SPIEGEL (english pages): AMERICA'S SECRET WAR - On the Trail of the CIA[/b]

[b]Since Sept. 11, the CIA has played a vital role in the war
on terror. But what role is it? Operating in the
shadows, American secret services have been given
wide-ranging powers by the Bush Administration. And
they include murder, abduction and torture.

"... Former CIA officer Robert Baer, one of the most successful
secret service Middle East experts, described the arrangement
with disarming openness: "There is a rule inside the CIA that if
you want a good interrogation and you want good information
you send the suspect to Jordan, if you want them to be killed
or tortured to death you send them either to Egypt or Syria,
and you never see them again."
...

Even before the spread of the latest CIA scandal, the new use
of power showed itself to be counterproductive in many ways.
Admittedly there has been no major attack on the USA since
September 11 - ten attacks have been prevented all over the
world, Bush boasted in October - but the statements forced
out of prisoners under ill treatment don't help anyone, as they
would never be admissible in an American court of law. "Even
Adolf Eichmann got a trial," warns McCain. Maybe too late:
a fair trial after torture is no longer possible.
...

There can be no doubt that the political damage caused by
this prisoner ill-treatment has long outweighed any possible
use intended by such a policy. The CIA torture scandal is on
the way to becoming a second Abu Ghraib. The torture carried
out in the infamous Iraqi jails has damaged the USA's image
across the world, and destroyed its moral pretence to bring
democracy and freedom to the Middle East.
...

But Vice President Cheney and CIA Director Goss fight, with
rear-cover provided by the White House, to provide the secret
service with an exemption from this ban on torture. It is
possible they are fighting a losing battle.
...

Now respected veterans of the intelligence community are
joining in the debate: Vincent Cannistraro, a former anti-terror
head of the CIA and leader of the working group which
investigated the Lockerbie crash in 1988, doubts how
worthwhile statements made under torture can be. "Detainees
will say virtually anything to end their torment," he says.
Burton Gerber, the former head of the Moscow unit is
convinced that torture "corrupts every society that tolerates
it." Larry Johnson, a former CIA agent and foreign ministry
anti-terror expert says "What real CIA field officers know
firsthand is that it is better to build a relationship of trust ...
than to extract quick confessions through tactics such as
those used by the Nazis and the Soviets." And ex-agent Baer,
whose life was the inspiration for the Hollywood thriller
"Syriana," is even certain that "this story will destroy the
CIA." "



Ein ziemliches ausführliches Dossier über die augenscheinlichen Machenschaften der am. Geheimdienste seit 9/11 und ihr "backing" durch die Bush-Regierung.



Gestern war speziell der deutsche Fall von el Masri Thema einer der inflationären Talkshows (Illner oder Christiansen?). Dabei einerseits auch mal wieder einer der WSJ-Schreiber, auf der anderen aber auch Hans Leyendecker von der SZ der sich einen veritablen Ruf als investigativer Journalist erworben hat.

Heute einer Liste der ihm und seinen Kollegen nach noch offenen Fragen in der Angelegenheit:

Entführung des Kahled el-Masri - [b]Zwölf Fragen, die auf Antwort warten[/b]


Ragon