More military stuff

Confirming a long held suspicion, Newsweek confirms that the US military has been shuttling political prisoners to other countries for 'questioning' and 'interrogation' (read: torture).

"NEWSWEEK has obtained previously unpublished flight plans indicating the agency has been operating a Boeing 737 as part of a top-secret global charter servicing clandestine interrogation facilities used in the war on terror."

Clearly much creativity has been employed to determine how to do this undetected. Instead of using military planes to shuttle them around they use commercial jets. Those who are looking for military injustice would assume the use of military planes, allowing the practice to go unconfirmed. As it turns out, the testimony of many now released political prisioners of the US has been confirmed, that there is apparently a vast network of international 'ghost' prisons opperated by the US that makes it possible for the prisoners to be treated in manners that violate the laws within the US. Imagine Guantanimo but even more hidden. Speaking of..

"The Boeing flights are part of a detailed two-year itinerary for the 737 obtained by NEWSWEEK. The jet's record dates to December 2002 and shows flights up until Feb. 7 of this year. The Boeing 737 may have served as a general CIA transport plane for equipment and supplies as well. Among the stops recorded are Libya, where the U.S. government has been dismantling Muammar Kaddafi's clandestine nuclear program, and Jordan, where the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that high-level Qaeda detainees, including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, were being held. (A Jordanian spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.) The Boeing also landed at Guantanamo."

Because the original 'overwhelming' moral outrage at the Iraqi prison tortures rendered little to know pressure by US citizens regarding the international policies of the US military, I do not suspect that people will respond too strongly to these same practices being directly ordered by the CIA and perhaps DOD. Unfortunately, US citizens appear to have accepted a certain relinquishing of moral obligation and personal liberty to perpetuate a narrative of security that requires a subservience of all other principles. One can only guess how far this will go.

posted by Jake Sikora @ 12:33 PM