Another Worst Of The Worst Is Freed Without Charges

The Independent reports that Bisher al-Rawi will be released from Guantanamo and returned to England, where he had lived for sixteen years before being interned in America's Shame, also known as Guantanamo.

So why is this man who fled Iraq with his family in the early eighties to escape Saddam's regime finally being released without any charges having been brought against him? Well it appears the British government has finally stopped their foot dragging on his case because they are embarrassed that Mr al-Rawi used to do work for MI-5, the British Intelligence Service, and that MI-5 was responsible for his arrest.

For many years the British Government had refused to help Mr Rawi and the eight other British residents still held by the Americans at the US naval base in Cuba because they did not have the same legal status as UK nationals.
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He said he thought the decision to help Mr Rawi was only taken because the Government did not want an embarrassing court case in which Britain's involvement in his capture would have been made public.

The High Court in London has already permitted the disclosure of classified documents linking MI5 to Mr Rawl's arrest.

Mr Katznelson said: "Mr Rawi helped MI5 as an interpreter and acted as a go-between with Abu Qatada [a terror suspect later arrested and detained by the British authorities]. All this would have... been very embarrassing for the government and... MI5."

Isn't that interesting? The British government sits on the sidelines for five years while Mr. al-Rawi rots in Guantanamo and only engineers his release after a court rules that information will be disclosed regarding the involvement of MI-5 in both his capture and in his prior work for the agency. And while the British shame is bad enough, it pales compared to ours. After all, we are the jailers, the torturers and the premier human rights hypocrites in the world.

Now we all know that the Guantanamo detainees are the worst of the worst. We know that with certainty because the President said so. Lets see just how bad Mr. al-Rawi is. We pick up his life after escaping Iraq -

Mr Rawi's lived with his mother, brother and sister in south London for 16 years. He was arrested in the Gambia, along with his brother, Wahab, and business partners, Jamil el-Banna and Abdullah el-Ganudi. Wahab and Mr Ganudi were both released because they were British citizens. Bisher and Mr Banna, who could only claim British residency, were taken by the Americans to Bagram airbase and then Guantanamo Bay.

Bisher and Wahab, 41, moved to Britain in the 1980s after their father fell under the suspicion of Saddam Hussein. They first lived in Cambridge, where they took their O-levels, before continuing their schooling at Millfield School, Somerset, and Concord College, Shropshire. They later attended separate universities.

In 1992 Wahab took British nationality while his brother decided to retain his Iraqi citizenship as he did not want to damage his ties with his home country.

But it was Wahab's business interests that took the two brothers to the Gambia in November 2002.

He told The Independent last year: "I had this business idea for a mobile peanut-oil processing factory. I had done the feasibility study; it was all ready to go. I had my team and we brought Bisher in on the deal towards the end."

Four days after his arrival in Gambia, Wahab went to Banjul airport to meet his brother and the other two men.

As Wahab approached his brother he became aware of a problem with immigration. Gambian officials had confiscated their passports and they were being taken to an interview room.

For the next three to four days the four men were moved around the Gambian National Intelligence Agency (NIA), alternately questioned by Americans and Gambians.

Four days after Wahab had met Bisher at the airport, they were taken from the NIA headquarters to a secret location in the Banjul suburbs. It was here that Bisher begged his brother to co-operate with the Americans because "we have nothing to hide".

Mr Ganudi and Wahab were separated from the other two and taken back to interrogation suites in the NIA building where the Americans began repeating the questions. A few days later they were told they could fly back to Britain. The other two were transferred to Guantanamo Bay.

Their lawyers allege that they have been tortured by guards and deprived of basic necessities during their five-year ordeal.

So here you have a guy who fled Saddam's persecution and started a new life with his family in England. His brother became a British citizen but he decided to keep his Iraqi nationality. He goes on a business trip with his brother to that hotbed of terrorism, Gambia, and ends up spending five years in prison in Guantanamo.

This man is so dangerous that he could not be given the minimal requirements of due process. He was such a threat that if he had been granted rights such as, seeing the charges against him, having a trial before an impartial judge and jury, and being able to confront witnesses, all within, say, three months of his capture, our way of life would have been put at risk.

As time passes it has become indisputable this case is the rule rather than the exception for America's Shame. The only unusual aspect of Mr. al-Rawi's case is that also reveals a stain on the British government.