The LA Times reports:
Reporting from Alexandria, Va. – A Lebanese citizen being held in a detention center here was hooded, stripped naked for photographs and bundled onto an executive jet by FBI agents in Afghanistan in April, making him the first known target of a rendition during the Obama administration.
Unlike terrorism suspects who were secretly snatched by the CIA and harshly interrogated and imprisoned overseas during the George W. Bush administration, Raymond Azar was flown to this Washington suburb for a case involving inflated invoices. . .
Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counter-terrorism director at Human Rights Watch, called the case “bizarre.”
“He was treated like a high-security terrorist instead of someone accused of a relatively minor white-collar crime,” she said.
Justice Department lawyers have denied any misconduct in the case.
(Via Volokh.)
Let’s see if I understand the Obama administration position. Rendition is wrong for terrorists. But rendition is appropriate for white-collar criminals. I hope we’re missing part of the story, because this is just bizarre.
Internet Scofflaw 