Do national security interests warrant the CIA’s operation and control of clandestine prisons overseas?
Tuesday, November 29th, 2005Recent reports indicate the CIA has been holding detainees from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in prisons in Eastern Europe. The story broke in early November in the Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/01/AR2005110101644.html
The European Union has called upon the UK to seek clarification from the United States regarding the reports of the secret detention centers.
Has the United States gone too far in maintaining these secret prisons, or does federal law grant the CIA the authority to operate secret prisons in the interests of national security?
If it is true that federal law grants the CIA authority to oversee the detention of prisoners of war -or- detainees, (depending on where YOU stand on the issue), why has the CIA maintained these prisons under the radar screen, i.e. without any public awareness? Is there an argument in support of maintaining the prisons in secret? How are national security issues furthered by detaining and interrogating certain alleged "high-ranking" Al Queda members in secret prisons as opposed to incarcerating them at Gitmo or prisons in Iraq?
And of course, the natural next step is to inquire as to the treatment of detainees at these secret prisons. The abuse that has been reported at Abu Ghraib has been downplayed by the Bush Administration as isolated events of misconduct by a small number of military personnel. Is it fair to suspect the CIA has engaged in similar interrogation techniques at the prisons in Eastern Europe? Perhaps not. Certainly, one of the major obstacles facing the Bush Administration as a result of the Abu Ghraib revelations is how to overcome the notion that the U.S. engages in and supports torture as a mode of interrogation.
For additional thoughts on the war check out Andy’s blog. 3479Andy’s post#
whereIstand Tags
- What should be done with the Guantanamo detainees?
- Should the US President have the right (as the government recently argued before a Federal Court) to lock up “a little old lady from Switzerland” for the duration of the war on terror if she had written checks to a charity that she believed helped orphans, but that actually was a front for Al Qaeda?