Obviously those who have a hatred for America will say whatever they wish to
make the US look bad, and despite the overwhelming evidence that US justice is
a despicable sham from all that have commented upon their treatment, and the
sorry affair of Abu Ghraib giving substance to such
allegations, it has to be said that those people could indeed just be
propagandising, even lying.If we want to know what the truth is, we have to ask those people who are on
the side of America what they think, but there is equally the problem that
they too may be lying in what they report. It would seem that it is impossible
to find an impartial voice on exactly what US justice is like in practice, but
then came along Qais Mohamed al-Salman.
Al-Salman is the most unlikely of Iraqi terrorists. He fled Iraq under the
regime of Saddam, becoming a Danish citizen. He is a well educated man, speaks
good English, is a professional scientific researcher, and a supporter of the
American liberation that toppled his former country's regime.
In the aftermath of victory, al-Salman packed his bags, loaded his briefcase,
and set off to Iraq to help re-build his former country. Just the sort of
person that America wants to see take a leading role in Iraq as it sets the
country on its road to self determination, democracy, and freedom.
And so too thought al-Salman until he was picked up on the streets of Baghdad
by a US Army patrol. Having driven into an area that was presumably an unmarked
no-go area, the vehicle he was in came under intense fire
from American forces. His driver and passenger fled, leaving him to be captured
by American forces. Despite his Danish passport, Danish driving licence and
medical records, he was handcuffed, bundled into a vehicle and detained. He
was on his way to pass through the US detention system in Iraq.
Taken to Camp Cropper, a huge collection of tents at Baghdad Airport, he was
interrogated by an American military intelligence officer. Despite his
attempts to explain himself, and producing letters which showed he was involved
in US aid projects, he was condemned as a "Suspected Assassin", and had a label
pinned to his shirt to identify him as such.
Having failed to convince a second interrogator of his innocence, al-Salmon
went on hunger strike.
After spending over thirty days in detention, without any charges being laid
against him, al-Salmon was driven back to Baghdad. He was handed his papers
and left in the street with nothing but a feeble apology.
It is not surprising that al-Salmon returned home, where he found his mother
to be grief-stricken and believing him dead. Despite contact with US authorities
to request information on her son's whereabouts she was offered no help, and
the Americans failed to inform anyone of his plight, not even telling the
Danish authorities that they had detained one of their citizens.
Al-Salman went to Iraq to help re-build the country as a friend of the
liberators. He held no grudge against the Americans who had rid the country of
a cruel and evil dictator. He welcomed them with open arms, and they welcomed
him by labelling him a subversive, an enemy of America, and incarcerating him
for over a month in a judicial limbo.
That is how America treats its friends, and that is how America creates itself
enemies.
