based on the claims of one individual. What’s interesting is that we were doing extraordinary renditions under Clinton as well, yet somehow the ACLU never found reason to object to THAT. Not to suggest that what Clinton did was wrong, because it wasn’t, it’s just further evidence that the ACLU’s sudden devotion to morals and values stems only from a desire to undermine a Republican administration no matter what the cost in lives and property to ordinary Americans might be.
They’re traitors, and should be shot.
While I won’t advocate anyone being shot, I do agree that there is more to this lawsuit than meets the eye. I see too many moonbats jumping for joy, thinking this will help us lose the war. What we have is a lot of allegations and not a lot of evidence. I would advise the moonbats to calm down until we see all the facts. I agree with Mac’s Mind, We’ll have to see as more bears out in the case, but at this point I would remain skeptical of his story – remember, disinformation has no bounds, and one side is trained just as well as the other. As far as National Security goes, I think we should be more worried about who is leaking our secret information.
Others: Black Five
My Pet Jawa
Blogs For Bush
For a more politically correct viewpoint, see the comments at Volokh
» Filed Under News, War On Terror
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6 Responses to “ACLU Sues Tenet and CIA Over Secret Prisons”
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Syndicate Me
ok, so how is the ACLU, suing on behalf of a foreign citizen, regarding events that supposedly happened in a foreign country, even able to establish that US courts have jurisdiction over things like this?
“While I won’t advocate anyone being shot,”
Concerning the ACLUseless, I agree.
They should not be shot. That would be an all too quick and painless death.
The only fitting punishment for those rat bass turds is to be DRAWN AND QUARTERED, slowly, live on EVERY TV channel.
The liberal left committs treason every day, and if my history serves correctly people have been hung for less.
…but they won’t take on “prayer spaces” created for Muslims at Giants Stadium…
Look here
They are actually stupid enough to think that the CIA is going to give away TOP SECRET information in open court. They have already lost this one.
The ACLU are representing a foreign national against an American citizen who acted bravely to try to stop terrorists. For the ACLU to be setting a precedent of tormenting and harrassing our former CIA director may put them way over the borderline into an act of the T-word. This smells – I won’t write what of.