Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is off to Europe to tell European allies to shut up already about the secret CIA interrogation camps stashed around the world.

She did not confirm the existence of the prisons, saying "we cannot discuss information that would compromise the success of intelligence, law enforcement and military operations." She added that "some governments choose to cooperate with the U.S." in intelligence and law enforcement matters" and that that cooperation is a "two-way street."

The U.S., she said, has shared intelligence that has "stopped terrorist attacks and saved innocent lives, in Europe as well as in the U.S. and other countries."

Rice broadly defended the practice known as rendition, in which terror suspects are whisked away from countries without formal extradition. She said rendition was recognized by international law and has been used by many countries even before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Rice asserted that the U.S. does not transport terrorism suspects "for the purpose of interrogation using torture" and "will not transport anyone to a country when we believe he will be tortured."

Then why take him there? Why use these secret camps? Because they're "terrorists" like Carlos the Jackal and Ramzi Youssef. (Good style points there: Name two notorious terrorists to justify the secret interrogation of thousands of people. All these "suspects" are guilty of being suspects, so who needs due process?)

Any violation of detention standards is investigated and punished, she said, citing the case of abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison that "sickened us all" and the abuse of detainee by an intelligence agency contractor in Afghanistan.

If that's a plea for credulity, it's a pretty weak attempt, considering that no officers, let alone policy makers, have been charged in any of these outrages.

After weeks of being pummeled in the European media over reports about clandestine prisoner transfers and secret detention centers, administration officials have concluded that they need to put European governments on notice that they should back off and begin to emphasize the benefits of intelligence cooperation to their citizens.

Because it's so inconvenient when people actually demand accountability from the Bush Administration.

Rice pays lip service to the Constitution:

The United States is a country of laws. My colleagues and I have sworn to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. We believe in the rule of law.

...Hence the radical right's efforts to "reshape" the Supreme Court.

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