ROHRABACHER'S RANT - Slightly Hypocritical!

Imagine being imprisoned and tortured for two years for something you didn't do. Now imagine not being allowed to know what you are accused of or to go to court to clear your name.

U.S. lawmakers offered apologies Thursday to Canadian citizen, Maher Arar, who was sent to Syria by U.S. counter terrorism officials, where he was imprisoned and tortured.

Lawmakers from both parties called on the Bush administration to apologize to the software engineer who is still barred from entering the United States even though the Canadian government has cleared him of any links to terrorist groups.

An administration official said she was not aware of any plans for the White House to issue an apology to Arar.

Arar had told the House of Representatives Judiciary and Foreign Affairs committees about his horrible experience by video link. He said, "The America I see and hear about today is not the same America I admired when I lived there from 1999 to 2001.

California Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said, "Our country made a mistake and has been unwilling to own up to it, it reflects an arrogance I don't like to see in our government."

THAT'S A FUNNY STATEMENT COMING FROM DANA ROHRABACHER!

It's a little odd that Dana Rohrabacher became vocal this way when you consider that he voted YES on the Military Commissions Act(s 3930) which left it up to the sociopathic president George Bush to define what interrogation techniques outside those barred by the Geneva Conventions are still permissible. It also would legally immunize CIA officers who may have engaged in activity characterized as torture. The bill goes on to bar non-American citizens from protesting their imprisonment if the president designates them as “enemy combatants.”
He also voted NO to not show his support for Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) effort to ban cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees held by U.S. forces and to require the military to follow the Army field manual for interrogations(H R 2863).
The White House was resistant to any constraints on its ability to wage the war on terrorism. Initially President Bush threatened a veto. However, following a brief public clash with McCain, who had support of a veto-proof majority in the House, the White House relented and threw its support behind the bill. In a small compromise McCain agreed to add two paragraphs giving civilian interrogators legal protections that were only previously extended to military interrogators. The president signed the bill into law on Dec. 30, 2005.

At the time of this post I am still awaiting a response from Dana Rohrabacher's representative as to why he would come out publicly for apologizing yet still back torture and indefinite detention.

Rohrabacher's voting records on these and other bills can be viewed in the link below.
Washington Post link.