In the Washington Times, Eli Lake has an eye-opening
article documenting how the much criticized Bush-era policy
of "extraordinary rendition" was carried out dozens of times
during the Clinton administration, transporting suspects who were
captured abroad to places like Egypt, where they were tortured.
The reason why this is relevant now is that one of the major
factors leading to the appointment of Leon Panetta to be CIA
chief was that he was seen as a strong opponent of torture and
rendition, but these cases all took place when was serving as
chief of staff to President Clinton. Panetta's defenders argue
that he wouldn't have known about these decisions, but then that
undercuts the argument that he's qualified to be CIA director
because he was involved in intellegence and national security
decisions as chief of staff. The whole piece is well worth a
read.
sidnee| 12.12.09 @ 11:42AM
jack wills
ugg new arrivals