Almost But Not Quite

Secretary of State Rice admits that the United States screwed up on the Maher Arar case, the Canadian engineer who was seized in New York five years ago and sent to Syria where he was tortured.

Rice, speaking at a U.S. congressional hearing, said the United States has told Canada "that we will try to do better in the future."

"We do not think that this case was handled as it should have been. We do absolutely not wish to transfer anyone to any place in which they might be tortured," she said.

When asked whether the United States relied on diplomatic assurances from Syria that the engineer, Maher Arar, would not be tortured, Rice said she would respond later because her memory of certain details "has faded a bit."

Talk is cheap, Madame Secretary; what are we going to do to make amends? After all, the Canadian government has apologized for their role in the incident and agreed to pay him $10 million for his trouble.

Apparently, Ms. Rice was speaking only for herself:

The Bush administration has not apologized. Arar's name remains on watch lists that forbid his entry into the United States.

He's just another one of the over 755,000 people on the watch list.

Cross-posted from Bark Bark Woof Woof.