Italy vs. the CIA

An Italian court has convicted 23 Americans of crimes involving a rendition case in 2003, where a radical Muslim cleric was kidnapped from Milan and rendered to Egypt. Fortunately, the U.S. citizens were all tried in absentia and are not in custody, so this is an empty verdict. But there is talk of requesting extradition. Here's my take on the case.

The U.S. government should only carry out renditions in allied states with the consent of the allied government. Was neutralizing one terrorist really worth jeopardizing relations with Italy? If it is truly necessary to violate the sovereignty of a friendly state like Italy, it should be done in a secret and deniable way. We should not be in a position of having to defend such actions in court. 

Having said that, the U.S. government has an obligation to protect its operatives from foreign retaliation. Under no circumstances should the U.S. agree to extradite any of these individuals, no matter what the Italian government or courts demand. If the Italian government goes so far as to actually request extradition, we should treat that as an unfriendly act, and respond accordingly. Italy is well aware that rendition operations were U.S. government missions, sanctioned at the highest levels. Italian anger should be focused where it belongs, at the U.S. government. Demanding an apology and assurances that the U.S. will not violate Italian sovereignty in the future would be a reasonable response. Prosecuting individual CIA agents as if they were common criminals, rather than agents of the U.S. government, is just not acceptable.

Italy Deports Terrorist to Tunisia - Terrorist Rights Supporters Upset

Italy deported a convicted terrorist to Tunisia, disregarding the whining of terrorist rights supporters such as Human Rights Watch and the European Court of Human Rights. Those organizations are concerned that the terrorist might face torture in Tunisia. Ali Ben Sassi Toumi served six years in an Italian prison for being a member of an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist cell. Here's what Human Rights Watch had to say about him.

"Italy has put Toumi at serious risk of being tortured. It now needs to take every possible step it can to ensure his protection, and stop its continuing contempt for the European Court and the fundamental rules of international human rights law," said Tayler. "Any abuse Toumi suffers in Tunisia is Italy's responsibility as well."

Human Terrorist Rights Watch is so upset that a poor convicted terrorist might be mistreated. So what if he's a threat to Italy. His rights as a terrorist are more important than Italian security. Congratulations to Italy for putting the safety of its citizens first, and ignoring the pressure from fools worried about the well-being of terrorists.

The Benefits of Being Rich & Powerful

I don't know how many Americans are following the Silvio Berlusconi scandal, so I thought I'd put up a post about it. Apparently the Italian prime minister, who has had a long history of womanizing, has been involved with a 17 year-old (now 18) model. He's 72. That was the final straw for his wife, who is now divorcing him. The whole thing is a big political scandal in Italy, and opposition leaders are attacking him. But surprisingly he's still pretty popular. I doubt any U.S. president could get away with nearly this much. 

Today the Telegraph put up a slide-show of the top 10 women Berlusconi has been involved with. Here's number 3. 

It's good to be the prime minister and richest man in Italy.

U.S. Ship Saved From Pirates

There was another piracy incident today involving a U.S. merchant ship, this time in the Gulf of Aden. Fortunately, three Canadian naval helicopters, along with an Italian one, intervened. The pirates were forced to surrender and taken prisoner by the Italians. Hopefully they won't just be released.

Ideally the helicopters would have just sunk the pirate boat. Apparently it fired an RPG at another merchant ship, so it was clearly identified as a pirate. If NATO naval forces would simply start sinking pirate boats caught in the act, the pirate problem would quickly diminish. Captured pirates should of course be hanged, but I know we're just too civilized to do that anymore. We'd rather release them, provide them with unwarranted legal "rights," or even allow them to sue their captors. But in any case, U.S. thanks are in order to Canada and Italy for their intervention and protection of an American vessel.