Given what Barack Obama’s been going through with his tenuous ties to a 1960s domestic terrorist, Fort Worth Weekly might be in for a similar fate in these troubled times. A Pakistani woman, who shot at some American soldiers in Iraq (and missed) who were trying to question her about her suspected ties to al Qaeda, is now residing at the Federal Medical Center Carswell – and her lawyers are quoting the Weekly in an attempt to get her moved.
Aafia Siddiqui, who is awaiting trial, was sent to Carswell to recover from wounds she received when the soldiers shot back. Her lawyer argued passionately that she should be sent anywhere else, citing the Weekly’s long-running series on the prison hospital’s alarmingly poor medical care. New York attorney Elizabeth Fink is representing Siddiqui, the 36-year-old niece-in-law of the guy known as the architect of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Fink wrote that this paper’s stories show that Carswell can be a death sentence for women sent there.
Static has no quarrel with lawyers citing this rag’s investigative reports on the medical misconduct that’s been a staple at Carswell for a decade. But couldn’t Fink at least get the reporter’s name right? She’s Betty Brink, not Berry Brink – although that does have a nice ring and could provide some cover if she ever wants to run for president.
