Dept. of :wtf: :
Compare the case of Nabil al-Marabh to Jose Padilla. The American citizen is kept in suspension in a brig for two years with no charges filed against him and no rights to talk to lawyers or family. The non-citizen is freed and sent to "a terror-sponsoring state."
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Terror-Suspect-Deported.html?pagewanted=print&position=AP: Administration Freed Terror Suspect
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:51 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nabil al-Marabh was No. 27 on the FBI's list of terror suspects after Sept. 11. He trained in Afghanistan's militant camps, sent money to a roommate convicted in a foiled plot to bomb a hotel and boasted to an informant about plans to blow up a fuel truck inside a New York tunnel, FBI documents allege. The Bush administration set him free -- to Syria -- even though prosecutors had sought to bring criminal cases against him and judges openly expressed concerns about possible terrorist ties.
...
Asked to explain the decision to free al-Marabh, Justice spokesman Bryan Sierra said the government has concerns about many people with suspected terror ties but cannot effectively try them in court without giving away intelligence sources and methods.
``If the government cannot prosecute terrorism charges, another option is to remove the individual from the United States via deportation. After careful review, this was determined to be the best option available under the law to protect our national security,'' he said.
But a Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee scoffed at the explanation. ``It's hard to believe that the best way to deal with the FBI's 27th most wanted terrorist is to send him back to a terrorist-sponsoring country,'' said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. He said the Justice Department could have used a military tribunal or a classified criminal. ``This action certainly raises a lot of questions and demands a lot of answers,'' Schumer said....