Puny Human! We Laugh At Your Rights!

This should make everyone who hears about it ashamed and disgusted.

from Raw Story:

CIA 'torture' lawsuit thrown out

Mr Masri was seeking damages and an apology

A US court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a German citizen who says he was kidnapped and beaten by the CIA.

Khaled el-Masri aimed to sue former CIA chief George Tenet and other officials for their alleged role in the "extraordinary rendition" programme.

Mr el-Masri says he was picked up in Macedonia in 2003 and flown to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he alleges torture.

The judge did not rule on the truth of the allegations, but said letting the case proceed might endanger security.
(. . .)

In his ruling, Judge TS Ellis stressed that by rejecting Mr el-Masri's lawsuit he made no judgement on the strength or otherwise of his allegations.

"[The result reached here] is in no way an adjudication of, or comment on, the merit or lack of merit of Mr el-Masri's complaint," he said.

"Further, it is also important that nothing in this ruling should be taken as a sign of judicial approval or disapproval of rendition programmes.

"In times of war, our country, chiefly through the executive branch, must often take exceptional steps to thwart the enemy."

His case has attracted the attention of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who raised the issue with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Ms Rice has admitted that the US has used so-called "extraordinary rendition" - or secret flights - to move suspects across international borders.

But the US has refused to discuss individual cases and insists it does not condone torture.

We don't dispute that facts that this poor guy was kidnapped, shipped off to another country, and tortured. But we can't allow any consequences, since that would damage our national security.

Yeah, it's damaging to our national security to reveal what dangerous liars and idiots we've become, while claiming to live under the "rule of law." Sort of like the ruling that counting all the Florida votes in 2000 would be damaging to the presidency of Bush, which of course didn't exist yet.

Rule of Law is great, right up until it becomes inconvenient.

This should make everyone who hears about it ashamed and disgusted.