A Lebanese citizen being held in a detention center here was
hooded,
stripped naked for photographs and bundled onto an executive jet by FBI
agents in Afghanistan in April, making him the first known target of a
rendition during the Obama administration.
Unlike terrorism suspects who were secretly snatched by the CIA
and
harshly interrogated and imprisoned overseas during the George W. Bush
administration, Raymond Azar was flown to this Washington suburb for a
case involving inflated invoices.
Azar, 45, pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bribery,
the only charge against him. He faces a maximum of five years in
prison, but a sentence of 2 1/2 years or less is likely under federal
guidelines.
Defense lawyers and prosecutors declined to comment on the case
Friday.
But Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counter-terrorism director at
Human Rights Watch, called the case "bizarre."
"He was treated like a high-security! terrorist instead of someone
accused of a relatively minor white-collar crime," she said.
Justice Department lawyers have denied any misconduct in the case.
"The FBI followed standard operating procedures when transporting
prisoners to the United States," Gina Talamona, a Justice Department
spokeswoman, said Friday. She said restraints "were used with the sole
purpose of ensuring the safety of the defendants and the agents."
As the Obama administration steps up efforts to curb fraud at
military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, a senior Army official
said Azar's case "should serve as a warning" to other contractors.
In court papers, Azar said he was denied his eyeglasses, not given
food for 30 hours and put in a freezing room after his arrest by "more
than 10 men wearing flak jackets and carrying military style assault
rifles."
Azar also said he was shackled and forced to wear a blindfold,
dark
hood and earphones for! up to 18 hours on a Gulfstream V jet that flew
him from Bagra! m air base, outside Kabul, to Virginia.
Before the hood was put on, he said, one of his captors waved a
photo of Azar's wife and four children and warned Azar that he would
"never see them again" unless he confessed.
If this last charge is accurate, then this meets the definition of
torture used by the Left. Will Eric Holder and the likes of Andrew
Sullivan call
for an investigation of Obama's administration for this heinous crime?
I'm not sure why the pictures Sullivan has posted of terrorists
strapped naked and blindfolded to a board are any different than
Obama's embezzler strapped naked and blindfolded to a board, other than
the obvious that the guy in the Bush example is, you know, a killer.
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