The Evolution of Extraordinary Rendition (Should we keep it?)

[mmonk]

From the book, "Our Nation Unhinged-The Human Consequences of the War on Terror" by Peter Jan Honisberg, University of California Press.

"Extraordinary rendition is another term for international vigilantism. The term is understood today to refer to kidnapping suspects worldwide and transporting them to other nations to be tortured or killed. The practice originated in 1986, when the Reagan administration began kidnapping terrorism suspects in other countries and transporting them to the United States for trial. The program escalated dramatically in 1995 under President Clinton. The CIA proposed a deal with Egypt in which the CIA would seize suspected Egyptian and other Muslim terrorists-some of them convicted in absentia-around the globe and transport them to other countries, particularly Egypt, for "interrogation". Because Egypt considered these terror suspects a threat to the regime, the country welcomed the CIA program. Many of the people sent to Egypt were never heard from again."

"President George W. Bush took the concept of extraordinary rendition a giant leap forward. He increased ten fold the people seized by CIA agents and transported them to any number of countries. Beginning after the attacks of 9/11, CIA agents wearing black shirts, black pants, and black hoods or masks seized the suspects, cut off their clothes with knives and scissors, stuffed tranquilizers and enamas up their anuses, diapered them, manacled their feet, loaded them onto a CIA-controlled aircraft (often a Gulfstream jet), and transported them to another country or to a CIA-controlled "black site" to be tortured and perhaps killed."

Obama has decide to retain "rendition", keeping Bagram open for "detainees" and to retain the use of the "state secrets privilege" to keep such information away from the general knowledge of the American people. I understand Democrats now think that to be successful, the Democratic party must pattern itself under the Clinton model and also its presidential candidates, but I can't help but think of the countries we now send suspects to which engage in barbarism such as boiling human beings alive. It is such a far cry from the country that established the precedent of international law and standards from the Nuremberg principles. My question to you is should we remain silent as our country seems to make a mockery of the standard of laws and fair trials once established as the prominent international model of behavior?

[mmonk]

1. Is no discussion tacit approval?

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

[MisterP]

3. cold wars against nigh-imaginary foes are never good for democracy at home

with McCarthy, purges and witch-hunts against "traitors" become acceptable, and gross misrepresentations and exaggerations of the Great Fiend become the norm (and are invariably projections of developments in the US)
with Eisenhower, murder and toppling democracies is a-okay in the name of "freedom." Stalin dies and and all of Orwell's villains--Beria, Vyshinsky, etc.--are given the boot: American conservatives take no notice whatsoever and keep spreading their frothing, Manichean vision of Marxism and of Soviet Communism for decades, catapulting the propaganda.
with Johnson and Nixon, bloody wars and illegal activities become necessary for the country, as is lying to cover them up. The President is not to be questioned--an attitude hardly compatible with democracy.
with Reagan, lying and secrecy become ends unto themselves
with Bush, millions of Americans believe that America is the only "real" or sovereign country, the rest being blank space which may have the CIA, drones, or soldiers thrown at them without hesitation or question

in all cases, Communism/Islamism is a "threat" painted in the most hysterical terms--further reinforcing the culture of lies, and making any studies portraying foreigners as humans the equivalent of treason

[winyanstaz]

4. This is such a shameful thing for America to do..it breaks my heart.

I was raised to believe we were a nation of principles. That we were a nation of law and that we believed in the higher good for the world. We were the ones that gave a helping hand. We were the ones that fought for freedom and justice.
Slowly over the years I have found it is a lie.
We are the ones terrorizing the world and invading other countries and stealing from them.
We are the ones breaking the laws.
We are the ones doing terrible things to our brothers and sisters of the earth.
Will we ever be the great Nation we could be or should be?
Even if I die for speaking up, I cannot remain silent on this.
This is Anti-American. This is shameful. This needs to end now!
We are better than this..we have to be and if we cannot find our way to be better than this, we deserve what is coming.

[mmonk]

5. You feel as I do.

[magellan]

6. Remain silent? Absolutely not!

Extraordinary rendition is no part of the country I love. That isn't a September 10th attitude -- it's an American Value. Anyone who claims otherwise or tries to defend torture and extraordinary rendition as somehow "necessary" needs an intervention. And if they do it in front of me, they get one...and how.

[mmonk]

7. I'm afraid many people need an intervention.

Many are for it because of the propaganda or are indifferent about it.