Truth to Power

Immunity for Ashcroft and Mueller?

Supreme Court to decide Ashcroft, Mueller immunity

The US Supreme Court will hear a case Wednesday on whether cabinet-level officials could be held accountable for controversial tactics President George W. Bush ordered as part of the US-led “war on terror.”

Former attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller have sought immunity from the charges in a lawsuit filed by Javaid Iqbal, a Pakistani national.

Iqbal was among more than 700 Arab and South Asian Muslim men from the New York City area rounded up after the September 11, 2001 attacks. While they were all eventually charged with immigration violations or minor crimes, none was linked to terrorism.

In his lawsuit, Iqbal alleges that Ashcroft and Mueller targeted the men for investigation and punitive detention, sidestepping procedural protections usually granted to such detainees.

Lawyers for Ashcroft and Mueller say their clients were not personally involved in the detainee mistreatment and did not know about Iqbal.</em>

Personally involved? You ordered it! Yeah, maybe you didn’t personally stick your latex-laden fingers up Iqbal’s butt…you had other people do it. And now you want the people who followed your orders to take the heat for your actions. I say drop the two of ‘em on a hillside in Pakistan and let local justice take its course.


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