Thursday, February 23, 2006

Bob Herbert continues on rendition

In particular, the truly tragic results to one man, Maher Arar. A Canadian citizen, dragged off his flight during a layover in NY, flown to Syria where he was imprisioned, incommunicado, and tortured for several months until someone incharge realized they had the wrong man. At which he was quietly returned to Canada without so much as a My bad! to try and rebuild his reality.
Mr. Arar's own psychological difficulties have compounded the external challenges he faces. "I was invited to go and speak in Vancouver, which is west of here," he said. "But I can't take the plane anymore. Psychologically I am so scared to fly. So I couldn't go."

He said he frequently lacks the confidence or motivation to perform even minor tasks, and often feels overwhelmed by the thought of something as ordinary as a scheduled meeting with the principal at his 9-year-old daughter's school.

He said his 4-year-old son, Houd, panics whenever he thinks his father is about to go out. "He always wants to come with me," said Mr. Arar. "He insists, and he cries if I can't take him. He's afraid that if I go, I won't ever come back."
And in case it isn't yet clear, Bob Herbert spells out what we have become.
The rendition program is one more example of the way the United States, using the threat of terror as an excuse, has locked its ideals away in a drawer somewhere. We don't even give them lip service anymore. A person like Mr. Arar is not seen as having any rights. He's not even seen as human. He was carted away in accordance with official U.S. policy, and treated like an animal.

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