Apparently, $300,000 USD.

For those of us who are appalled by some many of the broad-reaching, reactionary measures put into play in this post-9/11 America, the New York Times is reporting a nice little tale of one man, wrongly imprisoned detained for the color of his skin, who has finally received some semblance of justice.

True to form, however, and rejecting even a modicum of accountability: “The government had argued that the lawsuits should be dismissed without testimony because the extraordinary circumstances of the terror attacks justified extraordinary measures to confine noncitizens who fell under suspicion, and because top officials need governmental immunity to combat future threats to national security without fear of being sued.”

“This is a substantial settlement and shows for the first time that the government can be held accountable for the abuses that have occurred in Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo Bay and in prisons right here in the United States,” said one of the lawyers, Alexander A. Reinert of Koob & Magoolaghan.

But then you see, he was like, deported from the country, and lost his wife in the process, but hell, what else is massive, reactionary bureaucracy good for? Mr. Elmaghraby reluctantly decided to settle out of court, citing personal reasons:

“I wish I come to New York, to stay in the court face to face with these people,” he said in imperfect English, adding that he had always expected the courts to uphold his claim. “I lived 13 years in New York, I see a lot of big cases on TV. I think the judges [are] fair.”

I’m simply astonished, given the horrendous way he was allegedly treated by our government, his opinion of this country (or at least the legal process) remains suprisingly optimistic. He sounds like the type of person I’d be happy to have in this country.

At the risk of appearing a little sophmoric, I’d like to direct you to the expert placement of the word “taint,” which is buried deep (no pun intended?) in the last paragraph of the article…