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xchrom

(108,903 posts)
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 09:21 AM Oct 2012

UK intelligence officers knew of CIA's rendition plans within days of 9/11

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/22/british-cia-rendition-9-11


Jack Straw, who told MPs in 2005 there was 'simply no truth in the claims that the United Kingdom has been involved in rendition'. Photograph: David Gadd/Allstar/Sportsphoto Ltd

Within days of the 9/11 attacks on the US, the CIA told British intelligence officers of its plans to abduct al-Qaida suspects and fly them to secret prisons where they would be systematically abused.

The meeting, at the British embassy in Washington, is disclosed in a forthcoming book by the Guardian journalist Ian Cobain. It raises serious questions about repeated claims by senior MI5 and MI6 officers that they were slow to appreciate the US response to the attacks, and never connived in torture.

The meeting signalled to British officials that the US was preparing to embark on a global kidnapping programme which became known as extraordinary rendition. Cobain reveals that at the end of a three-hour presentation by Cofer Black, President George Bush's top counter-terrorist adviser, Mark Allen – his opposite number in MI6 – commented that it all sounded "rather bloodcurdling".

A few weeks later, in early October 2001, at a secret meeting at Nato headquarters in Brussels, US officials drew up a list of "necessary measures to increase security", Cobain discloses. They included flights to and from secret prisons in Asia, Africa, and throughout Europe. "Quietly, Britain pledged logistics support for the rendition programme, which resulted in the CIA's Gulfstream V and other jets becoming frequent visitors to British airports en route to the agency's secret prisons," writes Cobain.
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leveymg

(36,418 posts)
1. Remember that name, Cofer Black. He was also responsible for letting the 9/11 cells into the US
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 09:41 AM
Oct 2012

and for, apparently, losing track of them thereafter. Fail. 9/11 was the result. Catastrophic mass casualty Fail. Then Bush gave him and the same CounterTerrorism Center (CIA/CTC) operatives the job of tracking down bin Laden at Tora Bora. Another fail. Then, Black and the others were assigned to rendition and torture those AQ who could be found. Fail. Black went on to honorable retirement to head a division of Blackwater. Fail again. Blackwater was instead handed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of CIA, DIA and State Dept. contracts. No effort made to prosecute the man or even publicly ask him questions about all this. Fail, Fail, Fail, Fail.

Now, Cofer Black is Rmoney's national security advisor. Fail on so many levels, it's hard to imagine.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
3. "We" can't investigate ourselves. That's why Congress and the media are supposed to step up.
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 10:04 AM
Oct 2012

But, they are largely part of "we."

The military and FBI are sworn to protect the nation against "all enemies, foreign and domestic", police the police, and bring even the most powerful to justice.

What happened to us?

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
4. corruption? the unwillingness of 'the people' to believe
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 10:10 AM
Oct 2012

that to be the case.

just for starters.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
7. PTSD. But, more than anything, a lot of people in Washington knew about the compartmentalized
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 10:25 AM
Oct 2012

program that brought the 9/11 hijackers into the US. At least, they were told in general terms at some point of its existence, and could have been held partially accountable after the fact. Never underestimate the power of collective CYA. Isn't that what Dubya said to the CIA briefer on August 6, 2001, "You've covered your ass now."

In the same vein, it makes sense on some level to hand the job of cleaning up the mess to the same crew that had the misfortune to be on duty when the mess was created, and to then give them medals and millions of dollars in hush money after the whole series of failures played out. It's that simple. That should tell you, of course, that the higher-ups really were responsible, and that Black and the other operatives were "just following orders."

Nonetheless, the Nuremberg Rules and the principle of command responsibility apply, and there's no statute of limitations on these crimes.

malaise

(267,833 posts)
6. Blair is a war criminal
Mon Oct 22, 2012, 10:15 AM
Oct 2012

Robin Cook knew - he resigned from the Cabinet - funny how he died while out walking as well.

The war criminals have a lot to answer for, don't they.

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