When a US contractor was a detainee

A U.S. citizen by the name of Donald Vance served as a contractor in Iraq, but was put in a maximum security U.S. prison in Iraq.  Although Vance is a U.S. citizen, he was still subjected to all this without even being charged for a crime.  His story was published in Monday's New York Times:

American guards arrived at the man’s cell periodically over the nextseveral days, shackled his hands and feet, blindfolded him and took himto a padded room for interrogation, the detainee said. After an hour ortwo, he was returned to his cell, fatigued but unable to sleep.

Thefluorescent lights in his cell were never turned off, he said. At mosthours, heavy metal or country music blared in the corridor. He said hewas rousted at random times without explanation and made to stand inhis cell. Even lying down, he said, he was kept from covering his faceto block out the light, noise and cold. And when he was released after97 days he was exhausted, depressed and scared.

Detainee 200343 was among thousands of people who have been held and released by the American military in Iraq ,and his account of his ordeal has provided one of the few detailedviews of the Pentagon’s detention operations since the abuse scandalsat Abu Ghraib. Yet in many respects his case is unusual.

The detainee was Donald Vance, a 29-year-old Navy veteran from Chicago who went to Iraq as a security contractor.

Vance was held without charges or legal representation.  He took notes on his detention experience in a bible, and smuggled the bible out when he was released 97 days later.

As I wrote yesterday, the suspension of habeas corpus turns the clock back to the days before the Magna Carta.  And we think that we have any business trying to spread democracy when we can't even live up to our own constitution?

Comments

[Tony]

This is utterly disgusting. How could it be possible that our "Intelligence" agencies and or personnel can take 97 days to find out someone is innocent?

Now playing the devils advocate...why did they detain him? Terrorism is a twisted game on both sides. We have seen an "average Joe" from an "average family" living in an "average neighborhood" making bombs in his basement. 

 The above isn't necessarily about Donald Vance, as it is about all the detainees. We need both sides to work together on this. The one side being the ACLU (and like organizations) and our intelligence agencies, the ACLU seems to take the stance "leave everyone alone until you catch them in the act" and Intelligence seems to take the stance "there's one without blonde hair and blue eyes, grab him".

I am just as sick and tired hearing our government make excuses and changing the Constitution to meet their needs as I am in hearing the ACLU talk about racial profiling (which sometimes is belief profiling) If there is evidence that a crime was committed or is about to be committed by a person of a certain race (cauc., African American, Asian etc)...then I say PROFILE AWAY.

I do not side with either side here, they are both broken. (I am a flip flopper on this one)

TR