Its Only OK To Torture If You're American

"Agents Arrest 3 Human Rights Violators"

That's the AP's headline - but don't get your hopes up, it wasn't Bush, Cheney and Gonzales.

Immigration agents have arrested three former foreign military officers who entered the U.S. after lying about their pasts during Peru's struggle with the Shining Path guerrilla movement and Argentina's ``dirty war.''

The arrests of the three, who are accused of crimes against humanity in their home countries, points out how often alleged human rights violators have sought refuge in this country.

They were arrested under expanded powers granted to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement under changes in 2004 to U.S. intelligence law. The agency is part of the Homeland Security Department.

The immigration agency ``will not allow the United States to be a safe haven for those who have come to our country in an effort to evade prosecution and punishment for the crimes they have committed against others,'' its chief, Julie Myers, said when the arrests were announced this week.

...So far the unit has identified over 800 cases from 85 countries, with people returned to Haiti, Somalia, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Honduras and Bosnia.

But its OK if you work for the US government - you're de facto protected from prosecution for any acts of torture you may have authorized or committed on the taxpayer's dollar by a raft of legislation, presidential signing statements and loopholes which enable the Bush administration to put a surface gloss of legality over behaviour that would be clearly illegal and get them arrested if foreigners did it in their own country but then moved to the US.

And people wonder why the US now has such a piss-poor public image in the world.