War On Terrorism: Protect them from us

[Doondoo]

It sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel -- one minute, you're walking down the street, the next, you're bound and blindfolded in a van, taken on board a private jet by a "Removal Unit" and flown to another country where you're held prisoner and tortured.

This isn't the work of a nefarious Eastern Bloc government, nor is it the plot line of a futuristic novel. It's the handiwork of our very own Central Intelligence Agency. It's called the "extraordinary rendition" program, and some reports indicate that Jeppesen Inc. (motto: Make Every Mission Possible), a subsidiary of our very own Boeing, made those flights possible.

Although the story broke nearly two years ago in The New York Times, you don't hear much water-cooler talk about it in these parts. Perhaps the details of the story seemed too creepy or outlandish to be considered (flying saucers, anyone?). Overseas, our rendition program has become an issue. European countries, many of which have cooperated with the CIA, have been vocal about it. On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a report accusing 15 countries, including Britain, Germany, Portugal and Turkey, of either helping or turning a blind eye to the CIA's practice of moving alleged terrorism suspects.

For example, Switzerland allowed the CIA to use its airspace while transporting an Egyptian Muslim cleric abducted in Italy (where 26 CIA Americans and six Italians are set to be tried for the kidnapping). Poland and Romania also were mentioned as countries where secret prisons held the suspects. Human rights violations, anyone? No, not here. What we like to do is to ship our potential torture victims overseas. That way, our hands remain clean. In place prior to Sept. 11, the program's scope expanded substantially after the 2001 attacks. There's no exact count of how many people have been taken in this manner, although Amnesty International's estimates run into the 100's, with 25 specific cases being known.

It's sickening to see what we're getting away with in the name of our "war against terror." Who is going to protect the rest of the world from us?



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/304013_ciaed.html