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Germany’s hypocrisy over rendition

New revelations of collusion with the US War on Terror damage Europe’s clout, says t k vogel

Ever since 9/11, the moralising that has been Europe's routine response to America's War on Terror has tended to obscure two facts: this war is for real - and so are the moral issues it raises. But Europe's capacity for moral grandstanding has just received two serious blows.

First, a German parliamentary committee is investigating claims that German agents helped their US counterparts select targets during the bombing of Baghdad, a claim first made by a high-ranking Pentagon source.

Second, a senior Council of Europe investigator, Senator Dick Marty of Switzerland, is accusing European governments of collusion in illegal practices by the CIA, including "extraordinary rendition".

Last week, the European Parliament set up a committee to look into the allegations. Several countries have been investigating the
Europe’s leaders don’t want to ask too many tough questions of the US about ‘extraordinary rendition’

use of their airports and airspace by the CIA (or front companies) to transfer terror suspects to third countries; the latest rumblings are coming from Scotland, where the SNP has compiled a list of such flights.

All this comes after an embarrassing admission last month by the German government that its agents had interviewed a Turkish terrorist suspect, Murat Kurnaz, in Guantanamo Bay.

In the light of these revelations it is perhaps understandable that Europe's political leaders don't want to ask too many tough questions of the US about its extraordinary rendition policy and its continued use of Guantanamo.

But it would be a mistake for the Bush administration to take comfort in Europe's moral paralysis. For Senator Marty's objection is not just that the US use of extraordinary rendition is illegal, but also that it is counter-productive, serving as a recruiting tool for al-Qaeda. The point surely deserves more serious thought than the White House seems willing to give it.

FIRST POSTED JANUARY 19

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