Not just imprisonment, but US torture of US citizen

Hate to just jump on the bandwagon about the Padilla case, but just read Glenn Greenwald's summation of Padilla's legal brief for dismissal of charges, upon which Tristero's and then WallDon's posts were based.

The violation of habeas corpus is bad and unconstitutional enough. But the addition of the forms of abuse and torture to which this (uncharged, unconvicted, innocent-until-proven-guilty) American citizen was subjected while unconstitutionally imprisoned are simply and utterly criminal:

For nearly two years, from June 9, 2002 until March 2, 2004, when the department of Defense permitted Mr. Padilla to have contact with his lawyers, Mr. Padilla was in complete isolation. Even after he was permitted contact with counsel, his conditions of confinement remained essentially the same.He was kept in a unit comprising sixteen individual cells, eight on the upper level and eight on the lower level, where Mr. Padilla's cell was located. No other cells in the unit were occupied. His cell was electronically monitored twenty-four hours a day, eliminating the need for a guard to patrol his unit. His only contact with another person was when a guard would deliver and retrieve trays of food and when the government desired to interrogate him.

His isolation, furthermore, was aggravated by the efforts of his captors to maintain complete sensory deprivation. His tiny cell, nine feet by seven feet, had no view to the outside world. The door to his cell had a window, however, it was covered by a magnetic sticker, depriving Mr. Padilla of even a view into the hallway and adjacent common areas of his unit. He was not given a clock or a watch and for most of the time of his captivity, he was unaware whether it was day or night, or what time of year or day it was.

In addition to his extreme isolation, Mr. Padilla was also viciously deprived of sleep. This sleep deprivation was achieved in a variety of ways. For a substantial period of his captivity, Mr. Padilla's cell contained only a steel bunk with no mattress. The pain and discomfort of sleeping on a cold, steel bunk made it impossible for him to sleep. Mr. Padilla was not given a mattress until the tail end of his captivity. . . .

Other times, his captors would bang the walls and cell bars creating loud startling noises. These disruptions would occur throughout the night and cease only in the morning, when Mr. Padilla's interrogations would begin. Efforts to manipulate Mr. Padilla and break his will also took the form of the denial of the few benefits he possessed in his cell. . . .

Mr. Padilla's dehumanization at the hands of his captors also took more sarmster orms. Mr. Padilla was often put in stress positions for hours at a time. He would be shackled and manacled, with a belly chain, for hours in his cell. Noxious fumes would be introduced to his room causing his eyes and nose to run. The temperature of his cell would be manipulated, making his cell extremely cold for long stretches of time. Mr. Padilla was denied even the smallest, and most personal shreds of human dignity by being deprived of showering for weeks at a time, yet having to endure forced grooming at the whim of his captors.

A substantial quantum of torture endured by Mr. Padilla came at the hands of his interrogators. In an effort to disorient Mr. Padilla, his captors would deceive him about his location and who his interrogators actually were. Mr. Padilla was threatened with being forcibly removed from the United States to another country, including U.S. Naval Guantanamoantanamo Bay, Cuba, where he was threatened his fate would be even worse than in the Naval Brig.

He was threatened with being cut with a knife and having alcohol poured on the wounds. He was also threatened with imminent execution. He was hooded and forced to stand in stress positions for long durations of time. He was forced to endure exceedingly long interrogation sessions, without adequate sleep, wherein he would be confronted with false information, scenarios, and documents to further disorient him. Often he had to endure multiple interrogators who would scream, shake, and otherwise assault Mr. Padilla.

And there's more to read there. . . .

This sure looks like a criminal conspiracy to me. Why the hell is anybody worried about Rep. Mark Foley (R) when we have this kind of perversion carried out by a chain of command that runs from some Navy brig facility up through military channels to the Defense Secretary, branching over to the Attorney General's office, and then climbing up to the Veep and the Oval Office? Anybody, anybody with knowledge of this, who condoned it or covered it up or ordered it, deserves nothing less than trial on the charge of crimes against humanity. Impeachment is a kind fate, compared to the punishment deserved.