Atrios nails it

Sez Atrios:

On The Side Of Torturers

Which, if you think about it, makes perfect sense.

Congress has reached a compromise with the White House over a defense authorization bill provision that had drawn complaints from the Iraqi government.

Those complaints prompted President Bush to veto the defense bill last month. He complained that a provision in the bill that allowed victims of terrorism to be awarded compensation from frozen foreign assets of state sponsors of terror could have crippled the fledgling Iraqi government with billions of dollars in liability.

Under the compromise, Iraq is excluded from the provision, but other state sponsors of terrorism, such as Iran and Syria, could see frozen assets used as compensation. The compromise is likely to leave American victims taken hostage and tortured by Saddam Hussein’s regime during the first Gulf War without recourse in U.S. federal court.

Yes, when you think about it, it is quite obvious why this should be: After all, back when Saddam was gassing Kurds and Iranians, attacking other countries, and running the original Hotel Abu Ghraib, he was our boy!!! Some clever defence attorney might seek to add in the U.S. gummint in impleader.