When Asking For Directions In America Proves Disastrous
by Benjamin Roberts, 2007

We like to think of this country as a pleasant place where, if we get lost and need directions, our fellow citizen would bring forth his Good Samaritan side, be engaging and helpful, and see us back on the right track. We see it in movies and advertisements all the time. And in our own interactions, we might have seen it on occasion work in this manner. However, do not be fooled into thinking this is the way it works all the time. If you happen to look Middle Eastern you might have a totally different and very disastrous experience. Like the ongoing nightmare Abdul Kewan is experiencing for simply asking for directions in America, this wonderful melting pot of humanity, where a person's rights and freedoms are considered sacred and protected at all costs. At least that is what we are told. Mr. Kewan knows better.

Free Speech TV, FSTV, recently aired a story of the circumstances involving Mr. Abdul Kewan. He is an Egyptian, who for some years now has lived in Southern California. In the San Diego area, to be exact. Mr. Kewan is a house painter and handyman who does excellent work. Because of the quality of his work and his good character he benefits from regular referrals by those pleased with his work and impressed with his character. One day, some months ago, Mr. Kewan was driving on a San Diego highway to an appointment for a painting job to which he had been referred. The directions had been written down for him and the person about to hire him was waiting his arrival. He got lost on the highway and exited to ask directions. The exit he took was the one leading right to the gate of Camp Pendelton, the huge Marine base in San Diego. The guards at the base checked him out, concluded that he was who he said he was, and that there was no reason for alarm or apprehension, and sent him on his way. In fact they assisted him by updating his directions and explaining to him how to get to his appointment. They did one other thing. They forwarded the particulars of the incident over to Homeland Security. That is where Mr. Kewan's nightmare began, as things went to hell in a handbasket. Our crack team of Homeland Security, Justice Department, and Immigration went to work on the case of Mr. Kewan at an American military base. They concluded that this legal resident, an upstanding and highly regarded house painter and handyman, was a threat to our national security. They picked up this man almost close to a year now, and he has been languishing in a California prison ever since.

Prior to his being locked up Mr. Kewan's lawyer, Jonathan Montag had filed documents on his behalf for US citizenship. Mr. Montag is a man who has spent about a decade conducting his business in the arena of Immigration law. He does not effect the pit bull, go-for-the-jugular persona we often see displayed by his cousins in Criminal law. No, the man looks the part of what I imagine an Immigration lawyer to be. He appears to be a thoughtful man who speaks in reasoned measured tones and seems to possess the patience of Job. In his FSTV interview he described patiently, point by point, how his client's application had been approved initially pending a formal hearing to finalize the process.. After the Camp Pendelton event there came a series of delays from the Immigration judges that could not be properly explained. It was requested that Mr. Kewan be released pending review, since he was not a known threat. This was denied. The Immigration judge ruled that Mr. Kewan remain incarcerated because he believed him to be a threat to our national security. This is unexplainable. The FBI investigated Mr. Kewan and found him to be no threat to the United States. Homeland Security has produced no evidence linking him to anything. Camp Pendelton security found him to be no threat. His previous employers have rallied in giving testimonials about his excellent character and high quality of work. The potential employer on the day of the Camp Pendelton incident has confirmed that he was waiting for Mr. Kewan to show up for an appointment for a job contract. I am no Sherlock Holmes, but this last fact qualifies as the equivalent of an alibi to explain why Mr. Kewan ended up accidentally where he was. Alibis are often the linchpin in cases to determine whether someone has committed an unlawful act or not. The lawyer in the case, Mr. Montag, has pointed out with utmost clarity that not a single document has surfaced in the American security apparatus to show that Mr. Kewan is anything other than who he says he is. Yet an Immigration judge, a civilian like you and I, has stated and determined that Mr. Kewan needs to remain incarcerated because he is a threat to our national security. What an effective "war on terror,' we wage. What a joke!

How is this for a real joke? A few days ago a lawyer named Andrew Speaker was found to have a potent TB infection while on a trip overseas. Our potent Homeland Security network coupled with Health and Human Service swung into action in an attempt to locate, detain, and treat him overseas, thereby limiting the spread of the disease. Without much trouble the man was able to evade our keeping-us-safe from-terrorist apparatus and enter the United States by driving across the Canadian border. This incident clearly shows what a joke all this hype of war on terror and keeping us safe really is. Michael Chertoff and George Bush, and all those involved in and constantly assuring us about what a good job they are doing to keep us safe, should be thoroughly embarrassed and wiping egg off their faces as we speak. This incident must have those bent on doing us harm having a hearty laugh at our expense, as they realize that our supposed potent anti-terror security wall is not so potent when it is unable to keep tabs on even a sick regular citizen. And from this we in America should really question our faith in those claiming to keep us safe. We are on the ball incarcerating indefinitely a man like Mr. Abdul Kewan who checks out in all of our security systems as being of no threat to us. However, a man who is a threat, albeit not terror but instead a health hazard, can easily penetrate our system and endanger us medically. Both men are decent and respectable. The only difference is that one is Middle Eastern and the other is Caucasian.

Switch to the news of today. Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney's assistant, has been sentenced for exposing the name of CIA operative, Valerie Plame, to the media in what I will call YellowcakeGate. This is the first time since the Nixon Watergate scandal that a government official in such a high standing has been sentenced to jail time. The sound of the judge's gavel banging has not even had time to stop reverberating yet there are appeal attempts afoot and talk of Bush pardoning the man. Now what Libby engaged in amounts to serious endangerment to the security of this country. He endangered a citizen charged with ensuring our security, and could have cost her her life. He endangered and might well have cost the lives of people outside of this country with whom she was connected, in the nature of her work. What he did seriously impacted the security and safety of all living in America. This amounts to high treason. No small matter. Yet the judicial system is in high gear trying shield this man and save his hide from paying for his actions. What a stark contrast to a lowly but decent and harmless house painter and handyman named Abdul Kewan who languishes in a San Diego area prison simply for asking for directions, and has done nothing to this country other than make it better by his presence. This leads me to ask the question: "Are we in America really witnessing a "war on terror," or is it instead a "reign of terror" being inflicted on us by those we have designated as our protectors, who have become accountable only to themselves?"