U.S. To Germany: Sure, We Kidnapped And Tortured The Wrong Guy - But Consider The Political Context!

[kpete]

November 29, 2010 07:00 AM
U.S. To Germany: Sure, We Kidnapped And Tortured The Wrong Guy - But Consider The Political Context!
By Susie Madrak

via Wikileaks:

With over a quarter of a million WikiLeaks documents coming to light today, a number of previously stalled stories are being given new life, including the bungled kidnapping of German citizen Khalid El-Masri and his subsequent abuse in US custody.

Masri was kidnapped in early 2004 by CIA officials and sent to Baghdad and later Afghanistan, where he was repeatedly abused before officials finally discovered that they meant to kidnap Khalid al-Masri, an entirely different person with a similarly spelled name.

A 2007 State Department document revealed the US “warned” the German government against making any moves to secure the arrests of the CIA agents responsible for the kidnapping, saying any such move would have “repercussions” to the relationship between the two nations.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802107.html
German officials, according to the document, conceded that they understood the possible diplomatic consequences but also warned hat given the outcry from the German media their options were limited. The US admonished them to consider the “political context” of the kidnapping of the innocent man.

more:
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/us-germany-sure-we-kidnapped-and-tort

Despite the warnings the German government did issue Interpol arrest warrants for CIA officials involved in the kidnapping, though they dropped them a few months later. El-Masri attempted to sue the CIA over his torture in a US court but the case was thrown on “national security” grounds.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051802107.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4996140.stm


Mr Masri was seeking damages and an apology

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[kpete]

2. hey Solly Mack

thanks for being here!
peace, kp

[Solly Mack]

6. It's my favorite hang-out.

I keep print outs and news articles relating to U.S. war crimes and it is always good to get a new document to add to my files.

[Tatiana]

3. I know this is all necessary, if we really want to clean out the State Dept, CIA, etc.

But it's really f-ing sad and embarrassing to be confronted with the evidence of all the harm we've done to innocent people.

I mean, really? The damn CIA can't tell the difference between "El" and "al"? WTF!

Just makes you want to :cry:

[ZombieHorde]

4. Holy shit. nt

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Give me the short notes. What, exactly, was the political context?

[EFerrari]

8. I believe this is the nutshell:

A 2007 State Department document revealed the US “warned” the German government against making any moves to secure the arrests of the CIA agents responsible for the kidnapping, saying any such move would have “repercussions” to the relationship between the two nations.

[EFerrari]

7. K&R