The Supremes have decided, on a 7-2 vote, that, although the world has known without question since at least 2012 that the government tortured a Saudi citizen picked up in Pakistan while holding him in secret prisons in Thailand and Poland, somehow these crimes are covered by a "state secrets privilege." Therefore a Polish prosecutor cannot demand testimony from the rogue contractor-psychologists James Mitchell and John Jessen. Mitchell is so proud of what he did to Abu Zubaydah he wrote a book about it.
Only two Justices dissented from the absurd coverup. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing in a dissent joined by Justice Sotomayor, explained what U.S. agents did to Abu Zubaydah:
They waterboarded Zubaydah at least 80 times, simulated live burials in coffins for hundreds of hours, and performed rectal exams designed to establish “total control over the detainee.” Six days into his ordeal, Zubaydah was sobbing, twitching, and hyperventilating. During one waterboarding session, Zubaydah became “completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth.” He became so compliant that he would prepare for waterboarding at the snap of a finger.
He continued:
... as embarrassing as these facts may be, there is no state secret here. This Court’s duty is to the rule of law and the search for truth. We should not let shame obscure our vision.
The majority did not agree.
Oh, and it has further become clear that Abu Zubaydah was an inconsequential bit player in al-Qaeda. His torture was an experiment -- a test of what can we do to an enemy over whom we have absolute power.
He will remain a permanent prisoner of the United States, convicted of nothing and charged with nothing, because we don't want to 'fess up to what we did to him.
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