Such a sad day. It is probably needed though as the impact of peak oil will lead to a lot of public protest and our leaders need to be able to lock people up and make the disappear.

Here are are back again in the Dark Ages ---

Inquisition!!! Inquisition!!!

If we don't soon overthrow patriarchy, organized

patriarchal religions and capitalism, they will

succeed in proving to us that there is a Hell . . .

right here on earth.

Any reliable travel agent anywhere in the world should forewarn clients that they will have no rights or legal recourse of any kind between the moment they debark from an airplane or ship and the moment they have cleared Customs.

People abroad are already complaining about the endless security hassles to enter the United States compared to traveling to other countries so it sounds like everybody will be much happier if tourists go elsewhere and the United States can maintain a 100% secure sealed border and thus even show its respect for human rights by keeping all foreigners out of harm's way.

Ragdoll July 1st, 2008 12:45 pm ..OH yeah...except for the 12 million or so illegal aliens!

The Amerikano immigration and foreign policy agenda...a riddle wrapped inside a puzzle within an enigma!

Haven't we known for several years now that we're screwed, that the whole world is screwed, except for those few who've been sucking up all the riches for themselves, while making damned sure the peons are hog-tied and helpless?

And watch for the silence from the Canadian Harper Conservative government regarding this decision.

It is the duty of every American patriot to arise against these sadistic monsters who are destroying American Values.

No threat to humanity from this government. Abolish the Second Amendment.

The arrogance of the US government under Bush/Cheney is repulsive to say the least: the feds make a HUGE mistake by mistaking Mahar Arar, Canadian citizen, of being an Al-Qaida terrorist. BUT, he's just a Canadian on holiday. He's renditioned to Syria and tortured for over a year...and finally released when they realize he's not their man. Oooops!

And did the US government ever once apologize to this man they so seriously fucked over and caused such deep psychological and physical harm? Nope. Not once...and they've had YEARS to do so. What a bunch of fucking arrogant assholes we have in the US government under Bush/Cheney. To do this to this innocent man, the least you could do is apologize--but that's not what team Bush/Cheney do! You see, they never admit they've ever done anything wrong!

...Hitler, Stalin, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz..Addington....

I always thought the Judicial branch was an equal branch of government, charged with interpreting the law. Little did I know that the Judicial is merely a rubber-stamp for lawlessness within the other two branches.

This cowardly decision reeks...

I'd like to hear St. Barack talk about this on the campaign trail, as a symptom of the decay of American democracy. I'd like to hear just what he is going to do about this proliferation of state's secrets BS from this Republican/Fascist Bush regime. Justice deferred is justice denied, as we might recall from our civil rights days. (Of course, the Bushies are all about denial of any and all sorts.) Instead, I'm hearing about patriotism and faith and lot of other rightwing memes that I couldn't give two good damns about.

This is what you get when you have a one party-system with no real opposition. Go Democrats! Go Obama!

I mean, seriously, did we expect anything else from this government?

This is an absolutely fathomless miscarriage of justice from a judicial system bought and paid for by the Nazi regime now controlling our nation, infiltrated with an untold number of dual Israeli citizens.

True..IF Obama is for REAL...he has quite a few committments to make to his constituents. And if he fails, that third party is waiting in the wings as never before.

Our court system is a disgrace, filled with corrupt judges. We need to impeach all of them and start over if we are ever to get justice.
Woe!

And what about the Geneva convention that prohibit goverment to sent prisoner to another country where they will be totured. This goverment is sick, or I should say this country is really sick. I will start to really not like any american citizen.

This ruling is a mockery of the Declaration of Independence: "... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights..."

How many more American values must this administration destroy before the American people express their outrage.

Happy Independence Day.

There is no Bill of Rights[just the Second, so we can kill each other or ourselves]screw the Constitution and Fucked our Bill of Rights. Disgusting, disturbing, Demoralizing for all today.[especially non-US citizens, oops Enemy Combatants]
CCRjustice does great work, I know they did work hard and I feel horribly for Arar and anyone that is in the US without citizenship....

Time wounds all heels.

There are many honorable judges yet. But one more four year term of a Republican president and Republicans re-elected to Congress would change that. There would be no way back for a couple of generations. I hope they are able to appeal to the next court. This injustice will not go away. It may be that this decision will have a greater influence on final justice than if Arar had won this round.

@Zamboni_fahrer July 1st, 2008 3:58 pm

Apologise? COMPENSATE!!!

Once you go black, you never go back.

Considering the fact that the government grabs citizens and legal non-citizens and doesn't let them prove they are here legally there is no distinction between illegals, terrorists, or anybody else.

They even grabbed a Canadian guy and tortured the hell out of him. Were they really that pissed off at the way he said 'about' and 'process'?

One law for the world, another law for the US of A. How nice and facist!!!!! The lesson, the US gets what it wants. No questions, no answers!!

But you can't deny the fact that Arar is a Muslim sounding name.

That reason alone is good enough to torture someone in the US.

On appeal, I hope that Arar's attorneys make the case that, if national security is the issue, then it is the duty of the court to show the world that the United States justice system actually does justice. Failure to do that is a dangerous threat to the nation.

Look folks, the NY appeals court is not going to go directly against the "national security" and "secrecy" arguments of the feds. But the supreme court might, and the supreme court is the next step for this case. What is happening is a logical and expected step in our judicial system.

This is a good thing, because 220 years into our constitutionally mandated tri-partite system of government, the Supreme Court has finally stepped up to the plate. They have recognized the need to reign in the executive (and the legislature!) when they use "national security" and "secrecy" as a smokescreen to enact hateful policies and to hide offenses. Maybe I'm missing something here, but my understanding of Supreme Court history is that the highest court has taken on the president and congress on the legality of DOMESTIC issues many times, but they have always deferred when the political branches wave the flag of "security" in a foreign policy context.

This finally changed last month with the Boumediene case. We should be cheering.

The Arar case may be the next big breakthrough. So, if you care, support this man in his quest for justice. There are suggestions on his web site at maherarar.ca.

Correction to my previous meswsage: to get involved, the best place to go seems to be the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which represents Arar:

http://ccrjustice.org/newsroom/press-releases/no-justice-canadian-rendition-victim-maher-arar

Amerikcan values are just where they always have been--low! The country was founded on slavery & genocide. It was the U.S. gov't's policy to eliminate the indigenous peoples; and they just about did it.
Even Abraham Lincoln signed off on the largest hanging in U.S history; thirty eight native Americans were hanged at once, & Abe OK'd it.
There's a fascist executive branch.
There's a fascist legislative branch consisting of many fascists.
There's a fascist judicial branch.
There's a corporate fascist branch.
There's a military fascist branch.
TOGETHER THEY EQUAL THE NEW ENTITY--THE GOVORPORATION.
We are doomed.

My heart goes out to Arar. Such things should not be. This gets back to the question of John Yoo, and the war criminals in this country. It is time to send them to the Hague for restitution and for JUSTICE...

Shakker - I am not sure what you meant by "Considering the fact that the government grabs citizens and legal non-citizens..."

While Arar's case is scary : He was simply on a flight from Europe to Canada, with a stopover in NY. He was not visiting or traveling in the US. The legal double standard between citizen and non-citizen is not/

The legal double standard - between a native citizen and foreign visitor is part of the legal system of every country on earth.

America is just proving to the world it is just like everyone else.

There have been many cases of citizens and legal resident aliens rounded up with illegal aliens and kept for months with no lawyer, charges, or notification of family members. This is what all the fuss about habeas corpus is all about. It forces the government to show WHY YOU are detained. The Nation, The Progressive, Mother Jones etc. have covered this over quite some time.

Remember the Constitution is just a goddamn piece of paper according to Bu$h the inferior.

The Constitution must be applicable to any human being within our borders regardless of citizenship. The Constitution outlines the limits of government, not human rights.

To think otherwise is a rejection of our own revolution.

This is a despicable ruling.

To the judges:

Ever heard of due process. Please re-read the constitution

No justice … Just ice

The SUPREME COURT. That is where it HAS to go. Then the World Court..then...who knows.

The idea that this has anything to do with National Security is yet another great lie. This has to do with HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. I am hoping that this and all other cases like it end up in the Hague. The idea that ANY president can do this and get away with it is nonsense. It's not just the lie that got us into the war that is a crime against humanity but all the evils that come with it. That is the prime tenant of the tribunals at the Hague - true human evil resulting from the snowball effect of "unjust" war..

What is Canada doing about this travesty?! It's about time that other countries took a stand against the US the way the US has taken stands against any country it designates as a threat to itself, while supporting countries like Israel who war against US selected "enemies." Isn't the US the major threat to the world? Certainly to the sovereignty of Canada, and to selected countries and their citizens suffering at the hands of this criminal administration.

This Arar case has been Kafkaesque from the beginning. US officers grabbed him when he was simply in transit, labeled him without appeal, and sent him to where he might well be tortured. Canada has awarded him major damages and apologized officially, while the US, which was the perpetrator, has refused to even acknowledge any error. Heads ought to roll! Our country ought both to apologize to Arar and take steps to insure that this never happens again with anyone. What the hell kind of "civilized" nation are we becoming?