HOME | BIO | MUSIC | JOURNEYS BY DJ | STUDIO BLOG | POLITICAL BLOG | BOOKING INFO | CONTACT

When Bush announced he was transferring detainees from secret CIA prisons to Gitmo, I wondered what it was that had prompted the move. After all, when the WaPo first broke the story, Bush claimed that even mentioning the existence of the prisons or the prisoners was a threat to national security. Yet there he was, boasting about how he had ordered the transfer. It just didn't add up, but I had no idea why. Until now:

The Bush administration had to empty its secret prisons and transfer terror suspects to the military-run detention centre at Guantánamo this month in part because CIA interrogators had refused to carry out further interrogations and run the secret facilities, according to former CIA officials and people close to the programme.

The former officials said the CIA interrogators’ refusal was a factor in forcing the Bush administration to act earlier than it might have wished.

When Mr Bush announced the suspension of the secret prison programme in a speech before the fifth anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, some analysts thought he was trying to gain political momentum before the November midterm congressional elections.

The administration publicly explained its decision in light of the legal uncertainty surrounding permissible interrogation techniques following the June Supreme Court ruling that all terrorist suspects in detention were entitled to protection under Common Article Three of the Geneva Conventions.

But the former CIA officials said Mr Bush’s hand was forced because interrogators had refused to continue their work until the legal situation was clarified because they were concerned they could be prosecuted for using illegal techniques. One intelligence source also said the CIA had refused to keep the secret prisons going.

So... now that we know this, can we please stop all this nonsense about how uber-genius Karl Rove masterminded all of this as a political ploy to hurt the Democrats in the fall elections. He's a human being, not some sort of all powerful god who has complete control over every aspect of US foreign and domestic policy.