Ohiocore

You know the guy, Yaser Esam Hamdi.
Hamdi, "enemy combatant" (does that even mean anything anymore?);
Hamdi, "U.S. citizen" (does that even mean anything anymore?);
Hamdi, "detainee".

He's only been in a military prision for 3 years or so, without charges: "The military designated Hamdi an enemy combatant and held him incommunicado and without a lawyer for much of his time in custody." Actually his Louisiana-born citizenship eventually did mean something: unlike other poor schmoes inhuman terrorists, he was imprisoned in South Carolina instead of Guantanamo, and the Government eventually had to concede he had *some* kind of rights.

Of course, this was only after the Supreme Court forced them: "The Supreme Court set in motion the process that led to Hamdi's release when it ruled in June that as a citizen of the United States, he must have access to the U.S. legal system. The government then announced in August that it was nearing a deal to free Hamdi." Pretty quick turnaround after 3 years. And what's the deal, right? I mean, wasn't he like a Super-Mega Boss Terraristo Deluxxxe? Ashcroft can't even get him on some minor chump charge? (Notice how their whole approach is screwed if they can't conjure punitive immigration charges, detentions and deportations.)

But for real, the deal is remarkable:

The release agreement requires Hamdi, once he arrives in Saudi Arabia, to renounce any claim he has to U.S. citizenship and to abide by strict travel restrictions, according to the Justice Department statement. Sources familiar with the agreement said it restricts Hamdi from leaving Saudi Arabia for a certain period of time and restricts him from traveling to the United States.

I can cut lame jokes about it, but the injustice is obvious: the government won't even attempt to prosecute a case against him. How damning is that? Is he a danger to National Security or not? Did you have any *reasons* for "detaining" him indefinitely, or was it just a bad mood you were in?

I hope the release agreement is challanged and nullified in court. Since when could the Government negotiate your total divestment of citizenship with you directly while you are imprisoned incommunicado indefinitely on a military base with no legal rights whatsoever?!? Can I torture people until they sign a non-disclosure agreement and hold-harmless contract?

"It remains unclear how he will be treated by the Saudi government."

Source: Washington Post