DIRTY

NO WAY JOSE is ultimately what United States government officials determined when it came time to charge Jose Padilla on the dirty bomb accusations they so publicly trumpeted when he was so famously arrested.  Who could not see this coming?  No way Jose is how Justice Department officials responded when it became apparent that to charge Padilla would mean the less um kind torture enhanced interrogation techniques at Guantanamo would not come out of the shadow and into light.  Who could not see this coming?  For certain the charges against Padilla are true, these same officials will say.  We just can’t prove it in open court because of national security concerns.  Is anyone surprised?

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN so much easier if Padilla could have remained in the darkest depths of the shadow at Guantanamo where “enemy combatants” have languished far from the Constitutional protections our country affords its citizens.  But Padilla is a United States citizen and he did have to be charged by this Monday with something or be set free.  The initial arrest of Padilla had a certain breathless quality. Remember John Ashcroft made his announcement from Moscow in a dark studio and took no questions. Nice control of context.  The details of the charges were left to Mueller, Thompson, and Wolfowitz.

ASHCROFT IS OFF somewhere cursing how the exercised  liberties and rights and American judicial process we have are getting in the way of saving us from the people who attack our liberties and rights and the American way of life. Donald Rumsfeld didn't think Padilla deserved any rights.  Back in 2002  the government was certain of its case, but Padilla's lawyer thought they had nothing on a nobody.  How could such a clean kill of the likes of Padilla been so dragged in the dirt?

EVIDENCE SHINES LIGHT now that what killed Padilla’s prosecution were the dark and  dubious means used to build a case against him.  Beyond the torture that is not torture enhanced interrogation techniques employed against certain witnesses, the string  of shame that is the gulag of black sites where the CIA hides ghost detainees would come to light.  Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, often called the brain behind September Eleventh apparently was drowned waterboarded several times to get his truth accurate testimony confession cooperation help in the fight for truth, justice, and the American way.  CIA officials have characterized the quality of the initial info offered by the mastermind Mohammed as "Precious Truths, Surrounded by a Bodyguard of Lies."

THE LIE IS that we advance our way of life with the death of our ideals in service to an endless war on terror.  Terrrorists “win” when we dirty the gloss of civilization with controlled blasts of barbarism.  Padilla himself never received any protection from the prosecutions relentless search for truth and justice.  But even if its methods are wrong, the government is right, even if it can’t prove the charges legally. [story]

"There's no way you could use what he said in military custody against him," a former senior government official said.

The officials spoke a day after Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales repeatedly refused at to address questions a news conference about why the government had not brought criminal charges related to the most serious accusations. The officials, from several agencies, sought to emphasize that the government was not backing off its initial assertions about the seriousness of Mr. Padilla's actions.

THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT backing off.  We are right in our claims.  We don’t want to risk showing you how right we were.  Is anyone surprised dirty deeds done dirt cheap dirty us all?

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING
Unclaimed Territory makes some powerful connections, with  lots of links.  More on Padilla at Body and Soul: Not being able to use information obtained through torture isn't a technicality, and the prohibition isn't there only for ethical reasons either. We don't countenance information gained through torture because there's a very good chance it's complete garbage. 

TECHNIQUES AND TECHNICALITIES Waterboarding is not a sport. Enhanced Torture Propaganda

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[Neil Shakespeare]

Don't you just love this shit? "He did it but we can't prove it to you because then you'd find out what WE did! And if you found out what WE did...well..."