State Secrets/C.I.A. Kidnappings/Whoops, Wrong Guy!

[smutek]

More examples of Government secrecy and the slippery slope from democracy to police state. How long until we start hearing about American citizens being snatched off the streets of American cities?

In December of 2003 Khaled El-Masri, a German citizen, was kidnapped in Macedonia by the Central Intelligence Agency. After being beaten and accused of being a member of Al Qaeda he was put on a plane and flown to a secret prison where he was beaten, drugged, and interrogated on a regular basis. He was held for five months without being allowed to contact an attorney or his family. When the C.I.A. realized that they were holding the wrong man they dropped him off by himself, without an apology or funds to return home, on an abandoned road in Albania.

Late last year a lawsuit was filed by the ACLU against the C.I.A. on Khaled El-Masri's behalf. Last week the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case under the State Secrets Privilege. Judge T.S. Ellis III ruled that holding the proceedings would jeopardize state secrets.

The C.I.A. has not confirmed or denied the allegations, basically what they have said is that it does not matter if it is true or false because the case itself will jeopardize national security and must be dismissed. The German government is currently conducting an ongoing criminal and parliamentary investigation into the involvement of the C.I.A. and the German Government in the kidnapping of Mr. El-Masri. On December 5 2005 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the United States had acknowledged holding El-Masri in error.

It is important to note that the case of Sibel Edmonds was dismissed on the grounds of state secrets. Sibel Edmonds was a translator at the FBI who was fired after reporting what she believed to be shoddy security practices.

The government also cited state secrets in the case of Maher Arar, a Syrian and Canadian citizen who said he was detained while transiting through New York's Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 and flown to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured. He eventually was released and never charged with a crime.

In the San Francisco invasion-of-privacy suit, brought by the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation, a judge has set a June date for arguments on the government's secrets claim.

The suit charges that AT&T gave the NSA access to databases of domestic and international Internet and telephone records without obtaining prior court approval.

What was once a rarely used tool has become the weapon of choice used by the administration to protect its secret programs. All told, the administration has asserted the privilege at least six times since 2001.

I think all Americans will agree that the security of our nation is important, but where will this end? Is all of this really necessary? How long until we start hearing about American citizens being snatched off the streets of American cities? How long will we continue to turn a blind eye?

If you care about this stuff please spread the word and stay informed.

----------------------------
Sources and further reading.


Democracy Now interview with Mr. El-Masri's attorney.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? ... 25/1413214

Chicago Tribune on State Secrets Privilege (free subscription required)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nati ... &cset=true

Washington Post on El-Masri's case
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02107.html

ACLU on Sibel Edmonds and State Secrets
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/18 ... 50126.html

[leisuremuffin]

El-Masri's story is particularly chilling.


thanks for the links. hadn't read those yet.


.lm.

[smutek]

No problem man.

Maher Arar's case is also pretty damned scary. I watched an interview with him where he said that when they told him they were sending him to Syria he just started crying because he knew what was going to happen to him. I think he was held for 9 months. His family thought he was dead.

[capta1nA]

thanks for posting, the first i've heard of this .

one thing though: according to the WaPo story, the incident occurred in 2003, not 1983. might want to edit that first post.

after edit: sibel edmunds! everyone should know her story

[smutek]

thanks for posting, the first i've heard of this .

one thing though: according to the WaPo story, the incident occurred in 2003, not 1983. might want to edit that first post.

Aye, thanks. that was a typo on my part.

Corrected.

[smutek]

after edit: sibel edmunds! everyone should know her story

Even more interesting in my opinion is Russel Tice. You should check this out if you haven't already.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl? ... ead&tid=25

[Tosh]

Whoops, Wrong Forum!

[Tosh]

Whoops, Wrong Forum!

[leisuremuffin]

I wonder if this guy also clicks on threads with headlines like "gay porno" or "purple throbbing homo cocks" and then wonders why there's pictures of guys fucking in them.


.lm.

[Tosh]

I wonder if this guy also clicks on threads with headlines like "gay porno" or "purple throbbing homo cocks" and then wonders why there's pictures of guys fucking in them.


.lm.

Leave your prejudices at home dude.

This is a music forum and there are a hell of a lot of people in the industry that are gay.

[D DAS]

those god dam motherfucking shit head punk ass bitches. fuck them all and may them die long slow painful deaths. how dare they. those pig fuckers

i hate hearing this shit. i hate even more knowing that most people in this pathetic country are to dumb or to blind to want to do anything about it. all those losers with their american flags waving freely on the bumpers of their SUV's who gladly give up their stars and stripes for a little false security. let's face it, this is not a republican democracy anymore. america as it was is adios. and it is all of our faults for letting it happen. it is in the constitution that we should do whatever it takes to stop this kind of tyranny from happening on our land. but did we, have we, will we. we can't even get the cronies who hijacked this country out of office. pretty soon the thought police will be here. are you ready for it?

[djshiva]

this shit is chilling...

i don't think it's the wrong forum to put incredibly important links like these in, but i do echo the sentiment that many of us ableton geeks are not heterosexual, so the gay comments can cease and i would be fine.

find a more creative insult.

and keep the links coming. there are some things that ARE more important than ableton bugs and midi controllers...

[D DAS]

ahh, leisure muffins words are those of one stuck in the closet, just aching to come out and go get some of that cock but his family would reject him so he builds it up as anger and aggression and lashes out at what he wants most.

things you do not like about other people leisuremuffin are usually things you do not like about yourself. it's ok to come out here, we like you for who you are.

[leisuremuffin]

I wonder if this guy also clicks on threads with headlines like "gay porno" or "purple throbbing homo cocks" and then wonders why there's pictures of guys fucking in them.


.lm.

Leave your prejudices at home dude.

This is a music forum and there are a hell of a lot of people in the industry that are gay.

uhhhhhh. ok.

it's kind of hard for me to be prejudiced in that department, since i'm not straight, but whatever you say.

I was just pointing out that opening this thread and being surprised at the content when it was clearly marked is pretty fucking silly.



.lm.

[MrYellow]

You're all un-American!!!!



-Ben