TURN IN THESE CIA FUGITIVES : They’ll get 5-8 Years
By Carolyn Keuhn
NOV.4, 2009: Italy convicted 23 CIA rendition perps. All could be imprisoned if they leave the US.
An Italian judge on November 4, 2009, convicted 23 CIA agents and two Italian agents over their role in the 2003 kidnapping of a Muslim cleric. Milan judge Oscar Magi sentenced former Milan CIA station chief Bob Seldon Lady (on left in PHOTO with Luciano Pironi) to 8 years and 22 other agents (PHOTOS) to 5 years in prison for their role in the abduction of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also known as Abu Omar. Also convicted was Air Force Colonel Joseph Romano (COLOR PHOTO), who was responsible for the CIA kidnapping team’s flight to Egypt from a U.S. air base in Italy.
CONTACT: Interpol, the international police agency, by email or at this FAX number in Switzerland: +33 4 72 44 71 63. (Refer to the warrant number given in the Robert Lady photo caption.) Or contact your local or national police.
The US is shielding the perps, whose names and PHOTOS are shown [at original source].
Phi Beta Iota: This story is significant for two reasons. First, foreign governments are now being more aggressive (or less intimidated) by US imperial hubris, and individual Americans are being held accountable for crimes done “in our name” with our taxpayer dollars. Second, and perhaps even more significiant, the IndyMedia posting is the first one we have ever seen in which U.S. citizens with moral standing actually pick up on this trends and call for the public to isolate and report each of these individuals here in the USA.
On balance this is a good thing, and our entry-level, mid-career, and senior executive programs need to be emphasizing both the moral responsibilities of every officer of government to refuse illegal orders and not carry out illegal missions that violate international law, and the prospects of eventual liability.
Obviously a small cadre of clandestine and covert operators need to be able to continueto violate laws, but the trick here is to avoid committing crimes against humanity while doing so. There is a difference. We probably need a Rendition 101 version of Executive Order 12333, the latter is one of the few times we have seen an entire government properly educated on where the line is drawn–of course that became moot when warrantless surveillance became the post-911 standard.
Henry Kissinger can no longer go to France and Zbigniew Brzezinski is in a similar situation. The balance of power is changing, away from states (the Treaty of Wesphalia was a huge mistake), and toward people–the public. A few references:
Review: The Trial of Henry Kissinger
Review: The Health of Nations: Society and Law beyond the State
1993 Greenwald (US) The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization: Diplomacy’s Cutting Edge
Review: A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
