Unconscionable

The U.S. government always has the fallback position when all else fails -- it's a secret only we know and we can't tell you. Despite the fact that he has been completely cleared by the Canadians and despite the fact that the Canadians have reviewed the supposedly "secret" information that the Americans say they have and continues to believe he's innocent, the U.S. continues to keep Maher Arar on the terror watch list.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 — Despite a Canadian inquiry that cleared a Syrian-born Canadian citizen of any terrorist ties, the Bush administration has formally refused a Canadian government request that it remove the man, Maher Arar, from the terrorist watch list, saying that the United States has secret information justifying his inclusion.

This, of course, means the man can't travel anywhere. It means most people won't hire him, even in Canada. It means his life is completely ruined. The Canadian Prime Minister is right when he says:

“we simply have a U.S. government that won’t admit it’s wrong.”

But, what else is new?