We Broke Jose Padilla
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Law, The War On Terrorism
“I’m not sure that any of us know what happened at the brig, but I know that something there put the fear into Mr. Padilla. Mr. Padilla is an anxiety-ridden, broken individual who is incapacitated by that anxiety,” - Patricia Zapf, a forensic psychologist who examined U.S. citizen, Jose Padilla, detained for years in solitary confinement with no charges brought against him.
Yep, we Jack Bauer’d him and he cracked. So what did he reveal? Apparently nothing in the way of actionable intelligence…just that our detainee policy is not only horribly flawed, but also morally bankrupt.
You may think my assessment is a bit harsh. Well, fair enough, but would we treat somebody who was accused of running drugs in a similar fashion? After all, we have declared a “war” on drugs. See, the most Padilla can get if he’s convicted is 20 years…
Mr. Padilla, 36, a former Chicago gang member and alleged Al Qaeda operative, is charged with being part of a terror cell that provided money, aid, and recruits to Islamic extremists. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. His case is set for trial April 16 in Miami federal court.
If he does get convicted, will the court subtract the 4 years he’s already been detained?
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2007 and is filed under Law, The War On Terrorism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 1st, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Did I miss the part about hooking up battery cables to his genitals? Sounds like a got the routine super-max treatment.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Equating the threat of terrorism with the ‘war’ on drugs is quite revealing.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Well, Guess what? After the Supreme Court is finished with this or similar cases. even if he is guilty, he may get out very soon. AND if that is the case. He can also sue the government.
Why? Because he is a US citizen denied his Constitutional rights of Habeus Corpus, to an attorney before questioning, to examine all evidence against him, refusal to testify against himself, aqainst cruel & unusual punishment - I count 3 Amendments violated so far without even looking.
And if The Supreme Courts don’t see it the same way, we all better looking over shoulders, because we will be next.
March 2nd, 2007 at 12:21 am
Bob- you should write some treatise on constitutional law.
Justin- since you seem to be privy to all sorts of intel the rest of don’t, I’m thinking a book maybe in your future too.
As for me, I’m starting the Bullshit Publishing House and will send you contracts very soon.
d’Brit - these are the people that will be guiding the war on terror if the Democrats win. That should make you very comfortable that there is no way in hell that Democrats will win and scared to hell if they do.
March 3rd, 2007 at 12:53 am
Most important comment:
“denied his Constitutional rights of Habeus Corpus, to an attorney before questioning, to examine all evidence against him, refusal to testify against himself, aqainst cruel & unusual punishment - I count 3 Amendments violated so far without even looking.”
Why on earth is it not possible to sue the war criminals in the government in the USA?Where is your democracy: everything is being hololowed out and AMericans voted the criminals in for a second time? WHen will they be brought to justice?
Dr A.de Koning
Psychologist