Susan Lindauer
Some things are unforgivable in a democracy. A bill moving through
Congress, authorizing the military to imprison American citizens
indefinitely, without a trial or hearing, ranks right at the top of that
list.
I know—I lived through it on the Patriot Act. When Congress decided
to squelch the truth about the CIA's advance warnings about 9/11 and the
existence of a comprehensive peace option with Iraq, as the CIA's chief
Asset covering Iraq, I became an overnight threat. To protect their
cover-up scheme, I got locked in federal prison inside Carswell Air
Force Base, while the Justice Department battled to detain me
"indefinitely" up to 10 years, without a hearing or guilty plea. Worst
yet, they demanded the right to forcibly drug me with Haldol, Ativan and
Prozac, in a violent effort to chemically lobotomize the truth about
9/11 and Iraqi Pre-War Intelligence.
Critically, because my legal case was controlled by civilian Courts,
my Defense had a forum to fight back. The Judge was an independent
arbiter. And that made all the difference. If this law on military
detentions had been active, my situation would have been hopeless. The
Patriot Act was bad enough. Mercifully, Chief Justice Michael B. Mukasey
is a preeminent legal scholar who recognized the greater impact of my
case. Even so, he faced a terrible choice —declaring me "incompetent to
stand trial," so my case could be killed—or creating dangerous legal
precedents tied to secret charges, secret evidence, secret grand jury
testimony and indefinite detention—from the Patriot Act's arsenal of
weapons against truth tellers—that would impact all defendants in the
U.S. Courts.
It was a hideous choice—The judicial farce was more ugly because it
stamped me a "religious maniac" for believing in God—a ludicrous
argument. It lined up beautifully, however, with Congress' desire to
bastardize the "incompetence" of Assets engaged in Pre-War Intelligence.
Anything to escape responsibility for their own poor decision making.
To this day, it scorches my heart with rage and betrayal. It was unforgivable on so many levels.
And it had nothing to do with fighting terrorism. This was about
fighting truth—and protecting powerful leaders in Washington determined
to glorify themselves with phony patriotism and media fireworks in the
War on Terrorism—a fantasy if there was one.
,"
which describes her work as an Asset covering Iraq and Libya, and her
arrest on the Patriot Act shortly after requesting to testify before
Congress about the CIA's advance warnings about 9/11 and a peace option
in Iraq. | Audio interview | Book review
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