The New McCarthyism

Canadian citizen wrongly arrested, deported, imprisoned, tortured as suspected Islamic "extremist".

Apparently this man's crime was being seen talking to another man who was under investigation for possible al-Qaeda links. Just like the Communist witch-hunt in the 50's, except that now instead of being forced to denounce your treasonous ideals and provide a list of your Communist comrades (whether you actually were Communist or not), they ship you to Syria where they beat you with electrical cords.

The authorities, both in the U.S. and in Canada, will spin, downplay, and point fingers. The liberals will foam with self-righteous outrage ("This would NEVER happen if we were in power!"). Meanwhile, this guy had his freedom and dignity taken from him without due process, and was surely beaten to a bloody stump for information he didn't have, all in the name of Homeland Security. Sorry about that. Our bad.

How easily could this have happened to me, you, or anyone else?? All you need is a single Middle Eastern acquaintance with active ties to the region, and you're on The List. Your phone calls are being recorded, your email is being read, your Internet activites are being monitored, and your bank accounts are being watched. And Allah help you if you are of Middle Eastern or Muslim descent...

I have a feeling this is going to get MUCH worse before it starts to get better...

UPDATE: According to this article, Maher Arar's questioners in Syria were successful in extracting information from him using "tough interrogation techniques"; under coersion, he confessed to having trained in Afghanistan, presumably as a Terrorist.

The problem? He had never even been to Afghanistan.