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In Italy, trial of CIA agents begins »

Posted by: berkeley 2 years, 6 months ago

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As President Bush headed for Italy on Friday, a Milan court opened the trial of a group of CIA agents accused of kidnapping a radical Egyptian cleric Ã¢â;¬" the first legal prosecution of one of the administration's most controversial counter-terrorism tactics.

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berkeley

If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy. Of all the enemies to public ...

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Comments: 162

Avg rating: (+2/-0 2)
tehranchik
June 9, 2007, 3:57 p.m.
OMG! This is just too good to be true. I didn't realize that there were 26 suspects. If these guys are all found guilty 'in absentia' their travel plans for the next few years could be non-existant. Better yet maybe they could be scooped up off the streets of DC and relocated to a secret location for further questioning.
Avg rating: (+1/-0 1)
miklkit
June 9, 2007, 9:07 p.m.
At least the rule of law still exists in Italy, unlike The United States.
Avg rating: (+12/-0 12)
WCFIELDS
June 10, 2007, 1:06 a.m.
""We want to punish terrorists â;; but in the courtroom," Milan's lead prosecutor..."
OH, Too Right Armando! Just tap them on the shoulder while they're busy hacking off a hostage's head and invite them over to the courtroom.
Avg rating: (+8/-16 -8)
solomonskey
June 10, 2007, 1:19 a.m.
Whether you agree or not with the actions tacken by the CIA, the fact is that intelligence matters shouldn't be used as a political frontpiece. If the Itlain SISDe or Military Intell had abducted a person on US soil with the sanction of the CIA, I doubt you'd be reaing about it in the New York Times or Washington Post. Unless that person was a US citizen.
I appears that certain Italian politicians are willing to scarifce their own national security by revealing sensitive ops and tactics for obtaining intelligence data in open court and for what purpose. To protect an foreign agent and citizen of Egypt?
Avg rating: (+5/-7 -2)
eabrego
June 10, 2007, 1:28 a.m.
Conservatives always talk about the rule of law when it applies to foreigners (undocumented workers in the USA), but they forget about the rule of law when Americans brake the law in foreign countries.
Avg rating: (+5/-11 -6)
ningyo
June 10, 2007, 8:24 a.m.
just like here..they have to posture for their hard left anti-american base--and like france..they dont want all their cars burned--and unlike france ,there are some italian cars that it would be a shame to see get torched..not many..and most are probably safely tucked away behind locked gates..but some--this prosecution is just as pointless as the fishing expedition by fitzgerald in the plame non-outing--i know its pointless to say..but i find it sickening to see people here and in our own congress cheering for the enemy--its not patriotic..its treasonous..its bad judgement..foolish
Avg rating: (+6/-7 -1)
Jaydee40
June 10, 2007, 10:06 a.m.
American Citizens are no more important than any other citizen of this planet, get that into your head.
Avg rating: (+8/-0 8)
honeydripper
June 10, 2007, 10:10 a.m.
Italy would not have to try them absentia if they would be responsible and show up for the trial!
If these men truly believe they did nothing wrong, then they should go there and face the charges!
Maybe they are afraid Italy will use the same tactics on them that they used on their suspects, to get to the truth!
This country would not allow another to come in and do what those men did in Italy, so why do you think what they did was right?
Just because Bush tramples our laws, freedoms, and protections (our Constitution,) doesn't mean he can get away with it wherever he chooses!
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
Amazing1
June 10, 2007, 10:25 a.m.
What happened to the Egyptian preacher was what was treasonous. It is an offense against all humanity. If this is not punished, no matter who did it, we as a species are then sanctioning such actions for anyone. That means that you or your children can be snatched up, taken to another country, tortured and injured.
The Military Commissions Act legalized these actions retroactively, but that only applies in the United States. In Italy, it is Italian laws that apply to these people.
This was a shameful thing to be done to anyone. If this person had a terrorist connection of some kind, he is now angrier than ever, has back injuries and hearing loss. If he is totally innocent, he still has the back injuries and hearing loss.
Disgusting.
Avg rating: (+5/-0 5)
albionperfides
June 10, 2007, 11:24 a.m.
You probably did not know but the US Government can ask for the extradition of a UK citizen solely on the basis of identification: no prima facia case has to be made to the UK courts. Three NatWest bankers are currently languishing in a US jail with no charges made against them allegedly because of a connection with Enron. This is Blair doing what Bush wanted, but, Blair forgot, or didn't dare, to request repricosity. So US crininals can stay in the home of the brave and the land of the free without fear of extradition to the UK on a similar basis. Wonderful!
Avg rating: (+7/-1 6)
Jaydee40
June 10, 2007, 11:58 a.m.
I posted this story before but it's a prime example of a regime gone mad, hopefully the Italians will start the ball rolling on some justice. This is a story about a nine year old Canadian borne boy being held captive by US thugs, your government.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/03/06/refug...
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
SlapALib
June 10, 2007, 12:16 p.m.
This is a big mess. Did Italy have any prior knowledge that this operation was going down? Although it seems to hardly matter, supposedly the CIA agrees to allow a country to disavow any agents involved in such an operation, if the operation comes to light.
This article from the post goes into some detail about the case:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
spikecwc
June 10, 2007, 12:33 p.m.
Looks like blowback, Jaydee40, foksipayne & skeek are terrorist sympathisers. They voted bad on the cutting heads off comment.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
albionperfides
June 10, 2007, 1:15 p.m.
spikecwc
Are you thinking of including the UK in the little countries taking all the benefit of the US benevolence and giving nothing in return? If so please explain.
Avg rating: (+12/-0 12)
spikecwc
June 10, 2007, 1:27 p.m.
Ciera Marie, miklkit & skeek are still on the terrorist bandwagon, I see.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
spikecwc
June 10, 2007, 1:35 p.m.
enough of this now. The US will try to save the world from itself, regardless of how much support it gets from the terrorist symathyzers.
Avg rating: (+0/-0 0)
flyonthewallzz
June 10, 2007, 5:01 p.m.
The thing that gets me is how sloppy the operation seems to be.
1. leftwingnuttinfoilhats blow the operation by looking at the tails of airplanes
2. "spoke carelessly on easily traceable cellular telephones, left behind photocopies of their passports and driver's licenses, and ran up bills of tens of thousands of dollars at some of Milan's best hotels."
3. at least 18 of whom have addresses near Langley, the CIA headquarters. Their names were traced through luxury hotels in Palma and Mallorca.
4. They show up for a prisoner transfer in Sweden wearing full batman regalia.
5. The planes are spotted parked for days near some of the world's most expensive resorts.
6. They screw-up and get the wrong guys.