hmmm....what do i think about this?

the treasury is gunning for the americans who went to iraq as "human shields" this spring, threatening them with fines ostensibly for the mere fact of travel to iraq and the financial transactions that occurred while they were there. can this be legit? as one law professor points out, there were surely other americans traveling in iraq at the time. why weren't they prosecuted as well?

on the other hand, there's an argument to be made that the law's the law--and, furthermore, that the law in question predates the anti-war effort. basically, there's not a lot of decent information out there (it's a slow day at work; i looked).

still, the particular way that the treasury department spokesperson in the article bristles at the suggestion of political motivation ("unlike in saddam hussein's iraq..." etc, etc.) makes me vastly more suspicious that political motivation was exactly what happened.