A Tale of Two Nations

Cohen: No Apology From U.S. To Canadian "Rendered" To Syria To Be Tortured

(CBS)  Attorney Andrew Cohen analyzes legal issues for CBS News and CBSNews.com.

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Nowhere are the legal, political, and anti-terror philosophies between the United States and Canada more apparent than they are in the case of Maher Arar. He is the Syrian-born Canadian citizen who was traveling back to his home five years ago when he was arrested at Kennedy Airport by U.S. officials. Acting upon faulty intelligence from the Canadians, the feds promptly "rendered" the Ottawa engineer to Syria, where he was tortured.

What did the Canadian government do when it discovered that it had made a grievous mistake? It launched an official inquiry, held hearings, publicly apologized to Arar, and then paid him $10 million in compensation for its errors. What has the American government done? It refused to participate in the Canadian inquiry, stalled a meaningful lawsuit brought by Arar, refused to officially apologize to him and continues whenever possible to call him a member of al Qaeda.

The sorry story is back in the news again because the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments Friday to determine whether Arar's civil lawsuit against the U.S. government may proceed toward trial. The feds claim that they have immunity from Arar's lawsuit for money damages and that it may not continue any further because it would require the government to reveal secret interrogation policies and procedures. They argue they don't need to explain in court whether and to what extent they violated the law when they "outsourced" Arar to a nation known for its brutal interrogation tactics.

Early last year, a federal trial judge ruled against Arar, determining that it was not within the province of the judiciary to flesh out his allegations against the government. But that was 20 months ago - an eternity in the legal war on terrorism. And in the interim a lot of bad medicine - namely, distrust - has flowed between the executive and judicial branches when it comes to terror law. Arar's appeal court judges, then, seemed far more sympathetic to his plight than did the first judge who reviewed the case.

In fact, the judges were sympathetic to the point of ridiculing the defendants. When a lawyer for John Ashcroft (he's a defendant because he was attorney general in 2002) asserted that Arar had "unequivocal" membership in al Qaeda, one of the judges, Robert D. Sack, interrupted to ask whether Ashcroft still believed that Arar was a terrorist. Here's how Canada's Globe and Mail reported the rest of the exchange:

The lawyer replied that he was not at liberty to discuss the government's view. "So we will make believe he's a member of al-Qaeda?" asked Judge Sack, as the audience chuckled.

But that wasn't all. Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Bucholtz argued that the feds in 2002 did the right thing when they shipped Arar to Syria instead of simply ensuring that he returned to Canada (which is where he was headed, remember). "There was no way to make sure he got on the bus to the terminal," Bucholtz told the court. "He was going to Canada!" Judge Sack said. "The question is not whether he was going to be conspiring with al-Qaeda on the bus between the Air Canada terminal and the airport building."

It's hardly a man-bites-dog story any more when federal judges question White House anti-terror policies. But what is astonishing about this in-court episode is our government's continuing failure or refusal to do right by Arar. The feds continue to say that it was in the nation's best interest to send Arar to Syria and that it did not seek Canadian approval or consent to do so. And, just to make sure everyone is clear about how the Americans view Arar, he continues to reside on the government’s no-fly list and may not return to the United States until 2012.

The American response to the Arar case does not excuse the Canadian role in the affair. Indeed, this was a conspiracy between and among three nations - including one, Syria, which millions of Americans believe is a terrorist state. No one truly expects common decency and the acceptance of responsibility from the Syrians. And no one truly expects our government to bend over backwards as the Canadians did to get to the bottom of the Arar story. But surely we have a right to expect more accountability from our own government.

A few weeks ago, a few members of Congress formally apologized to Arar when he appeared via satellite before a House panel. But the White House and Justice Department made it clear in court on Friday that no formal legal apologies are in the offing. Instead, and until the courts say otherwise, the Arar story is going to continue here in the States as it began: with poor judgment, bad intelligence and a complete lack of regard for the dignity of a single human being.

[Razzl]

Every person who continues to serve in this wretched and evil Bush administration owes an apology to the people of the country, whose will they continually defy and laws they continually break, with this stubborn string of ridiculous claims on behalf of their master. We will probably get our apologies only after the administration is over, because their moral cowardice is nothing if not consistent...

[nlm2383]

US officials acting on faulty intelligence given by Canada returned the man to his home from which he was just returning.
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What?? He is a Candian citizen, not a Syrian.


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Posted by kansas1946 at 08:48 PM : Nov 12, 2007

You obivously didn''t read the whole story... The first paragraph says he is a Syrian-born Canadian citizen.

[nlm2383]

We''ll never "take our country back". The government is a joke... If you have enough money and are friends with the right people, your opinion matters. Everyone else is ***. That''s the way it works...

[phil-in-fin]

kansas1946 said,

"We will take our country back in 2009 and hope that people remember what it was like to have evil running the show."

No one will remember. When Jimmy Carter claimed that %u201Cas far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history,%u201D Carter had to apologize.

I guess Bush is looking for Stephen Harper to apologize to him for dragging America''s name through the mud over some little man (so what if he was innocent) who was in the wrong place at the wrong (so what if we tortured him: at least we didn''t kill him).

Maybe we will torture AND kill him next time ... after all, he is still an al Qaeda operative, right Bush?

[tejasdemo]

Go to hell Bush and Cheney !

[ioweign]

US officials acting on faulty intelligence given by Canada returned the man to his home from which he was just returning. What did the US do thar was illegal or immoral? The Syrians don''t work for the US. If they torture someone, that''s between them and the torturee. Unless that someone is an American citizen- which he wasn''t.
In the end the man ended up with $10,000,000 Canadian. The right thing for him to do would be to return to Syria and agitate for democracy and better treatment of prisoners.

Posted by runningralph at 01:34 PM : Nov 12, 2007


YOU can''t be THIS stupid!! PLEASE tell me NO ONE in this nation NOW is THIS STUPID!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

Posted by MCVet at 08:14 AM : Nov 13, 2007

We invade on faulty intel, we kidnap on faulty intel and most of all - Bush was elected on faulty intel !

Hey - after 8 years of this clown - every American deserves a "Purple Heart" !

[clestes-2009]

Another pitiful example of how the Bush admin war on innocent people continues.

This pathetic admin is just nothing more that a bully in the sandbox, and they ar drunk on the power they think they have over any and all people.

Everyday that goes by while these misfits are still in power is just another embarressment to America. Worse administratin in US history.

[mcvet]

US officials acting on faulty intelligence given by Canada returned the man to his home from which he was just returning. What did the US do thar was illegal or immoral? The Syrians don''''t work for the US. If they torture someone, that''''s between them and the torturee. Unless that someone is an American citizen- which he wasn''''t.
In the end the man ended up with $10,000,000 Canadian. The right thing for him to do would be to return to Syria and agitate for democracy and better treatment of prisoners.


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Posted by runningralph at 01:34 PM : Nov 12, 2007
+ report abuse

YOU can''t be THIS stupid!! PLEASE tell me NO ONE in this nation NOW is THIS STUPID!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

[brianbwb-2009]

Or, are they so uncomfortable with the concept of shame that they have deluded themselves into thinking they never err? Posted by Quatrops

The concept of shame does not exist for such people.

The unimaginable amounts of money these people are stealing from our future erases any negative effects of "shame", they can live the life of royalty anywhere in the world, and there will always be enough sycophants hanging on, waiting for the crumbs to drop from their table.

They have the money to buy any illusion necessary to maintain their twisted self esteem, the delusion that they are somehow "great and powerful" people.

In short, we can call them any evil we can think of, they are now too rich to care.

[ubrew12]

The Bush admin continues to paint Arar as a terrorist. Says alot about how any American would be treated if once identified as a ''suspect individual'' by the administration. Namely, if they say you''re a terrorist, then you are. NOT because you actually are, but because your need to be properly identified takes a back seat to the administrations need to seem consistent and unyielding.

This is apparently something that resonates with our nations right-wingers. Which is why they aren''t really American, and ought to be deported.

[quatrops]

I trust the rest of you noticed that, with the exception of one off-the-wall twit, our usual input from those on the right has been noticibly absent on this article.

As I asked in my 5:47 post, "What is it that words like ''shame'' trouble the right so much?"

[kansas1946]

I wish Georgie could experience what he calls "not torture" for just one day. Chicken little would loose all his feathers. Coward''''s torture
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Posted by Mimi611 at 02:54 PM : Nov 12, 2007
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Yes, Bush is just like every bully that terrorized the playgrounds of everyone''s youth. As long as he has his toady''s around him, he will strut and crow, but strap him on a board and try to drown him and I bet he won''t be crowing.

[kansas1946]

US officials acting on faulty intelligence given by Canada returned the man to his home from which he was just returning.
*******************
What?? He is a Candian citizen, not a Syrian.

[kansas1946]

What has the American government done? It refused to participate in the Canadian inquiry, stalled a meaningful lawsuit brought by Arar, refused to officially apologize to him and continues whenever possible to call him a member of al Qaeda.
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This should be no surprise. The Bush administration is evil, and evil promotes evil. We will take our country back in 2009 and hope that people remember what it was like to have evil running the show.

[rushlimpdrug]

This is bush country.
It was once America.
It is now Bushica.
Land where a vice-president can shoot his friend in the face and the two can laugh about it.
Of course the friend better laugh it off.
It is the land where we are expected to be ok with the government spying on us without warrants (in the name of security).
Bushica - the land of free speech and freedom of criticizm of the government.
Ain''t it great!
Take a deep breath.
You can almost smell the security.

[quatrops]

Keep running, ralph. Right to the edge of the flat earth (which you may well imagine it is, if you need to ask what our government did that was immoral).

[runningralph]

Myldoncbs,
Syria is a staging ground between Iran and Hezbollah. It definitely does not work for the US.

[logicanada]

sparks224. . . Our current prime minister is a right wing nut ball like Bush. Fortunately for now he is running a minority government. Given a majority I see all the same *** happening up here as you have down there. What''s scary is the other parties can''t agree on any type of strong opposition tactics. Hopefully Bush will be gone before his gets a majority...if ever.

[quatrops]

"The freedom . . . to know you will not be persecuted or imprisoned without a trial". This was a quote from alanrobisch from another article, to which I had responded (if I recall correctly):

"That may be true in Mount Holly, but it certainly isn''t true in Gitmo. And it wasn''t true for those sent to secret prisons in other countries and persecuted."

At that writing, I could not recall the name of Maher Arar to use as an example, but I believe our government''s behavior in his case exemplifies what many of us have tried to point out is the basis of our anger and, yes, our shame.

Robisch''s responses to our concerns (which, on occasion, he expresses more articulately than some), all too frequently use judgements such as "ignorant" and "cry-baby liberals", demonstrating the in-the-box thinking and defensiveness that exemplifies the right''s reaction to progressive offerings.

Why is it that words like "shame" trouble the right so much? One might rightly posit that they are not "man enough" (sorry, feminists) to admit errors, even greivious ones such as this. Or, are they so uncomfortable with the concept of shame that they have deluded themselves into thinking they never err?

So to Mr. Arar I say, "I''m sorry. I am ashamed and embarrassed by my governments behavior towards you."

[sparks224]

The explanation here is really very simple:
Canada has not been taken over by Fascists.