OpEd: Prison secrets / Rice's assurances to U.S. allies are not credible

[maddezmom]

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Whatever is going on? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting America's European allies to deliver the message that the United States does not practice and, in fact, is opposed to, torture.

The other astonishing part is that her visit this week is in response to the allies' fury and indignation that the CIA has carried out flights to their countries to transport prisoners to secret prisons where torture may have been used. That is, torture that presumably cannot be carried out in the United States without running so far afoul of the law that even this administration won't undertake it.

Yesterday in Ukraine she gave her most specific policy clarification yet, saying no U.S. personnel may use cruel or degrading practices at home or abroad.

So what is going on? First of all, the CIA has been carrying out such flights and other activities in cooperation with sister intelligence services across the globe ever since there has been such a thing as the CIA. The agency has worked for years in liaison relationships with intelligence services of other countries, some of them countries whose governments were not even friendly with the United States.

more:http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05342/618850.stm

[RagingInMiami]

1. This is huge

This was written by the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, one of the oldest newspapers in this country, which has a daily circulation of almost 250,000. This is not just some syndicated columnist. The paper is taking an actual stance.

They're basically calling the Bush administration war criminals. And Pittsburgh is not especially known as a liberal haven.

Here's to the Post-Gazette.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: