Something stinks here

I don't like this at all.

Jose Padilla, an American-born citizen, was arrested at O'Hare Airport, in the United States, in 2002. Government types at the time were crowing about how they had foiled a plot by Padilla to set off a "dirty bomb" in a major American city, in order to advance the cause of Islamic fundamentalism.

Ok, great. I don't want to be terrorized, and I'm willing to give the Feds the benefit of the doubt. Lets try him, and then give him the needle if he's found guilty. Score one for the good guys.

What has happened since then, however, has given me great pause, and made me wonder how a citizen of the United States, no matter what he or she is accused of, can be treated like Padilla has, and then be expected to be given a fair trial. Here's a quick summary:

After his 2002 arrest, Padilla was immediately designated an "enemy combatant" by President Bush, and transferred to a U.S. Navy military brig in South Carolina. He was denied access to any lawyers. He was then repeatedly interrogated by military officials. Conveniently, at least one of the videotapes of these questioning sessions has been "lost", leaving Padilla without any evidence to prove his allegation of torture while in military custody. (When accused people lose evidence, it's tampering. When the government does it, it's a "mistake".)

Lawyers for Padilla fought for his rights, even as they were unable to communicate with him. They filed briefs urging courts to force the government to charge him with a specific crime, showing evidence, or let him go. They fought all the way to the Supreme Court, which sent back the case on other issues in 2004, but showed a willingness to decide if Padilla's detention was unconstitutional. At about this time the government magically changed their story. Padilla was now in custody for plotting to bomb apartment buildings, in an attempt to terrorize American citizens. He was finally allowed to meet with lawyers and prepare a defense to his non-charges.

Finally, in late 2005, Padilla was transferred to a Federal prison in Miami and indicted on yet other charges of "conspiring to murder, kidnap and maim people overseas". Dirty bomb? Apartment buildings? As far as I know, the Feds have just shrugged their shoulders and walked away whistling. They have presented absolutely no evidence to date that justifies their arrest and designation of Padilla as an enemy combatant in the first place.

In my opinion, Jose Padilla is a gang-banging Al-Qaeda wannabe that was recruited by the real thing to do some kind of damage to this country. He is a worm that should be put away and never heard from again.

In this country, however, U.S. citizens arrested on U.S. soil, for whatever reason, are guaranteed certain rights. The right to a lawyer, the right to a speedy trial, the right to see the evidence against oneself, and the right to question one's accusers (that videotaped session, in this case) were all denied Padilla, and the scary thing is, it could happen to any of us, should the government decide to do so. John Doe just disappears one day? Well, he was an enemy combatant plotting to do dastardly things. Evidence? We don't have to show you any. Boy, what arrogance on the part of our government.

Think about if you were put into this situation. How would you even begin to fight against something that you aren't charged with in the first place? How do you prove a negative?

Part of the reason that the U.S. is so great is that we have laws that apply to all citizens equally. We don't have gulags that undesirable people disappear into, when they become a problem. At least we didn't used to.

I plan on watching this trial closely, to see exactly what justified denying a citizen his rights for close to 4 years. It should be quite enlightening.