WTF!!? Obama Lets CIA Keep Controversial Renditions Tool

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Obama lets CIA keep controversial renditions tool
By Greg Miller | Washington Bureau
January 31, 2009

WASHINGTON — The CIA's secret prisons are being shuttered. Harsh interrogation techniques are off-limits. And Guantanamo Bay will eventually go back to being a wind-swept naval base on the southeastern corner of Cuba.

But even while dismantling these discredited programs, President Barack Obama left an equally controversial counterterrorism tool intact.

Under executive orders issued by Obama last week, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, or the secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the U.S.

Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the rendition program is poised to play an expanded role because it is the main remaining mechanism—aside from Predator missile strikes—for taking suspected terrorists off the street.

<snip>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-renditions_31jan31,0,2998929.story




Five Facts and Five Fictions About CIA Rendition
By Stephen Grey

1. FICTION: The CIA’s rendition program is nothing new and has been going on for decades.

Rendition began in 1883 when Frederick Ker was kidnapped in Peru by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and rendered back to Chicago to face trial for grand larceny. The tactic was endorsed by the Supreme Court (Ker v. Illinois). These renditions, like the case of Mir Aimal Kansi from Pakistan in 1997, were renditions to courts of law. But they are very different from the CIA’s current covert program of extraordinary rendition, in which terror suspects are sent not to justice but into the hands of rough allies.

2. FACT: Extraordinary rendition began under the Clinton regime.

Covert extraordinary rendition began as a systematic tactic on September 22, 1995, with the capture of terrorist Abu Talal al-Qasimi in Croatia; he was later transferred to Egypt for execution. The largest pre-9/11 CIA rendition occurred in 1998, when five suspects in Albania and Bulgaria were captured and rendered to Egypt. Two were hanged without trial; all were brutally tortured.

Renditions after 9/11 were different, however. The numbers expanded dramatically, each rendition no longer required presidential approval, and it was no longer a requirement that a prisoner be 'wanted' for some offense in the country where he was sent.

<snip>

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/rendition701/updates/updates.html

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. k

[alexandria]

2. Extraordinary Rendition

The current policy traces its roots to the administration of former President Bill Clinton. Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, however, what had been a limited program expanded dramatically, with some experts estimating that 150 foreign nationals have been victims of rendition in the last few years alone. Foreign nationals suspected of terrorism have been transported to detention and interrogation facilities in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Diego Garcia, Afghanistan, Guantánamo, and elsewhere. In the words of former CIA agent Robert Baer: "If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear -- never to see them again -- you send them to Egypt."


http://www.aclu.org/safefree/extraordinaryrendition/22203res20051206.html

[G_j]

3. thanks

with all the news about Gitmo, this is the question nobody is asking.
duh..

[rosesaylavee]

4. Hopefully this is under review as per his exec order of 1/22/09

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ReviewofDetentionPolicyOptions/

EXECUTIVE ORDER -- REVIEW OF DETENTION POLICY OPTIONS

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, in order to develop policies for the detention, trial, transfer, release, or other disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations that are consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice, I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Special Interagency Task Force on Detainee Disposition.

(a) Establishment of Special Interagency Task Force. There shall be established a Special Task Force on Detainee Disposition (Special Task Force) to identify lawful options for the disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations.

(b) Membership. The Special Task Force shall consist of the following members, or their designees:

(i) the Attorney General, who shall serve as Co-Chair;

(ii) the Secretary of Defense, who shall serve as Co-Chair;

(iii) the Secretary of State;

(iv) the Secretary of Homeland Security;

(v) the Director of National Intelligence;

(vi) the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency;

(vii) the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and

(viii) other officers or full-time or permanent part-time employees of the United States, as determined by either of the Co-Chairs, with the concurrence of the head of the department or agency concerned.

(c) Staff. Either Co-Chair may designate officers and employees within their respective departments to serve as staff to support the Special Task Force. At the request of the Co-Chairs, officers and employees from other departments or agencies may serve on the Special Task Force with the concurrence of the heads of the departments or agencies that employ such individuals. Such staff
must be officers or full-time or permanent part-time employees of the United States. The Co-Chairs shall jointly select an officer or employee of the Department of Justice or Department of Defense to serve as the Executive Secretary of the Special Task Force.

(d) Operation. The Co-Chairs shall convene meetings of the Special Task Force, determine its agenda, and direct its work. The Co-Chairs may establish and direct subgroups of the Special Task Force, consisting exclusively of members of the Special Task Force, to deal with particular subjects.

(e) Mission. The mission of the Special Task Force shall be to conduct a comprehensive review of the lawful options available to the Federal Government with respect to the apprehension, detention, trial, transfer, release, or other disposition of individuals captured or apprehended in connection with armed conflicts and counterterrorism operations, and to identify such options as are consistent with the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and the interests of justice.

(f) Administration. The Special Task Force shall be established for administrative purposes within the Department of Justice, and the Department of Justice shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, provide administrative support and funding for the Special Task Force.

(g) Report. The Special Task Force shall provide a report to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and the Counsel to the President, on the matters set forth in subsection (d) within 180 days of the date of this order unless the Co-Chairs determine that an extension is necessary, and shall provide periodic preliminary reports during those 180 days.

(h) Termination. The Co-Chairs shall terminate the Special Task Force upon the completion of its duties.

Sec. 2. General Provisions.

(a) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,
January 22, 2009.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. But..but..it's now Politically Correct to like torture and bombing civilians.

Cuz, "Our guys" are now in charge of them.

[ProgressIn2008]

17. Word. It's okay... it's "our" side... it's only a little bit... Pick your justification. nt

[leftstreet]

21. Bombs and Torture for Peace

[Jakes Progress]

27. Yeah, cuz our guys

are only doing ti to rope a dope the other side. You know. Because we are so smart and clever.

[earth mom]

41. Yeah and some people around here call it "Hope and Change". nt

[truedelphi]

44. And that same group resents any criticism. n/t

[bvar22]

6. So instead of directly torturing whoever we want....

...we are going to outsource the nasty stuff.
It just looks better.

[aquart]

7. You betcha.

[Runcible Spoon]

46. pretty much.

This is disgusting and really deals a blow to the administration's sincerity.

[Ken Burch]

58. Syrian torturers get paid less. Probably don't have a healthcare plan either.

Globalization lives.

:eyes:

[BlueJac]

8. Change?

[merh]

9. I don't think the article is correct.

Specifically, the January 22, 2009, Executive Order states:

Sec. 3. Standards and Practices for Interrogation of Individuals in the Custody or Control of the United States in Armed Conflicts.

(a) Common Article 3 Standards as a Minimum Baseline. Consistent with the requirements of the Federal torture statute, 18 U.S.C. 2340 2340A, section 1003 of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. 2000dd, the Convention Against Torture, Common Article 3, and other laws regulating the treatment and interrogation of individuals detained in any armed conflict, such persons shall in all circumstances be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person (including murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture), nor to outrages upon personal dignity (including humiliating and degrading treatment), whenever such individuals are in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States.

(b) Interrogation Techniques and Interrogation-Related Treatment. Effective immediately, an individual in the custody or under the effective control of an officer, employee, or other agent of the United States Government, or detained within a facility owned, operated, or controlled by a department or agency of the United States, in any armed conflict, shall not be subjected to any interrogation technique or approach, or any treatment related to interrogation, that is not authorized by and listed in Army Field Manual 2 22.3 (Manual). Interrogation techniques, approaches, and treatments described in the Manual shall be implemented strictly in accord with the principles, processes, conditions, and limitations the Manual prescribes. Where processes required by the Manual, such as a requirement of approval by specified Department of Defense officials, are inapposite to a department or an agency other than the Department of Defense, such a department or agency shall use processes that are substantially equivalent to the processes the Manual prescribes for the Department of Defense. Nothing in this section shall preclude the Federal Bureau of Investigation, or other Federal law enforcement agencies, from continuing to use authorized, non-coercive techniques of interrogation that are designed to elicit voluntary statements and do not involve the use of force, threats, or promises.

(c) Interpretations of Common Article 3 and the Army Field Manual. From this day forward, unless the Attorney General with appropriate consultation provides further guidance, officers, employees, and other agents of the United States Government may, in conducting interrogations, act in reliance upon Army Field Manual 2 22.3, but may not, in conducting interrogations, rely upon any interpretation of the law governing interrogation -- including interpretations of Federal criminal laws, the Convention Against Torture, Common Article 3, Army Field Manual 2 22.3, and its predecessor document, Army Field Manual 34 52 issued by the Department of Justice between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009.


Sec. 4. Prohibition of Certain Detention Facilities, and Red Cross Access to Detained Individuals.

(a) CIA Detention. The CIA shall close as expeditiously as possible any detention facilities that it currently operates and shall not operate any such detention facility in the future.

-snip-

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/EnsuringLawfulInterrogations/

[alexandria]

10. Outsourcing?

It sounds like we will not tolerate torture in any Gov facility,but if they go to some other place,well that is out of our hands...

[merh]

11. No, if the person is under our care - under our control, this

executive order makes it clear that they will not be tortured.

Outsourcing would be in violation of this order.

[merh]

12. specifically - there are federal statutes that make outsourcing illegal

and those statutes are referred to in this executive order

18 USC § 2340. Definitions

As used in this chapter—

(1) “torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;

(2) “severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from—

(A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;

(B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;

(C) the threat of imminent death; or

(D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and

(3) “United States” means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00002340----000-.html

18 USC § 2340A. Torture

(a) Offense.— Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.

(b) Jurisdiction.— There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if—

(1) the alleged offender is a national of the United States; or

(2) the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.

(c) Conspiracy.— A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.

http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/18/usc_sec_18_00002340---A000-.html

[Orwellian_Ghost]

20. Loopholes

RIGHTS-US: Close Torture Loopholes, Physicians' Group Urges
By William Fisher

NEW YORK, Jan 29 (IPS) - While applauding President Barack Obama's recent executive orders banning torture and other harsh interrogation practices, medical authorities are calling attention to a little-reported section of the Army's Field Manual on Interrogation that they say still allows the use of tactics that can constitute torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment under U.S. and international law.

The suspect section of the Manual is known as Annex M, which allows the use of sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, and isolation, termed "separation" in the Manual. Obama's executive orders directed all government agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), to follow the manual for interrogations.

But Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a Nobel laureate not-for-profit organisation, is calling on the task force appointed by the president to review U.S. interrogation and transfer policies to revoke the Appendix and consult with human rights organisations as part of the review process.

John Bradshaw, director of PHR's office in Washington, told IPS, "The technique of separation allowed by Appendix M sounds innocuous, but in reality it allows the use of sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation and isolation."

<snip>

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45602

There are some interesting comments here:
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11079

Human Rights Group: Obama Left Wiggle Room On Torture

Did President Obama’s executive order today banning torture leave wiggle room for the possibility of reverting to coercive techniques that the current exec order outlaws?

Michael Ratner, the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, tells me he thinks the answer is Yes.

<snip>

The mission of the Special Task Force shall be:

(1) to study and evaluate whether the interrogation practices and techniques in Army Field Manual 2-22.3, when employed by departments or agencies outside the military, provide an appropriate means of acquiring the intelligence necessary to protect the Nation, and, if warranted, to recommend any additional or different guidance for other departments or agencies …

The key there, Ratner says, is that the exec order appears to allow for an evaluation as to “whether” — a key word — the Army Field Manual techniques are sufficent to “protect the nation.” That, he says, allows for the Task Force to find after studying the issue that there may be cases where it’s acceptable to go beyond the Army Field Manual.

“It would allow the Task Force to go beyond the Army Field Manual,” Ratner told me. He added that this allowed for at least the possibility that the administration could conclude that “based on the recommendations of this commission, we will allow certain techniques to be used in certain circumstances.”

<snip>

http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/torture/human-rights-group-obama-left-wiggle-room-on-torture/

[Radical Activist]

13. And at the very end of the article.

In his executive order on lawful interrogations, Obama created a task force to re-examine renditions to make sure that they "do not result in the transfer of individuals to other nations to face torture" or otherwise circumvent human-rights laws and treaties.



So we'll see what conclusions they come to.

[originalpckelly]

23. Why the hell would we be sending them elsewhere in the first place?

The only reason I've seen is that people in places like Syria understand the culture of the people being interrogated, but don't we have immigrants in our country capable of the same exact thing?

They are only being sent for the purpose of torture.

[Hippo_Tron]

66. Not a whole lot of immigrants from the Middle East work for the CIA

It's hard enough to get a security clearance if you were born in the United States. If you're an immigrant, especially from a country in the Middle East, the background check could take years and they could deny you clearance for anything that even seems suspicious.

[Clear Blue Sky]

14. I heard this too. Big deal closing Gitmo if rendition is still a viable option.

[DCKit]

15. So, it IS the fault of the Clenis. Who knew?

Seriously, though, I worked for the DOJ under Janet Reno and saw some really ugly shit. BushCo just took it to a whole new level.

[tavalon]

29. Actually, we spent so much time defending him from the yahoos (Repugs),

that some forget that he did some really stupid things, not Bush level by any means but there were a number of things that definitely fell in the WhaFa? category.

[readmoreoften]

16. Obama giveth and Obama taketh away. Post-partisan equilibriumism means you end up where you started.

"It's time for a return to diplomacy...when Americans didn't torture... so openly."

[autorank]

18. This post is one reason I'm here K*R

High quality grabs and value added commentary on issues that don't get full coverage yet represent
extremely important topics in the public dialog. In this case, we're talking about the dignity
and purpose of the entire nation being defamed by a stupid policy that is unnecessary.

Time to bring the troops home -- from everywhere. No military actions against foreigners, no
"blow back." No blow back, no need to torture people to find out where they are because they won't be plotting against us.

Thank you once again!!!!!!!!!!!!

:patriot:

[johnfunk]

19. Rendition is wrong, just plain wrong...

... though not quite as wrong as forcing Gitmo detainees to listen to CDs of Barney the Dinosaur. And yes, that DID happen. I'd rather be waterboarded.

[originalpckelly]

22. Then Obama is no better, and we cannot excuse that.

These are crimes against humanity, and now it seems that the system is incapable of preventing them. It means we must launch a national movement to make some kind of change so that at the very least, we can be sure our political leaders will not torture people in our custody.

[Jim Sagle]

31. He's WAY better than w, but he may not be better than Clinton.

And that's still much better than the last 8 years.

[bottomtheweaver]

24. We really need to put pressure on ALL our reps to ABOLISH THE FUCKING CIA

What the hell is it but a fucking propaganda organ that has descended to the most disgusting and brutal method of generating fake "intelligence," torture? Get rid of the damn thing. We're not Britain, a dinky island trying desperately to hang on to a huge former empire, we don't NEED an empire, and we don't need to emulate british spies, NO OFFENSE TO ANY BRITS HERE, seriously. But the spy crapola is subhuman and pure evil and needs to GO.

[bottomtheweaver]

25. From "Abolish the CIA!" by Chalmers Johnson:

Published on Friday, November 5, 2004 by TomDispatch.com

. . . every president since Truman, once he discovered that he had a totally secret, financially unaccountable private army at his personal disposal, found its deployment irresistible. But covert operations usually became entangled in hopeless webs of secrecy, and invariably led to more blowback.

Richard Clarke argues that "the CIA used its classification rules not only to protect its agents but also to deflect outside scrutiny of its covert operations," and Peter Tomsen, the former US ambassador to the Afghan resistance during the late 1980s, concludes that "America's failed policies in Afghanistan flowed in part from the compartmented, top secret isolation in which the CIA always sought to work." Excessive, bureaucratic secrecy lies at the heart of the Agency's failures.

Given the Agency's clear role in causing the disaster of September 11, 2001, what we need today is not a new intelligence czar but an end to the secrecy behind which the CIA hides and avoids accountability for its actions. To this day, in the wake of 9/11 and the false warnings about a threat from Iraq, the CIA continues grossly to distort any and all attempts at a Constitutional foreign policy. Although Coll doesn't go on to draw the conclusion, I believe the CIA has outlived any Cold War justification it once might have had and should simply be abolished.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1105-30.htm

[originalpckelly]

26. I have to agree, we cannot have secrets and have accountable government.

It's so clear that anything someone wants to hide will just be classified as Top Secret.

[Baby Snooks]

35. The history of the CIA...

Most people should study the history of the CIA. It was and is an agency set up to serve an agenda. And it is the Bush agenda. Prescott Bush was part of what became the CIA along with Allen Dulles and they were who Eisenhower was referring to when he warned us about the dangers of the "military-industrial complex" and obviously the reason why he didn't warn us of who as well as what became quite apparent on November 22, 1963. It was and is a shadow government. It should have been "deposed" a long time ago. Only Congress can. And Congress refuses to.

[bottomtheweaver]

48. Yes. Protect corporations, smash labor, destroy the New Deal.

Did I leave anything out?

[tavalon]

30. This must be done very carefully

Ask JFK. Well, you can't ask him but you probably could if he hadn't tried to abolish the CIA. They don't like that.

[nikkos_71]

38. Not to make any assumptions...

but with so many comparisons between JFK and O'bama...

[DutchLiberal]

50. I refer to the CIA as a terrorist organization. Is that wrong?

[tavalon]

59. No, not so much

[Ardent15]

74. I'm sorry...

...but the CIA is a necessary evil.

[SmileyRose]

28. Bad reporting.

President Obama has not yet done away with it but is actively looking at how to reign it in. The article makes it sound like President Obama is supportive of it in it's current form and that is clearly not accurate.

[BlooInBloo]

32. It doesn't matter. People just want to bitch at Obama.

[Baby Snooks]

43. It doesn't matter?

I assume you mean it mattered with Bush but doesn't matter with Obama?

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

40. There shouldn't be rendition, In Any Form. Period.

[SmileyRose]

70. I disagree

If we have access to someone REALLY dangerous who happens to be in a country that won't extradite to the US then I have no problem basically kidnapping the person, spiriting them off to a US federal prison and getting them a lawyer for trial.

[jeff47]

78. Let's use a real-world example

Let's use a real-world example to show when rendition was a "Good Thing".

If you remember from your history books, many Nazi leaders fled to Argentina at the end of WWII. Folks who were tried and convicted of war crimes in absentia at Nuremberg.

Argentina had no extradition agreement nor any relevant treaty that required them to send these former Nazis back to face their punishment. So these war criminals thought they'd live out their lives free in Argentina.

The Israelis "rendered" them from Argentina, resulting in these former Nazis serving their sentences.

[Politicalboi]

33. And 9/11 the biggest lie told and it

Keeps on giving. They do this ALL in the name of 9/11. Take 9/11 away from them and they have NOTHING. Expose 9/11 for what it is. It has been an enabler for 7 years now. If President Obama doesn't take care of this he is going to have to stand trial along with Bush/Cheney.

[Blue Dog Dominion]

34. Good. I'm glad Obama is showing some balls.

Fuck terrorists.

[Two Americas]

67. suspects you mean?

And are you saying fuck the law here?

What does this have to do with balls, in your mind? Lack of balls, I would say - supporting torture of suspects and outsourcing it. I can't imagine anything more cowardly.

[Piewhacket]

36. WTF Orwellian_Ghost, this is inflammatory nonsense...

of course there will be transfers of prisoners.
they are intending to close GITMO.

this is right wing whack-shit, targeted it post hoc justifying
ILLEGAL voilations of human rights by BUSHCO by pretending
what is being done now is like what Bush did.
It isn't. Handcuffing vs hanging by chains. Same? NO.

the transfers may be done in secret, for security reasons,
but (unlike Busco, Stalin, the Nazi gestapo...and other abominations)
the fact of transfer, the manner of transfer (humane), who is
being held, and the whereabouts of the prisoner will be known.

others prisoners taken 'on the battlefield' will obviously need
to be processed as there are two hostile occupations in progress,
for freeking sakes, which exist even as situation is being altered.

The difference is it will be done in accordance with
law and with respect for human rights.

Even if it is called "Rendition"??? its not what you call it,
its what it is.

now lets make sure there is transparency in the conduct of
such 'renditions'. that's what is needed. disinfecting sunshine.
Bush didn't do that. That makes Bush a criminal.
Obama will do that. That makes him a leader.
There is the dif.

[pjt7]

37. Let's hope Panneta run's the CIA with honor

but you can't cut our guy's balls off.

I'm a firm believer that 9.11 wasn't 100% kosher. That being said, I realize there is a real radical muslim movement world-wide & that's not going away because Aretha Franklin sang @ the inaguration.

[EFerrari]

52. Rendition is not a transfer of prisoners, it's kidnapping. n/t

[lostnotforgotten]

39. Rendition Kept - No War Crimes Prosecution = OBAMA HUGE FAIL!

eom

[kentuck]

42. It appears that President Obama has turned over military and intelligence decisions.

To Robert Gates and the Defense Dept? After all, they have "experience" in the matter and he does not.

[balantz]

45. The "War on Terror" is a hoax.

Al Qaeda didn't demolish the Twin Towers, Building #7, strike the Pentagon or any other act on that day.

Why is our government continuing this sham? It's a disgrace that they lie about 9/11 and shove this "War on Terror" down our throats.

[bottomtheweaver]

47. The CIA's number one job is to protect the CIA

and its clients, and they are very, very good at it.

[DutchLiberal]

53. Then who flew the planes into the Twin Towers?

[bottomtheweaver]

55. Let's just say

there's a reason that Raytheon lobbyist was considered so "indispensable" that Gates (CIA Bushnik) decided to make a fool of Obama by putting him in his administration.

[DutchLiberal]

56. Oh, boy..... Loon alert!

[bottomtheweaver]

63. Hey you dropped something.

[balantz]

61. The media n/t

[frog92969]

49. Rendition = Arrest

Extraordinary Rendition = Bu$h/Clinton war crimes

All I see here is a right wing hit piece, complete with inaccuracies and assumptions.
Obama has pissed me off several times but this doesn't make the list.

[Ticonderoga]

51. Unbelievable

This just keeps getting worse by the day.

[JFKfanforever]

54. Agreed

Rendition = outsourced torture

The press should question Obama diligently and relentlessly on
this point.

[waiting for hope]

57. Two Words:

John Brennan:

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/17/obama_taps_ex_cia_officials_tied

[EFerrari]

60. Bingo. n/t

[rhymeandreason]

62. Kidnapping, Torture and Murder = "Extraordinary Rendition"

What an idiotic and dishonest euphemism.

Surely this must be some whacked out conspiracy theory promoted by caffeine-addled CT nuts. But unfortunately not. It is real. Apparently it is all just all part and parcel of the enduring legacy of the "Contract with America". It may be revolting to anyone with the faintest sense of compassion and justice but this is the new patriotic amorality. Just as serial killers become inured to the horror of their deeds so the USG military and the public have come to accept these depraved and worthless programs.

[Autonomy]

64. There's been extraordinary rendition for a long time

just under different justifications. Timothy Leary, for one, was captured ER in Afghanistan under the premise that since he was in an airplane at the time, extradition laws (which Afghanistan did not have with the US) did not apply. But Nixon considered Leary public enemy #1, hence the justified ER.

[G_j]

73. and the original arrest

was for pot that was planted on him.
:shrug:

[goodinuf]

65. This is not the kind of transparency I was hoping for n/t

[MannyGoldstein]

68. This Is Very Troubling

To whom do we write or call?

[mentalslavery]

77. Everyone, then post your letters here

thats whats great about email. Create groups of legislators and email them all with a click!! Course its a staffer reading it, and they don't read it. They count for and against, then give a tally their boss that is divided into "country as a whole" and "within-district"

[blindpig]

69. Reminds me of a song.....

Carl Perkins - Honey Don't

Well how can you say you will when you won't,
Say you do, baby, when you don't?
Let me know, honey, how you feel
Tell the truth how is love real.

But oh well honey don't, well honey don't,
Honey don't, honey don't, honey don't
I say you will when you won't, oh honey, don't.

Well I love you, baby, and you ought to know
I like the way you wear your clothes,
If it's in a batch you were so doggone sweet,
You got that sand all over your feet.

Well sometimes I love you on a Saturday night,
Sunday morning you don't look right.
You've been out painting the town,
Uh baby, been stepping around.

[Cardiff]

71. Mistake Obama, mistake.

Gotta correct this.

[mentalslavery]

72. The formalization of the politicy is new, the actions are not

It is likely that we will need more than just the "paper tiger" of legislation to deal with this. I mean, our own government has (radiation), and continues to (pesticides), test chemicals on its own population. You think these groups (officials will to partake) give a rats ass about a bill or exec. order.

[Ardent15]

75. He's being cautious

He doesn't wanna piss off the bureaucracy too much.

[jeff47]

76. "Rendition" is not "Extrodinary Rendition"

"Extrodinary Rendition" was created by W to ship people off to be tortured outside of any legal system. Obama ended that policy.

"Rendition" means kidnapping someone and putting them into our or another country's legal system.

"Extrodinary Rendition" is the terrible stuff where we ship Canadians off to Syria to be tortured.
"Rendition" is when we take people like Manuel Noriega from their country and put them on trial.

Obviously, Rendition still has the possibility of abuse, in that we could render the person to a country where torture is part of their legal system. At the same time it's the concept that allows us to put war criminals on trial, even if they're a prominent former president who has fled to Argentina.