Rule Change Lets C.I.A. Freely Send Suspects Abroad to Jails -NYT

The Bush administration's secret program to transfer suspected terrorists to foreign countries for interrogation has been carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency under broad authority that has allowed it to act without case-by-case approval from the White House or the State or Justice Departments, according to current and former government officials.

The unusually expansive authority for the C.I.A. to operate independently was provided by the White House under a still-classified directive signed by President Bush within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the officials said.

The process, known as rendition, has been central in the government's efforts to disrupt terrorism, but has been bitterly criticized by human rights groups on grounds that the practice has violated the Bush administration's public pledge to provide safeguards against torture.

In providing a detailed description of the program, a senior United States official said that it had been aimed only at those suspected of knowing about terrorist operations, and emphasized that the C.I.A. had gone to great lengths to ensure that they were detained under humane conditions and not tortured.

http://nytimes.com/2005/03/06/politics/06intel.html?hp&ex=1110085200&en=e65e7b0871b941a2&ei=5094&partner=homepage

"...... a senior United States official said that it had been aimed only at those suspected of knowing about terrorist operations, and emphasized that the C.I.A. had gone to great lengths to ensure that they were detained under humane conditions and not tortured."

It's the Amerikan way. Spreading Freedom.

of sending them outside of the U.S., if the C.I.A. went to great lengths to ensure they were detained under humane conditions and not tortured? We couldn't question them here?

These folks not only have no credibility left, they had none to begin with. We have become a nation of barbarians.

...to avoid that pesky constitution is the antithesis of everything I held up my arm and swore an oath to when I joined the military.

A different America, surely.

.
.
.

Why send detainees anywhere?

well

they could send them up HERE

instead of places known for torture . . .

but the sheeples will not use an active brain cell to figure out the difference

(DO sheeples have "active" brain cells? :shrug:)

:yourock:

just like in the Iran-Contra debacle.

Secret PResident - a front man and a real one.

Secret declarations.

Secret records.

Secret commands.

Secret justice.

Do we have harry potter, george orwell, rasputin, lenin, hitler, mussolini, khan, the spirit of pinochet, a haitian hatchet man, or the big bad wolf guiding their secret sub-government -

highlighting the lies without seeming to challenge a word uttered by senior United States sources.

"In providing a detailed description of the program, a senior United States official said that it had been aimed only at those suspected of knowing about terrorist operations, and emphasized that the C.I.A. had gone to great lengths to ensure that they were detained under humane conditions and not tortured."

Indeed, pursuant to Bush's order, the CIA goes to "great lengths" to ensure that detainees are "not torture". They secretly fly Gulfstreams eight thousand miles so that prisoners can enjoy complete privacy and the most "humane conditions" in the world.

...over to Egypt or Jordan for educational purposes without us knowing about it. The chemical lights inserted up their asses probably made them see the light. Whatever it was it sure worked. Lieberman is a bigger Republican than Boosh these days.

Don

All involved have taken an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Can you believe it? It's only aimed at suspects! Well if they ever found even one person guilty of terrorism, torturing them would still be illegal.

snip>
The official declined to be named but agreed to discuss the program to rebut the assertions that the United States used the program to secretly send people to other countries for the purpose of torture. The transfers were portrayed as an alternative to what American officials have said is the costly, manpower-intensive process of housing them in the United States or in American-run facilities in other countries.

WASHINGTON, March 5 - The Bush administration's secret program to transfer suspected terrorists to foreign countries for interrogation has been carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency under broad authority that has allowed it to act without case-by-case approval from the White House or the State or Justice Departments, according to current and former government officials.

The unusually expansive authority for the C.I.A. to operate independently was provided by the White House under a still-classified directive signed by President Bush within days of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the officials said.

The process, known as rendition, has been central in the government's efforts to disrupt terrorism, but has been bitterly criticized by human rights groups on grounds that the practice has violated the Bush administration's public pledge to provide safeguards against torture.

In providing a detailed description of the program, a senior United States official said that it had been aimed only at those suspected of knowing about terrorist operations, and emphasized that the C.I.A. had gone to great lengths to ensure that they were detained under humane conditions and not tortured.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/06/politics/06intel.html?pagewanted=all&position=

Both wanted to eliminate the Geneva conventions. Hitler, who held absolute power actually was talked out of this by his staff, Himmler, Goebbels etc. And Bush? Hmmmm

Just like Abu Ghraib, huh? :eyes:

And so many Americans wonder why the world hates us.

and was routinely beaten and tortured.

Welcome to Bush Amerika! Enjoy your stay...remember, free speech is now illegal.

Sat Mar 5, 2005 09:03 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration gave the CIA extensive authority to send terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation just days after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, The New York Times reported in Sunday editions.

Citing current and former government officials, the newspaper reported President Bush signed a still-classified directive that gave the CIA a broad power to operate without case-by-case approval from the White House in the transfer of suspects -- a process known as rendition.

The rendition program has been under scrutiny in recent weeks after several former detainees have complained of inhumane treatment and human rights groups have complained the operations violated American standards condemning torture.

While renditions were carried out before the Sept. 11 attacks, since then the CIA has flown 100 to 150 suspects to countries including Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan, former government officials told the Times.

One current senior U.S. official told the newspaper the program had been aimed only at those suspected of knowledge about terrorism operations and were transferred with promises they would not be tortured.

"We get assurances; we check on those assurances, and we double check on these assurances to make sure that people are being handled properly in respect to human rights," the official was quoted as saying.

He did not dispute there had been mistreatment on some occasions but said no one had died.

A half a dozen current and former officials told the New York Times the Bush administration may have turned a blind eye to torture.

"I really wonder what they are doing, and I am no longer sure what I believe," one former senior government official was quoted as saying.

The Bush administration has publicly said the United States did not hand over people to be tortured, the newspaper reported.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7816923&src=rss/domesticNews>

:kick:

First they ship them out for torture...then we torture...slippery slope...

all the while a few, even here on DU, will argue that everything we do is just an ACCIDENT :crazy:

terminal naivete

peace

The Bush Junta were shocked.... at the over 2,000 photos of torture. Were it not for those not much would have been heard about their widespread policies of Torture.

We are going to have to start always putting "Department of Justice" in Quotes.:evilfrown:

:hi:

some folks really have a lOT of NERVE defending our actions over there, even to this very day... it makes me sick.

but we all know that they post among us, thats what they get paid for.

peace

I'm sure the papers won't bump their Sunday specials about Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson.

it was a masterful, powerful move to take charge when we had suffered the most devastating event in world history.

Thank you New York Times for showing our "Commander-in-Thief" willing to risk everything to prevent another terrorist attack.

The Freepers and NeoCons are proven correct once again. This guy ain't no weenie like that Clintoon fellow. This guy is a true LEADER...and he's kept us safe ever since. After all what's giving up a few rights for them terrorists when we can be safe with a real leader in charge.

That's what most folks will think about this...sadly.. Only some of us will be "outraged." And we don't count out there. :-(

"I really wonder what they are doing, and I am no longer sure what I believe," one former senior government official was quoted as saying.

This sounds so much like Powell prevaricating again. And if it is him, he's lying like a rug. The Cabal knew about the torture and about the renditions. They KNEW.

And they always say this: "the program had been aimed only at those suspected of knowledge about terrorism operations . . " Bullsh&t. That's what they said about the roundups after 9/11, what they said about those goat herders they have in Gitmo and in Abu Graib.

Remember Rumsfeld wringing his hands when the torture scandal broke --- over DIGITAL CAMERAS.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration gave the CIA extensive authority to send terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said President Bush signed a still-classified directive that gave the CIA broad power to operate without case-by-case approval from the White House in the transfer of suspects -- a process known as rendition.

The CIA declined to comment on the report, and the White House would not confirm the directive.

But White House counselor Dan Bartlett defended the administration's policies, saying it was important after the Sept. 11 attacks to take a "hard look at our entire apparatus -- militarily, intelligence, diplomatic -- to see how we were going to fight and win the war on terror."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=1&u=/nm/security_cia_dc

aern't you proud to be an AmeriKan?!? :puke:

By Tom Allard, Douglas Jehl and David Johnston
March 7, 2005

President George Bush authorised a classified directive that removed crucial oversight of the Central Intelligence Agency's policy of abducting terrorist suspects and sending them to countries known for torturing detainees.

Known as rendition, the policy of transporting prisoners without formal extradition was rapidly expanded after the directive and applied to the Australian Mamdouh Habib, released without charge in January after 40 months in detention. <snip>

The Herald also understands that congressional oversight of rendition cases virtually ceased. <snip>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/After-Saddam/Bush-set-ball-rolling-for-overseas-torture/2005/03/06/1110044260965.html

...in that they can always claim, "I never gave a direct order" to do whatever to anyone. The Nazi hierarchy used the same techniques...

Self Deleted to avoid reading replication.

This thread has been combined with another thread.

Click here to read this message in its new location.

Just now they can do it to us without the worry of a legal battle.

A German national, which CBS identified as Khalid El-Masri, told a reporter he was on vacation in Macedonia when he was arrested by police and held in Macedonia for three weeks and then brought to the airport, beaten by masked men, drugged and put aboard the 737.

The plane left Skopje, Macedonia, and went to Baghdad and then Kabul, with Mr El-Masri saying he awoke in a jail cell where his captors said, "You're in a country without laws and no one knows where you are," CBS News quoted the former detainee as saying. "It was very clear to me that he meant I could stay in my cell for 20 years or be buried somewhere," Mr El-Masri said.

(...)

According to the report, the jet also made 10 trips to Uzbekistan, where former British ambassador Craig Murray said the jet's nominal owner, Premier Executive Transport Services, kept a small staff at the airport in Tashkent.

Murray said Uzbek interrogators use unusually cruel methods, including "techniques of drowning and suffocation, rape ... and also the insertion of limbs in boiling liquid."

(...)

"The CIA definitely knows," he told the program, adding his deputy had confirmed that evidence "probably was obtained under torture but the CIA didn't see that as a problem".

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12466084-38198,00.html

The Bush administration gave the CIA extensive authority to send terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said U.S. President George W. Bush signed a still-classified directive that gave the CIA broad power to operate without case-by-case approval from the White House in the transfer of suspects -- a process known as rendition.

The CIA declined to comment on the report, and the White House would not confirm the directive.

But White House counselor Dan Bartlett defended the administration's policies, saying it was important after the Sept. 11 attacks to take a "hard look at our entire apparatus -- militarily, intelligence, diplomatic -- to see how we were going to fight and win the war on terror."

"Part of this is to make sure that we can deal with known terrorists, who may have information about live operations, and it's critical that we get -- (are) able to detain them and have the information," Bartlett said on CNN's "Late Edition."

link

You'd think conservatives would be going nuts over this expansion of gov't power.

Where are all the paranoid gun nuts that fear the slippery slope of increased gov't power?

I hope this story keeps it's 'legs' and runs right up GWB's trousers.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7819135

(don't have NYT link, yet)

Bush Gave CIA Expansive Interrogation Power -Paper
Sun Mar 6, 2005 07:04 PM ET


NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration gave the CIA extensive authority to send terrorism suspects to foreign countries for interrogation just days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

The newspaper said President Bush signed a still-classified directive that gave the CIA broad power to operate without case-by-case approval from the White House in the transfer of suspects -- a process known as rendition.

- snip -

A separate report by CBS's "60 Minutes" quoted a former Swedish diplomat who said suspects were stripped, shackled and drugged by masked men before being flown to Egypt, where they were subjected to "electric torture."

Michael Scheuer, a former CIA analyst who helped set up the rendition program during the Clinton administration, said officials understood what it meant to send suspects to those countries: "They don't have the same legal system we have. But we know that going into it," he told CBS. "It's finding someone else to do your dirty work."

MORE

On the one hand, the Regime wants us to believe that it had no credible warnings of the 9/11 attacks. On the other hand, it wants us to believe that it suddenly came up with plans to deal with Evil Doers within days of attacks that it "did not know were coming."

Captain, the engines cannae stand the strain!

more terrorist are being produced every day.

It adds up to disappearing Americans as official administration policy. Don't think this only applies to "foreign terrorists", which is reprehensible enough. It applies to us. The time to speak out is not after they have come for you in the night.