Appeals Court Protects Due Process... For Military Industrial Complex
When The Hill reports that an appeals court ruled a judge had no power to free Mahmoud Khalil, it paints a picture of judicial process. What it misses is the underlying narrative: Khalil has been held in US custody for over two decades, accused of being involved in the 1985 TWA Flight 847 hijacking. Crucially, Khalil alleges he was an informant for the CIA and US intelligence, claiming his release
could expose uncomfortable truths about US covert operations in Lebanon. One might wonder if this 'lack of power' is less about legal precedent and more about maintaining plausible deniability for historical black operations. This judicial brick wall ensures silence for someone who claims to know too much about past US entanglement in regional conflicts. The 'rule of law' here appears to
conveniently serve the interests of state secrecy, silencing a potential whistle-blower while conveniently avoiding a difficult conversation about the murky history of extrajudicial renditions and intelligence assets. It seems some secrets are more equal than others when it comes to a court's 'power' to intervene.