Justice for Sale.

Yet another example of American "exceptionalism", and just one more reason the U.S. should cut our losses, and exit Afghanistan/Pakistan as soon as possible. The Secretary of State brokering for an alleged killer, when we've already been caught in our own lies? (I need a shower just reading this; how will Ms. Hillary scrub herself clean?)

Not proud to be an American today, upon reading this. Not worth the money expended to snuff out lives, and later lie about it. Not wanting to have this man returned to my American neighborhood* -- how 'bout you?

By CARLOTTA GALL
LAHORE, Pakistan — An American working as a contractor for the C.I.A. who had been jailed for the killing of two Pakistanis on a crowded Lahore street was freed on Wednesday and immediately flown out of the country, removing a major irritant in relations between the United States and Pakistan.

The case of Raymond A. Davis, 36, who shot dead two Pakistanis who he said tried to rob him on a motorbike in broad daylight, ignited a furor here and became of focal point of resentment among Pakistanis who say the growing American security contingent here — some of them covert operatives — roam the country with relative impunity.

At the time of his arrest, Pakistani police said Mr. Davis was carrying a Glock handgun, a flashlight that attached to a headband and a pocket telescope. American officials initially refused to specify what kind of work Mr. Davis was involved in.

After a British newspaper reported his ties to the C.I.A., however, they confirmed that Mr. Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier, was part of a covert, C.I.A.-led team that collected intelligence and conducted surveillance on militant groups deep inside the country.

All along, American officials insisted that Mr. Davis had diplomatic immunity and should turned over to the embassy and freed. Pakistani officials said the case should work its way through the country’s notoriously unpredictable courts.

On Wednesday, after meeting with the American officials for more than six hours at the jail where Mr. Davis was held, the families of the victims dropped the prosecution in return for compensation, which Pakistani officials and lawyers for the families said amounted to about $2.3 million.

Shortly after his release, Mr. Davis was flown to Kabul, Afghanistan, where he was to undergo a medical examination and be interviewed by American officials.

In remarks to reporters in Cairo, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton thanked Pakistani officials and the families of the two men for agreeing to release Mr. Davis. “We appreciate the actions they took that enabled Mr. Davis to leave Pakistan and head back home,” she said.

Asked about reports of compensation, she replied, “The United States did not pay any compensation.” Asked if someone else paid compensation at the United States request, she repeated that and said you should ask the families and the Pakistani government.
...
At the same time, the lawyer who had been representing the families until then, Asad Manzoor Butt, could no longer reach the families by phone. When he arrived with a colleague to attend the hearing at the jail Wednesday morning, he said, he was held in a room for four hours and not permitted to enter the courtroom, or meet with his clients.

Meanwhile, Mr. Irshad arrived from Islamabad just in time, as the court judge was beginning proceedings to indict Mr. Davis, and presented the judge with a signed agreement under which both families accepted the payment of what is known here as “blood money” and pardoned Mr. Davis. Even his defense counsel, Zahid Hussein Bukhari, was not expecting it. “It was a surprise for me,” Mr. Bukhari said later.

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*I just hope he's made enough of a fortune "soldiering" over there, that he doesn't have to apply for a U.S. cop job here at home.