US embassy close to admitting Syria rendition flight

The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria.

Although Mr Tuttle, a Beverly Hills car dealer and major donor to George Bush's re-election campaign, has been ambassador in London only since the summer, he is proving to be accident-prone. Last month he vigorously denied British media reports that American forces used white phosphorus as a weapon in Iraq, only to be undercut by an admission from the Pentagon the next day.

Maher Arar, a Canadian software engineer of Syrian descent, says he was arrested in New York in 2002 and transferred to Jordan, then to Syria, where he said he was tortured. The US use of Syria for rendition sits uneasily with Washington's portrayal of the country as a pariah state. The Guardian has reported the CIA used British airports to refuel for rendition flights, which would contravene British law.

Asked if he knew whether the US had sought permission from Britain, Mr Tuttle said Ms Rice had maintained that rendition would respect each country's sovereignty. His reply would seem to imply the US had sought permission, possibly leaving the British government open to challenge.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1673958,00.html?gusrc=rss

BULLSHIT.

Read the story incorrectly.

Nevermind.

If the regime doesn't think the people it is sending to Syria are terrorists,
then why "render" them at all?

If they DO think they are terrorists, then why would they send them to Syria --
a country they have been accusing of sponsoring terrorism?

when they say we have to fight those Iraqis over there so we don't have to fight them here. You just know those Iraqis were planning on coming over here to get us. :silly:

Just a guess, but hey, it makes sense.

Just a guess.

The US ambassador in London has been forced into an embarrassing retreat after his embassy clarified comments he made denying that the United States was involved in removing terrorist suspects to Syria. Robert Tuttle told Radio 4's Today programme last Thursday that there was no evidence that US forces had sent suspected terrorists for questioning in Syria, a practice known as "extraordinary rendition".

The US embassy issued a statement yesterday acknowledging that there had been claims that a suspect arrested in New York had been sent by the CIA for torture in Syria. It is the second time in recent weeks that Mr Tuttle has had to correct misleading statements about the actions of US forces, and provoked a fresh outcry from Labour MPs over the practice of extraordinary rendition. Andrew Mackinlay, a senior Labour member of the foreign affairs committee investigating the use of UK airports for rendition by the CIA, said: "It is troubling that they are contradicting their own assurances. We have no confidence in the denials that they have issued. Increasingly, a number of us ... don't believe what the US administration states any more. Nobody believes that this is not going on."

The US ambassador provoked the row after he said on the Today programme that he did not think there was any evidence of renditions of suspects for questioning to Syria. Mr Tuttle said: "I don't think there is any evidence that there have been any renditions carried out in the country of Syria ... I think we have to take what the Secretary says at face value ... she has said we do not authorise, condone torture in any way, shape or form." Yesterday the embassy moved to correct his statement. A statement, read out on Radio 4, quoted an embassy spokeswoman as saying: "... the ambassador recognised that there had been a media report of a rendition to Syria but reiterated that the United States is not in a position to comment on specific allegations of intelligence activities that appear in the press."

Their man in London...

Robert "Bob" Holmes Tuttle, Republican fundraiser and Beverley Hills car-dealer, was sworn in as Ambassador to the Court of St James on 14 July, 2005. Tuttle's appointment came after nearly a year without a US ambassador, which sparked controversy over how seriously the US treats the position. Educated at Stanford University and the University of Southern California, where he gained an MBA, Tuttle is known with his wife, Maria Hummer, as a prominent sponsor and collector of the arts. Co-managing partner of Tuttle-Click Automotive Group, Robert Tuttle is a close friend of President Bush and his father. Tuttle's political career began in 1982 when he joined the White House staff as assistant to President Reagan. Reagan appointed Tuttle Director of Presidential Personnel in 1985. Speaking to students in Manchester after Hurricane Katrina, Tuttle criticised the Mayor of New Orleans and rejected claims that the aftermath revealed America's racial problems, saying: "It's not a race issue at all."

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article335226.ece

concerning the ambassadorship to Great Britain.

and then a car dealer/friend of the family appointed as the ambassador to England?! :eyes: No wonder out foreign "policy" is so fucked up--we basically don't have one besides blowing the shit out of peple with laser guided bombs :argh:

LOOK AT WHO ELSE HE PICKED TO STEER THE TITANIC !!!!

· Statement contradicts ambassador's interview
· Correction could leave Britain open to challenge

The US embassy in London was forced to issue a correction yesterday to an interview given by the ambassador, Robert Tuttle, in which he claimed America would not fly suspected terrorists to Syria, which has one of the worst torture records in the Middle East. A statement acknowledged media reports of a suspect taken from the US to Syria.

Torture is banned in the US but the CIA has been engaged in a policy of rendition, flying terrorist suspects to countries in the Middle East and other parts of the world where torture is commonplace.

Although Mr Tuttle, a Beverly Hills car dealer and major donor to George Bush's re-election campaign, has been ambassador in London only since the summer, he is proving to be accident-prone. Last month he vigorously denied British media reports that American forces used white phosphorus as a weapon in Iraq, only to be undercut by an admission from the Pentagon the next day.

Mr Tuttle gave an interview to the BBC Today programme on Thursday for broadcast yesterday morning. On Friday, the US embassy returned to the BBC with a lengthy statement of clarification, which was also broadcast yesterday at the end of the interview.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1673958,00.html

members/cronies/cult members. Karen Hughes, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Tuttle - all buffoons, buffoons who get innocent people killed & tortured.

Of course, Shrub is the ultimate buffoon.

Bush's envoy sparks another diplomatic incident over war claims

By Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor
Published: 27 December 2005

The US ambassador in London has been forced into an embarrassing retreat after his embassy clarified comments he made denying that the United States was involved in removing terrorist suspects to Syria.

Robert Tuttle told Radio 4's Today programme last Thursday that there was no evidence that US forces had sent suspected terrorists for questioning in Syria, a practice known as "extraordinary rendition".

The US embassy issued a statement yesterday acknowledging that there had been claims that a suspect arrested in New York had been sent by the CIA for torture in Syria.

It is the second time in recent weeks that Mr Tuttle has had to correct misleading statements about the actions of US forces, and provoked a fresh outcry from Labour MPs over the practice of extraordinary rendition.

Andrew Mackinlay, a senior Labour member of the foreign affairs committee investigating the use of UK airports for rendition by the CIA, said: "It is troubling that they are contradicting their own assurances. We have no confidence in the denials that they have issued. Increasingly, a number of us ... don't believe what the US administration states any more. Nobody believes that this is not going on."

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article335226.ece

with on of our biggest and most important allies. You're doin' a heck of a job Tuttle.

And a big donor to boot! Ambassadorships for a price!

A public service photoshop by Hyernel

On the one hand, we agressively pursue the Syrians. Our Ambassador to the UN calls Syria a "rogue state," and there are whispers of "regime change," because we suspect they support terrorism.

BUT, on the other hand, we send terrorism suspects to Syria to be tortured?????

how else can you explain demonizing Syria while at the same time sending people there to be tortured.

Our foreign policy is completely incoherent. I know Bush is goofy, but aren't there ANY responsible adults in this administration???

Look at all the things we accept today: widespread surveillance of Americans, concentration camps, torture, wars of aggression, infringement of civil liberties, etc. Because we did not fight the GOP when they first got started with PATRIOT, we allowed them to grab more power for themselves.

The acceptance of surveillance part at least. I am amazed at how cavalier an attitude many people have to even the idea of privacy concerns. There just seems to be this obliviousness now to this right that once was considered inviolate. I really do think it started way before Bush and the Patriot Act or 9/11. Somewhere back there the idea of "rights" went more or less the same way as the word "liberal" did. It's partly because of these attitudes that surveillance issues can't be dealt with effectively, imho. Was it back in the mid-eighties that this started, maybe? I'm not sure when, but I am sure I don't like it.

But those other things you mention; I don't know that we do accept them. The Patriot Act was passed at a time when many were genuinely afraid as a result of 9/11, but we seem to have recovered from that for the most part now, thank god. The population seems to have turned pretty significantly away from Bush, if the polls can be trusted, and the reasons have to do with his abuse of our rights, the war and his lies. So the tide is turning away from Bush and his cronies.

But why we elected him in the first place, now there's the true mystery!

(And yes, I agree about the 2000 election, but even with all the pro-Bush cheating, I still don't see how he even came close! I find half the population of my country utterly baffling! LOL)

The GOP Contaminates the public fora with their scurrilous garbage ideas, and for too long, the Democrats let them get away with it.

mentioned how "cooperative" Syria was being with the US on the "war on terror." The US has previously copped to it but I guess a Beverly Hills car dealer who also just happens to be US Ambassador to the UK can't be expected to know that. Moron.

Some info on the case from the Congressional Record in 2004: http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s021004.html