In Surprise Move, Obama Extradites Al-Jazeera Journalist To Egypt to Serve Prison Sentence

In a move that took political and legal observers by surprise, President Barack Obama today ordered the detention and extradition of al-Jazeera reporter Peter Greste to Egypt, where he was convicted and sentenced to three years for terrorism offenses and spreading “false news.”

The request to extradite Greste was made personally by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Mr. Obama on the sidelines of a UN General Assembly meeting being attended by foreign leaders.

Aides to President Obama said that the President was repaying a favor from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose security forces detained and broke the arm of activist Medea Benjamin in a Cairo airport several years ago at Mr. Obama's request. President Obama was said to be angered by an incident in which Ms. Benjamin interrupted a speech by the President with shouted questions criticizing various policies of his administration.

A spokesperson for the Committee to Protect Journalists said the news was “stunning,” and seemed to be at odds with the President's regular invocations of the need to respect press freedom. Others, however, said that given the Administration's record of surveillance of members of the press and prosecutions of whistleblowers, the move could be viewed as a logical progression in the Administration's relations with the media, which at times have been characterized by a degree of friction.

Asked by a reporter why the U.S. was acceding to the Egyptian deportation request, President Obama responded, “You know, there's a saying, One Hand Washes The Other. Or as I learned in law school, You Scratch My Back And I'll Scratch Yours. Harboring fugitive criminals- That's Not Who We Are!^TM And being ingrates isn't Who We Are^TM either!”

Various press freedom and human rights organizations have been critical of the Egyptian prosecution of Mr. Greste and two other al-Jazeera journalists, both of whom were imprisoned but since pardoned, unlike Mr. Greste.

Mr. Greste, an Australian national who has already been taken into custody, could not be reached for comment.

An Australian official, asked for comment, stated that “Australia respects the laws of friendly nations, and advises Australian citizens abroad to observe the laws of the countries in which they are guests.”

Another Australian official, speaking anonymously, added, “Greste made a big stink about our offshore asylum detention centers, demanding we allow reporters in and 'end the secrecy.' Listen; If you kick us in the shins, don't come whining to us when you're in a pickle and expect us to bail you out, Mate!”

Nah, that didn't really happen. It's a satire. But some of it is true. Greste really was convicted and sentenced, and currently faces arrest if he returns to Egypt. He could also be extradited from any African Union nation, all of which have extradition agreements with Egypt.

Australia really does bar reporters from the offshore detention camps. Greste really did call for an end to secrecy. And several Australian regimes have openly expressed their hostility and contempt towards their citizen Julian Assange, who is currently trapped in the Ecuadorean embassy in London and under secret indictment by the U.S. Oh, and when an Australian TV crew was murdered by the Indonesian army during their initial invasion of East Timor, the Australian government went along with the cover-up. So this little fantasy is hardly far-fetched.

And while Obama issued a pro forma call on Egypt about press freedoms, he says lots of things he doesn't mean. He gave a nice speech about climate change and how “we” had to do something about it, while in Alaska, on the occasion of granting Shell Oil drilling permits in the Arctic. (As I've mentioned before, Obama's deceits, double-crosses, and con games are a constant, and go back at least as far as his first presidential campaign in 2008, when he vowed to filibuster- filibuster- the telecom immunity bill that would bar anyone from suing AT&T, which illegally allowed the NSA to tape their trunk lines to steal every phone call and email passing through their system- and then he voted FOR the evil law.)

By the way, Obama really did have el-Sisi's goons break Medea Benjamin's arm. See “Obama Has Egyptian Military Regime Break American Peace Activist's Arm,” March 8, 2014, and “Medea Benjamin’s Arm “Wakes Me Up Every Single Night in Pain,” July 2, 2014. 

"Hey, what are friends for?"