Hoodwinked?

El-Masri and his lawyer earlier this year, trying to sue the CIA. Now he needs that lawyer for something else...

In January 2004, a German citizen of Lebanese origin named Khaled El-Masri was captured in Macedonia by the CIA and flown to a prison in Kabul, Afghanistan, apparently mistaken for an Al-Qaeda operative of the same name. There, he claims, he was tortured and sexually abused by CIA agents. He was released 5 months later, in May 2004.

His case was celebrated by a whole host of anti-American and far left groups in the US and Germany. Columnist Andrew Sullivan, naturally, fell for his story - hook, line, and sinker. El-Masri became the face of criticism against "secret CIA prisons" and "extraordinary rendition", and with the help of the ACLU, filed a lawsuit against the CIA. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, and the ACLU said they were considering appealing to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile German authorities issues warrants for 13 CIA agents they claim were involved with the abduction.

Well, his supporters will probably be a bit more quiet now. Just two days ago German police arrested him near a burned down department store and charged him with arson. A judge then ordered him to be held in a psychiatric hospital; German authorities won't say why, but its a likely guess he made suicidal gestures. His attorney concedes that he did burn down the store.

According to Die Welt Online (in German), the problem arose over a dispute over an iPod that El-Masri had bought at a Metro Mart back in April in the city of Neu-Ulm (Metro is a discount store with membership required, kind of like "Sam's Club" back in America). He claimed the iPod malfunctioned just hours after purchase. When he tried to return it, the store refused, and the situation escalated into a shouting match. El-Masri spit in the face of a female employee, and was barred from the store. This month, he came back to torch the place.

Over 500,000 Euros (about $650,000) damage. Fortunately, no one was hurt

Now, of course some of his supporters will try to excuse this by claiming that his torture experiences drove him to commit this crime. In fact his lawyer suggested just that, claiming that the state didn't give him the therapy he needed after his return. Well, Germany has thousands of asylum seekers that were tortured in their own countries. Germany has even more who were tortured during/after the war by the Russians and still remember it today. There are also thousands of immigrant women currently here who are still being tortured by their husbands in abusive marriages, and girls who face genital mutilation. I don't hear about any of them taking out their frustrations by burning down buildings.

To some, his being an arsonist would have nothing to do with whether he was telling the truth about being tortured. But to me, it has a lot to do with it. It provides insights into the character of a man whose word was the only proof we had that he was telling the truth over his experiences. At the time of his story, I was very skeptical of his claims. Now I am even more so.

Update 05/20/2007 10:48:00: Comments and attention to this story at Mediankritik and Little Green Footballs.

Update 05/30/2007 15:13:00: German prosecuters announced that El-Masri also faces charges of assaulting a driving school instructor, when that instructor criticised his failure to show up for lessons.