When CAN we sue? (UPDATE: we can't, he's immune, we're in danger)

Gitmo Detainee to be Released Next Week

February 20, 2009 6:03 PM

ABC News has learned that the Obama administration will begin the process of releasing a prisoner from the Detainee Center at Guantanamo Bay next week, perhaps as early as Monday.

Binyam Mohamed, a 30-year-old Ethiopian and legal resident of the UK, will be transferred into British custody, government officials told ABC News. The British will fly Mohamed back to England. The British government has signaled it intends to subject Mohamed to surveillance, but he is not expected to be arrested. (Z: Did you have read that twice, too?)

British authorities have long expressed concern that any evidence against Mohamed would be inadmissible because of alleged torture against him by Pakistani and U.S. authorities. (Z: WHAT? What if he's planning more dirty bomb attacks? He 'alleged' torture so he's clean?)

The White House had no comment. (Z: CAN WE COMMENT? I'd like to comment...PLEASE?)

Mohamed has been detained at Gitmo since September 2004. He was first arrested in Pakistan by local authorities in 2002 and turned over to U.S. military authorities a few months later.

According to the Combatant Status Review Board filings summarizing evidence against Mohamed for combatant status review tribunal recently made unclassified (see HERE and HERE), Mohamed "received paramilitary training" at the al Faruq training camp in Afghanistan. (Z: maybe that was to become a NAVY SEAL, huh? Ya THINK? Not to insult NAVY SEALS, I'm SO SO sorry)

There he learned about "light arms handling, explosives, and principles of topography." He was "taught to falsify documents and received instruction from a senior al Qaida operative on how to encode telephone numbers..."

"The detainee proposed, to senior al-Qaida leaders, the idea of attacking subway trains in the United States," the board statement says. In Karachi, Mohamed "received explosives and remote-controlled-detonator training from an al Qaida operative." An al Qaida operative also told Mohamed to go to the U.S. "to assistant in terrorist operations," the document states. He allegedly was planning to use a "dirty bomb." (Z: Read THAT AGAIN! Are we ...nuts?)

In an interview with a member of the U.S. military also recently declassified, (read it HERE) Mohamed said that his training was done before 9/11 in order "to fight in Chechnya, which was not illegal." His contacts with al Qaida were only made so he could get out of Afghanistan and back to the U.K. Mohamed also "stated that his plane ticket at time of capture was a ticket from Karachi to Zurich to England, so how could he have plans to carry out attacks in the United States"? (Z: "How could he...?" Could he not buy a ticket with cash any stop he made and change plans? WHAT? Will we EVER be more clever or cunning than our enemy?)

All terrorism-related charges against Mohamed were dropped in 2007.

The ACLU has long claimed that Mohamed's admissions were made under the duress of torture.

"This unprecedented release of an enemy combatant, who has already targeted the United States, clearly shows that despite the promises that President Obama made to keep this country safe, he may be putting political promises ahead of our national security," said Commander Kirk Lippold, Former USS Cole Commander. "The laundry list of charges against Binyam Mohamed, many of which he has admitted to, makes it blatantly clear that it is not if he will attack the United States, but only when his attack will happen." (Z: YA THINK??? Is Obama comfortable with that?)

Lippold, a Senior Military Fellow at Military Families United, called Mohamed's release "dangerous" and urged the president to reconsider.

"By Mohamed’s classification as an ‘enemy combatant’," Lippold said, "the United States is aware that he poses a threat to our country and allies. Instead of maintaining him in custody where justice can be served, President Obama is allowing him to be released to the United Kingdom without condition. This presents a danger that he may rejoin the fight to kill innocent civilians." (Z:.....never mind..what can I say?)

The ACLU says that Mohamed, after being captured in 2002, was flown from Pakistan to Morocco on a Gulfstream V aircraft, for which flight and logistical support services were provided by Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. Mohamed claims that for the following 18 months he was tortured by Moroccan intelligence officials. In 2004, Mohamed was flown to a secret U.S. detention facility in Afghanistan, Mohamed claims. Again, support services for this flight were provided by Jeppesen.

"In Afghanistan Mohamed was tortured and inhumanely treated by United States officials," the ACLU says. "Later that same year Mohamed was rendered a third time by U.S. officials, this time to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba where he is presently."

Mohamed is one of several detainees who have attempted to sue Jeppesen Dataplan, a suit fought by both the Bush and Obama administrations because of "state secrets." (Z: and if he wasn't tortured but is lying about it, we'll err on his side, as usual, right? I wonder how much of our tax dollars he'll get.)

In a statement the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Mohamed "will be returned as soon as the practical arrangements can be made."

"Mr Mohamed’s return does not constitute a commitment by the Home Secretary that he may remain permanently in the UK," Miliband said. "His immigration status will be reviewed following his return and the same security considerations will apply to him as would apply to any other foreign national in this country . As always, all appropriate steps will be taken to protect national security." (Z: OURS?)

I GIVE UP. Can we sue a president for leaving us this vulnerable? Seriously....Yehudi, do YOU KNOW? Any other lawyers here? We're going to sit back and see this happen? Is he being defended by Eric Holder's firm?(read at your own risk, not after eating) Have we gone STARK RAVING MAD?

Oh, and I KNOW, he could be TOTALLY innocent (!) but WHEN can we err on OUR SIDE?

Z