Cyrus Kar: Not such a happy American anymore?

Frankly, when I read this BBC report from earlier this month, I was reminded of just how twisted this whole story was.

Who is Cyrus Kar, you ask?

Some time back, you may recall a story about five Americans who were arrested in Iraq on suspicion of working with the insurgents. One of them was 44 year old Mr. Kar. He's an Iranian born American who was picked up in a taxi with a bag of washing machine timers. (The timers can be used to make improvised bombs.) Open and shut case, huh? Not so fast, Sparky.

Kar hardly fits the profile of the typical "Islamo-fascists" which the right wingnuts love to get up in arms about. He was brought to the United States at a very early age and grew up in a fashion that doesn't tend to breed radical Islamic dissidents.

Mr Kar is described as a patriotic American who believed in spreading democracy around the world.

A former Navy Seal raised in the western US, he had gone to Iraq to film part of a documentary about an enlightened ancient Persian king.

Indeed, everything that is known of Mr Kar's past seems to suggest he would be the last person to support Iraq's insurgency.

He was brought to the US from Iran as a child, and became thoroughly immersed in American culture.

He served in the Navy for several years, and also studied business, marketing and computing. He worked for a decade at California's Silicon Valley.

Fellow film-maker Philippe Diaz described him as more right-wing than many of his colleagues, saying he "believed in everything which is American."

To top it off, it was reported nearly immediately that it appeared that the timers belonged to the cab driver, not Mr. Kar. In fact, his family had been contacted on that matter by officials.

But the conduct of the case has left Mr Kar's relatives confused. Weeks ago, they said, an FBI agent told them he had passed a polygraph test and was cleared of any charges.

And yet, he was held without anything resembling due process from May 17 until July 10th, when he was finally released after an outcry in the global press. Had it not been for international media attention, he would likely still be sitting there today, with no hope of being given a normal trial. Are our war administrators in Iraq so afraid of ever admitting they made a mistake that they were willing to simply shovel this guy in with the rest of the Gitmo detainees to keep things quiet?

This is another case which should remind us of why we need to carefully examine things like the Patriot act. It is far too easy for an overzealous government agency to get completely out of control. Civil liberties, once surrendered, are not quickly regained. Cyrus Kar might not be feeling like such a patriotic American these days. And who could blame him?