Politics

You be the judge

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• Friday 23rd February 2007

Today, the defense in the Jose Padilla trial said that after 3 years and some months in custody (no habeas corpus in the US anymore, remember), he’s out of his mind with torture, and incompetent to stand trial. The list of interrogation techniques (which is in no way complete) includes: hooding, stress positions, assaults, threats of imminent execution and the administration of “truth serums.” This with no charges ever profferred against him, extremely limited (and wiretapped) access to counsel, and unending government propaganda against him in the presss.

Compare and contrast with the case of Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, who, along with a few other Army stalwarts involved in our effort to bring freedom to Iraq, gang raped a 14 year-old girl, then murdered her, her parents and her younger sister. The NY Times and other papers trumpet the fact that Sarge has received a 100 year sentence – the maximum. Read the rest of the story, and find out that he’ll walk in 10 years, because as long as he holds to his plea agreement – which requires that he testify against the other soldiers involved – he’s golden. That’s quite a plea deal, after one of the other defendants testified that while they were plotting the assault, the soldiers played cards and drank whiskey. Nothing spontaneous here; no car charging a checkpoint, no shadowy figure reaching for something, possibly a weapon. Plotted at leisure, over a bottle and a friendly game.

The kicker, of course, is the defense used by Cortz’s counsel:

A psychologist, Charles Figley, testified that Mr. Cortez and the other soldiers had probably suffered from stress brought on by fatigue and trauma.

“It eats you up,” Dr. Figley said. “It’s a horrible thing. This is not unique. We’ve seen this in other wars.”

Five soldiers who served with Sergeant Cortez in Iraq testified that his actions had been out of character and described the hardships of war they had experienced, including sleep deprivation and the lack of running water.

Now, I’ve never been to war; and I don’t make light of the stressses involved. But savor the irrationality of the government maintaining that Padilla is competent to stand trial (for not doing anything) after almost 4 years of torture and solitary confinement, but sleep deprivation and lack of running water is a reasonable excuse for premeditated gang rape and mass murder.

2/28/07

A follow-up in the burlesque of justice that is Padilla’s trial.

3/1/07

It seems that if you’re not psychotic, merely somewhat upset from 3 years and 8 months of torture and solitary confinement, you’re fine.