Sources Tell ABC News Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons

[ECH1969]

Dec. 5, 2005 — Two CIA secret prisons were operating in Eastern Europe until last month when they were shut down following Human Rights Watch reports of their existence in Poland and Romania.

Current and former CIA officers speaking to ABC News on the condition of confidentiality say the United States scrambled to get all the suspects off European soil before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived there today. The officers say 11 top al Qaeda suspects have now been moved to a new CIA facility in the North African desert.

All but one of these 11 high-value al Qaeda prisoners were subjected to the harshest interrogation techniques in the CIA's secret arsenal, the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" authorized for use by about 14 CIA officers and first reported by ABC News on Nov. 18.

Sources tell ABC News that the CIA has a related system of secretly returning other prisoners to their home country when they have outlived their usefulness to the United States.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1375123

[goclark]

1. But Condi told us there were no secret prisions and that we

had better believe her.

And she told the other countries that they better keep their mouths shut!

So there!:sarcasm:

[NanceGreggs]

3. "The United States DOES NOT TORTURE."

Didn't we HEAR that two weeks ago from the most trusted name in news, GEORGE W. BUSH?

Crimes Against Humanity - call your lawyers now, you scumbags!

[Pam-Moby]

2. This kind of crap has to stop.

why can they not ever tell the truth about anything.

[Wordie]

4. "Winning hearts and minds"??? We have consistently engaged in actions

that as far as I can see are highly likely to create more and more terrorists. What is wrong with US?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. What's wrong is that we are not trying to win hearts and minds, we

are trying to and succeeding in winning oil fields and economies.

[Wordie]

8. I am afraid that in the end, we will have won neither. n/t

[madmark]

5. I dont get all the cloak and dagger james bond bullshit;

Why all the extra cost and expense and hassle of these offshore prisons; Put all these asshole al quada guys somewhere in midwest, ie. Levenworth, interrogate them and hold them that's it. Why all the fucking self fulfilling melodrama from Bushco.

[CJCRANE]

33. Bunch of Jack Bauer wannabes n/t

[The Stranger]

35. Wake up -- they don't have anything on these people, or they would indict

and prosecute and possibly execute them in Leavenworth, etc.

But they don't have the goods on these people, so they have to keep it away from the public, away from the courts -- because these are the institutions that will guarantee these people their rights.

[LoKnLoD]

7. 11 high value Al qaeda?

let me guess the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, the #2 guy, and finally the #2 guy,

[Up2Late]

14. Maybe that's why they keep killing the #2 or #3 guys, they capture one...

...tag them with a satellite tracking, then when they return to the herd, they follow them and then blast them when they get near some reporters?:nuke:

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. Why are they so afraid to bring these al CIAda terrorists to justice

in the US? What better way to bring peace and democracy to the rest of the world, except by trying these people in an open courtroom. Clinton used the system and convicted the 1993 WTC bombers and Timothy McVey.

[David Dunham]

10. More evidence the Bushies should be tried for war crimes.

[DELUSIONAL]

11. What if these prisoners were SOLD to the CIA/USA

sort of like slaves?

To make points with the US -- suspicious people are "sold" to the CIA/USA and they are tortured until oops the CIA finds out that this person only has a name which is sort of similar to the name of someone they have been told is a bad guy.

We know that this has happened . . . my guess is that the Cheney branch of the CIA doesn't care just as long as they have a warm body to torture. Bad luck of the person dies. . . They have to go out and buy another slave to torture.

AND the descendant of a slave is defending the Cheney torture using the lie . . . "saving lives".

[Ouabache]

12. So who, like me, thinks they might be in LIBYA now?

I thought it was extremely odd here in the last year or so when Moammar Khadafy was making nice with Bushco. And now these 11 #2 guys end up in the 'North African desert' in a quickie prison?

[bpilgrim]

13. multiple PRISONS for only 11 POWs?!?

yeah, sure...


peace

[merwin]

15. I wonder who the leak is...

[OKNancy]

16. kick

:kick:

[Stockholm]

17. Sources Tell ABC News Top Al Qaeda Figures Held in Secret CIA Prisons

By BRIAN ROSS and RICHARD ESPOSITO

Dec. 5, 2005 — Two CIA secret prisons were operating in Eastern Europe until last month when they were shut down following Human Rights Watch reports of their existence in Poland and Romania.

Current and former CIA officers speaking to ABC News on the condition of confidentiality say the United States scrambled to get all the suspects off European soil before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived there today. The officers say 11 top al Qaeda suspects have now been moved to a new CIA facility in the North African desert.

CIA officials asked ABC News not the name the specific countries where the prisons were located, citing security concerns.

The CIA declines to comment, but current and former intelligence officials tell ABC News that 11 top al Qaeda figures were all held at one point on a former Soviet air base in one Eastern European country. Several of them were later moved to a second Eastern European country.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1375123

[cornermouse]

18. Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.

I can honestly say that this is the first time in my life that I have felt ashamed of my country. I wonder what Poppy privately thinks about his son's presidency and what Jrs. done to our foreign policy.

[xchrom]

19. since poppy was head of the cia --

i'm sure he told jr how it was done.

chip off the old block.

[thefloyd]

20. Rice and company should consider

bringing about new Geneva Conventions to satisfy not only Americans but also the world community. Stating the Geneva Conventions are outdated or not valid and not introducing comprehensive reform just magnifies another instance of Bush's blatant disregard for international law.

[shraby]

22. Problem with that, the Geneva Conventions

are a part of our constitution because it's a treaty we signed. Therefore, they have broken their oaths of office to uphold the constitution. They should all be impeached because of it.

edited to add.

[donkeyotay]

36. New laws against torture is dishonest and a distraction

Treaties are part of our law. It's in that quaint, old America, irrelevant document, the Constitution, that the president swore to defend.

[salin]

21. news release timed to coincide "and back up" Condi's lines in

Europe. That this policy has protected European countries from terrorist attacks; that countries are either "with us" or aren't fighting terrorism in their countries - and some wierd implied comments suggesting that Euro govts are active/supportive - just not talking about it.

That last one reminds me of Cheney's 02 trip to the ME where he was trying to talk up support for a "possible" invasion of Iraq - among countries visited were Jordan and Egypt. Everywhere he went it was reported that leaders urged the US NOT to follow a path to war... CHeney, for US consumption, reported that (my paraphrase from memory - not a direct quote) "quietly and off the record, leaders were saying very different things (implication: support) - but that due to political realities in their countries they couldn't voice support aloud." And we saw how active that support was when we invaded :eyes:

Back to this story - the timing of it - and the "fit" with condi's spin in europe suggests pure propoganda - otherwise this "argument" would have been used (er leaked) from day one of the time that the secret cia prisons story broke.

[hippiechick]

23. Hell, if we have 'em in 'prisons' already... let's bring the troops home !

Sounds to me like the 'war on terra' is won, if we have 'top Al Queda figures' in custody ...

[Xipe Totec]

24. We Certainly are Teaching the World a Lesson, Aren't We?

And everyone is taking notes, especially the bad guys.

God help us.

[Moderator]

25. kick

[T_i_B]

26. CIA 'emptied secret jails' before Rice Europe trip

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/07/wrice07.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/12/07/ixportal.html

The CIA last month emptied two secret prisons in Eastern Europe of terrorist suspects in a frantic effort to defuse the "rendition" controversy ahead of Condoleezza Rice's visit to Europe, sources in the agency have claimed.

Eleven leading al-Qa'eda suspects were transferred to a new CIA facility in North Africa, current and former officers told ABC television.

The allegation emerged as Miss Rice, the US secretary of state, had an awkward meeting with Angela Merkel, the new German chancellor.

It had been billed as the start of a new era of relations but instead it was dominated by the transatlantic row over the CIA's activities in Europe, and one case in which the CIA allegedly mistook a German citizen for a terrorist suspect and abducted him.

[Earth_First]

27. What secret prisons?

:sarcasm:

[Briar]

28. Another admission of guilt. n/t

[Solly Mack]

29. But dammit, we're looking to maintain honor and save face!

We don't have time to address war crimes!

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. Why are they so afraid to bring terrorists to trial

If these guys are really terrorists then bring them to the US and try them in open court. Oh can't do that because you don't have anything substantial on any of these detainees? Just like yesterday, when that 'major' terrorist from FL was acquitted. The defense didn't even have to present a case. That's how apparently full of crap the prosecutors were.

[CJCRANE]

34. I think the real truth

is that there aren't enough hard-core international terrorists around to keep the neocons happy, so they do the best with what they've got by capturing and torturing innocent people to try and turn them into terrorists.

Plus the real terrorists would reveal too much about what's really going on behind the scenes if put on trial in open court.

[zanne]

31. According to Republicans, another guy did the same thing...

Wasn't there another guy, in a foreign country, who "got rid of", or "moved" something to another country or countries before we could find them? What was his name? Oh, yeah! Saddam!

[CJCRANE]

32. Heard an interview

with an Australian torture victim (on BBC World Service radio)who said that the purpose of the torture was to brainwash him into saying he was a jihadi and al-Qaeda leader even though they apparently knew he was innocent.

IMO the purpose of this kind of torture is to create more terrorists (or at least the appearance of more terrorists) for the neocons to justify their global war. Also, it's good PR for them to announce that they've captured another #2 or #3 (when in actual fact no-one's ever heard of the guy).