That’s the evidentiary basis for detaining an American citizen for three and half years, with no charges, and subjecting him to complete isolation and torture. Money quote:
Mr. Padilla’s voice is heard on only seven calls. And on those seven, which The Times obtained from a participant in the case, Mr. Padilla does not discuss violent plots.
His phone was tapped, of course. The government has accused Padilla of many things:
Senior government officials have said publicly that Mr. Padilla provided self-incriminating information during interrogations, admitting, they said, to having undergone basic terrorist training, to accepting an assignment to blow up apartment buildings in the United States and to attending a farewell dinner with Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the suspected master planner of the Sept. 11 attacks, before he flew to Chicago in 2002.
But none of it shows up when they have to abide by basic evidentiary standards. Hmm. And crucial evidence comes from a torture victim. Those seven calls? No coded language, apparently:
Mr. Padilla’s seven conversations with Mr. Hassoun range from straightforward — Mr. Hassoun tells Mr. Padilla that his grandmother has died; Mr. Padilla tells Mr. Hassoun that he has found himself an 18-year-old Egyptian bride who is willing to wear a veil — to vaguely suggestive or just odd.
In one phone call, the two men talked about a dream. It appeared to be the dream that Mr. Padilla, according to his relatives, cites as having played a crucial role in inspiring him to convert to Islam: the vision of a man in a turban, surrounded by the swirling dust of a desert.
Padilla is an American U.S. citizen, and he may be involved in some way with Islamist terror. We don’t know. More importantly: neither does the president who detained him. And the appalling way in which this case has been handled may make it impossible for anyone to find the truth.
The Dish 