Ethics

The Wish for Kings

By Ed Brayton

Here's a disturbing article about the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a man alleged to be an Al Qaeda operative who was arrested six years ago after establishing residency in the US. The government says he was a sleeper agent who was plotting attacks on the US and they may well be right. But if they are, and they have the evidence, why are they so reluctant to prove it in court?

He was first arrested in December 2001. In early 2003 he was charged with credit card fraud and lying to the FBI. But in June 2003, those charges were withdrawn, Bush declared him an "enemy combatant" and he was transferred to a military prison where he has been held ever since without a trial. And the Bush administration wants to keep it that way. Here's the disturbing part:

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 28, 2008 (boomark / email).