Not So Secret Agents Spill The Beans on Rendition
While the Council of Europe's investigation into Extraordinary Rendition and CIA 'black sites' didn't get much in the way of co-operation from the British or other European Governments, the investigators have found that a few CIA officers have been more helpful and less evasive than, say, Buff Hoon. It seems that some of these intelligence officers have been spilling the beans.
American intelligence officials who were deeply opposed to the secret transfer of terror suspects to interrogation centres across Europe cooperated with an investigation into the CIA's undisclosed network of jails, it was claimed today.
Dick Marty, the Swiss senator who produced the Council of Europe's report on the hidden transport and detention of suspects, today told a committee in the European parliament that he had received information about the secret programme from dissident officers within the upper reaches of the CIA.
He said the officers were disturbed that the programme, known as renditions, led to the torture and mistreatment of detainees.
"Many leading figures in the CIA did not accept these methods at all," Mr Marty told a committee meeting today. He said senior agency officials had agreed to help his investigation in return for anonymity.
"People in the CIA felt these things were not consonant with the sort of intelligence work they normally do," he said.
'Not consonant', eh? Well,
'Not consonant', eh? Well, apart from wondering what the hell that phrase might actually mean in plain English, why do these officers believe that they should now speak out? Have things within the CIA changed so dramatically? After all, when one examines the activities of the Agency virtually since its inception there has always been a strong element of illegality in its actions both inside and outside the United States.
The Agency has never hesitated to use proxy killers and torturers where - in its opinion - the end justified the means. This has become a central part of its culture and traditions. It may be, of course, that some of these officers are merely ensuring their continued employment in the light of the political changes in Washington. After all, far better not to be associated with the failures of the former regime. Inevitably there will be the witch-hunt. Indeed it has already started.
But I do hope that Marty has not been so naive as to accept everything he is told without reservation. As with all spooks one must examine both what they say and, more importantly, why they say it.
Hoon is simply not worth considering.
Intelligence services on
Intelligence services on both sides of the Atlantic, just like the larger socieities they live in, are split down the middle between neo-cons and pragmatists. A lot of present and ex- intelligence officers are very angry indeed at the way their agencies have been smashed in the neo-cons desire to hear only intelligence which is favourable to their political and military objectives.
These leaks don't surprise me at all. There've already been quite a few, and I suspect there are going to be a lot more not only from the pragmatists but also, as Chuck Unsworth notes, the middle of the roaders who will increasingly realize which side their bread is buttered on.
 Chuck Unsworth = Voice of
Chuck Unsworth = Voice of America? I'm getting suspicious.....
Subtracting the spin from
Subtracting the spin from this comment we're left with:
"Intelligent people in the CIA demand plausible deniablity, which is impossible to maintain when you're shifting bodies through European airports, en route to torture chambers in the Middle East or Central Asia. Unfortunately the fanatical neo-cons couldn't give a flying fuck about public opinion or the rule of law, which exposes the rest of us to a degree of risk. In the good old days we organised vast torture operations via our foreign proxies, like General Pinochet. In the current climate relying on fascist mass murderers is regarded as a sign of liberal defeatism."
That's about it.