Yes, It Does Seem Strange

Syria Torturing People For the U.S.?

See-Dubya at JunkYardBlog finds it unlikely too:

Oh, wait a minute. Even as I google around while I write this I see that AG Gonzales has in fact already said it was a deportation, not a rendition.

"Mr. Arar was deported under our immigration laws. He was initially detained because his name appeared on terrorist lists, and he was deported according to our laws," Gonzales told reporters.

This makes a lot more sense than thinking we were relying on Syria to do our interrogatin' for us. We deport people back to hell-holes all the time. So does Canada.

This timeline from the Toronto Sun makes the case for rendition look even less credible.

OK, so let's disregard the unlikeliness of an assist from Bashar Assad to ferret out terrorists. During the period of torture, Mr. Arar received only infrequent visits from Canadian consular officials, several months apart. And the claim is that the U.S. was having the guy squeezed for intel? I suppose it could work this way, but it just doesn't pass the smell test.

posted by Laura. at 11:23 AM

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