Target Of Obama-Era Rendition Alleges Torture

Target Of Obama-Era Rendition Alleges Torture

www.huffingtonpost.com

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Barack Obama sharply criticized the Bush Administration's extraordinary renditions program. "To build a better, freer world, we must first behave in ways that reflect the decency and aspirations of the American people. This means ending the practice of shipping away prisoners in the dead of night to be tortured in far-off countries, of detaining thousands without charge or trial, of maintaining a network of secret prisons to jail people beyond the reach...

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jail people beyond the reach of law."

Now in a federal court in suburban Washington, a case is unfolding that gives us a practical sense of what an Obama-era rendition looks like.

Raymond Azar, a 45-year-old Lebanese construction manager with a grade school education, is employed by Sima International, a Lebanon-based contractor that does work for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also has the unlikely distinction of being the first target of a rendition carried out on the Obama watch.

According to court papers, on April 7, 2009, Azar and a Lebanese-American colleague, Dinorah Cobos, were seized by "at least eight" heavily armed FBI agents in Kabul, Afghanistan, where they had traveled for a meeting to discuss the status of one of his company's U.S. government contracts. The trip ended with Azar alighting in manacles from a Gulfstream V executive jet in Manassas, Virginia, where he was formally arrested and charged in a federal antitrust probe.

According to papers filed by his lawyers, Azar was threatened, subjected to coercive interrogation techniques and induced to sign a confession. Azar claims he was hooded, stripped naked (while being photographed) and subjected to a "body cavity search."

Well it looks as if there is rising evidence that human rights abuses are continuing on Obama's watch.

One of the key issues that helped Obama rise to president was his opposition of the Iraq war and all the legal, political and human rights abuses that the Bush administration perpetuated. Sadly it looks though his actions are not matching his word.



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I'm sure Obama can plead ignorance on this one. After all, he's too busy trying to bankrupt the nation and seize ultimate government power by revamping the health care system to pay attention to anything else.

But I'm sure all of you loyal Obama voters will find some way to blame this, too, on Bush.

I've often wondered why we can't hold politicians accountable for their promises. It seems clearer and clearer that they will say what is necessary in order to get elected and then not even try to cover up that they don't do what they said they would during the campaign.

Seriously, why isn't this breach of contract or something. Afterall, we are protected from salesmen who promise something and deliver something different, why in the world can't we expect that from a president?

To have a good discussion, lets define our terms properly. A prisoner is to be kept in confinement, but well respected. He is to be fed, clothed, have a good bed, and better medical care than many Americans. He is to have access to his own brand of religion, and holy book. In some cases, he is even permitted to have sex with a visitor, in a special trailer. Any thing else, anything, is torture. It does not matter if this individual was caught trying to kill, maim, or destroy entire cities of people, we should have absolute respect for him.

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
I've often wondered why we can't hold politicians accountable for their promises. It seems clearer and clearer that they will say what is necessary in order to get elected and then not even try to cover up that they don't do what they said they would during the campaign.

Seriously, why isn't this breach of contract or something. Afterall, we are protected from salesmen who promise something and deliver something different, why in the world can't we expect that from a president?

I'm more interested in why Americans continue to believe them.

I think the culpability is equal.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka

Originally posted by Iamonlyhuman
I've often wondered why we can't hold politicians accountable for their promises. It seems clearer and clearer that they will say what is necessary in order to get elected and then not even try to cover up that they don't do what they said they would during the campaign.

Seriously, why isn't this breach of contract or something. Afterall, we are protected from salesmen who promise something and deliver something different, why in the world can't we expect that from a president?

I'm more interested in why Americans continue to believe them.

I think the culpability is equal.

That has to be the closest I've ever seen you come to criticizing obama or his administration.

There may be hope for you yet after what seems to be an unusually heavy dose of kool-aid starts to wear off.

On the topic, it is amazing how much of obama's promised "change" ends being ignored as he and his staff come to the realization that just maybe Bush and company were doing some things right.

Or maybe it's just the absolute power corrupts absolutely thing with obama and he's drunk with power ...