kill him and get it over with already

Why does the NYTimes hate our freedom?

Oh wait, he's an American citizen who was held without charges or access to legal counsel for almost two years. Oh wait, he's an American citizen who was tortured and drugged by the American government. Oh wait, he's too fucked in the head now to stand trial.

Imagine being stuck in a cell for nearly two years without any light, with a steel platform for a bed, and under constant surveillance. The only time you are taken out your eyes and ears are covered so you can't see or hear a thing. You are only taken out to visit medical personnel or to be tortured (and if the claims of being drugged are true, perhaps the torturers and the medical personnel are the same people). You have never been convicted of a crime.

Is it any wonder Padilla is so fucked up now that he isn't even sure if his lawyers are actually lawyers and not a further part of the interrogation? A few days of treatment like that and most people would snap.