The reason this case is the first against so high an American official to have survived so far is that the two plaintiffs are American citizens. In his 39-page March 5 ruling, Judge Andersen quoted from Justice Sandra O'Connor's decision for the Supreme Court in the 2004 Hamdi v. Rumsfeld case: "We have long since made clear that a state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of American citizens."
But what about the great number of non-Americans who have been subject to the U.S. torture policy?
But what about the great number of non-Americans who have been subject to the U.S. torture policy?
