Because it gives another point of view. Just because its ‘conservative’ doesn’t necessarily mean its wrong you know…nor does it mean you should dismiss it simply on that basis.
I was in Germany before all this hit and I’ll tell you…from my perspective it DID seem like there was a campaign going on to keep anti-American sentiment on a low boil (or even a not so low boil). Now, you could say that the US itself is doing its part…but I don’t think this is a one sided thing. YMMV and all that.
-XT
The current crisis is so severe that I don’t see how the government can avoid a direct statement.
Merkel already ordered Steinmeier (then Schröder’s Chief of Staff, now Foreign Minister) to testify before the Parliamentary Control Panel that investigates the work of the intelligence services, but unfortunately the results will be classified.
The opposition threatens to force Steinmeier and the former Minister of the Interior, Schily, before an investigation committee.
And of course there is still the ongoing regular criminal investigation.
Let’s assume the Washington Post article is correct.
If so here’s what went down:
Macedonian border guards caught this guy and held him because of generalized suspicion. They contacted American officials and moved him into their custody. He was then taken into custody by the CIA and packed off to Afghanistan, to the “salt pit.” Where he alleges he was tortured (no evidence there.)
At worst, we have an innocent person being tortured for several months. That’s pretty bad.
But it’s also possible he was just detained for a few months and interrogated, there’s no evidence he was actually tortured. And interrogation != torture.
When the higher ups in the United States government found out this guy was innocent of any association with terrorism, they let him go. I don’t see the big deal.
I’ll take some foreigner spending a few months on a cot in a cell somewhere over another 9/11 any day. Vigiliance is a virtue, not a vice.
No, we have evidence of the torture in his sudden loss of weight. This guy wasn’t let go after being proven innocent, he was detained for an additonal two months and threatened to never tell his story. And this isn’t about, “some foreigner spending a few months on a cot,” it’s about the fact that the United States is in bed with and will cooperate with absolute fucking morons in detaining people incommunicado for months on the absolutely flimsiest of evidence such as sharing the a common Arab name. Extroirdinary rendition places the United States in league with the worst human rights abusers on the Earth, and I don’t understand how you cannot be afraid of how that will damage our place in the international community of help to recruit further terrorism. The United States is detaining thousands upon thousands of individuals throughout the world without evidence or charges, from Guantanamo Bay Cuba, to Abu Gharib Prison in Iraq, and now an apparent archipelago of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe with unknown numbers.
How can Americans not object to this?
No, he admits he went on a hunger strike, if you read his own materials.
“Common name” seems to be in doubt, also.
But do read my post above.
…its okay to lock some foreigner up for months without telling anyone? With all due respect, this is an abhorent, disgusting attitude. When New Zealand was hit by State Sponsered terrorism twenty years ago, we didn’t go locking up French people at random because their name was “similar” to the people we were looking for. If your government was ever to publicly endorse the idea that you espouse, then I would reccomend that you close your borders and stop international tourism: because if its acceptable to lock up some foreigners for any length of time to keep the United States (The Land of the Free) safe,then don’t be surprised when Americans start turning up in secret prisons world wide for the sake of “National Security.”
Here’s the big deal:
Why do we send a suspect (ie, someone we only suspect might be linked to terrorism) to Afghanistan for interrogation?
Why does it take several months to figure out that the guy isn’t who we think he is?
You are apparently factually incorrect in this assessment, as others have pointed out. More importantly, however, we have noted that your name apears on our watch list. We are coming over and we will be doing the following: drug you, cut off your clothing, transport you to another location and hold you incommunicado for several months. At our discretion, we will take any actions against you that we think may facilitate your telling us what we want to hear, as long as it doesn’t leave a mark. Your family will have no idea where you are. If at the end of that time we determine we have made a mistake, we will dump you on a road somewhere, pay you no compensation of any kind, apologize for nothing, and deny we ever held you.
No, don’t complain. We’re just doing what we need to do to be vigilant.
I find this a chilling statement that any American who values liberty would reject.
I missed this one.
That’s really a false dichotomy, especially in light of the 2 questions I asked you in my previous post. You also miss the point that “some foreigner”, once he is released, is likely to tell his tale, and incite **more **disaffected muslims/arabs to be sympathetic with the Islamisists’ cause. And that’s yet another recruiting tool to get muslim/arab youths to sign up for armed action.
I’m entirely unconvinced that this type of activity is necessary in order to fight terrorists. And, if you believe her recent statements, neither is Condi Rice.
may we not also raise an eyebrow at the EXTRA two months??
I don’t see how this can be “no big deal” if ALL issues of fact are resolved in favor of the government.
What would it take to convince you that Khaled al-Masri is a common name?
Eh? It’s certainly not that exceptionally rare, either. Unless you think Lebanese clothing designer Khaled al-Masri…
http://www.khaledcouture.com/about.html
and Harvard Ph.D student Khaled al-Masri…
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/faculty/almasri.htm
not to mention the German Khaled al-Masri in question, are just different fronts for terrorist Khaled al-Masri.
Ahhh, ahhh, the goggles do nothing. That is terror…
Does el-Masri/al-Masri mean “the Egyptian”? The news articles all state that the German guy was born in Kuwait of Lebanese parents.
Hey, I didn’t say he was a good clothing designer.
And are you saying you have something against transparent wedding dresses? 
Probably - Misr or Masr is Arabic for Egypt. But the word masr itself apparently has other derivations before being applied to Egypt and is found elsewhere, so it may not necessarily be the case. But any rate the name may stretch back many generations, so one could easily be a 8th generation Kuwaiti and still be descended from some Egyptian merchant that established himself there in Ottoman times.
The discussion here is ridiculous after Abu Grahib.
Yes, who indeed could believe that the US-administration could do anything as described in the OP? [/deep irony]
BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4619377.stm
Henry
There is much more to read:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0516,hentoff,63104,6.html
Henry
Forbes?!?!! That liberal commie rag? You’re gonna believe them?
Names are given to differentiate between people. If someone get to be called “the egyptian” you can be essentially 100% certain he’s not living in Egyptia where giving him this name would be completely pointless. His descendants might come back to Egyptia, but they’re way more likely to be still living in the other country where their ancestor was given this name.
That’s true for any name related to place. If someone is called, say, Winkleigh, it’s pretty certain that his ancestor left the town of Winkleigh to settle somewhere else where he was called after the name of his original place.