2.09.2006

Sisters of Terror

Benedictine nuns at the Holy Name Monastery have reason to believe the government thinks they're in cahoots with al-Qaeda: in November, their funds were frozen, and the Patriot Act, they were told, was to blame. One 80-year old nun who was a signatory to the bank account didn't have an ID or social security number on file, triggering a provision of the act. Before everything was sorted out, they racked up around $400 in bounced-check fees.

"[I]f it happened to us, it can happen to anybody," said Sister Jean Abbott. "I think people need to know that nobody is safe from, in some cases, really ridiculous scrutiny."

Who we've got at Gitmo: A new statistical report of detainees at Guantanamo shows that 55% of detainees aren't accused of any hostile act against the US, only 8% are al-Qaeda fighters, and 95% weren't captured by US troops but were turned over by Pakistani and Northern Alliance forces.

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