Cooperation

[Peter_Puget]

You're either with us or agin us -but no matter they hate you too.

[catbirdseat]

I've heard it said that the US often will refuse to turn over sufficient evidence to other nations to allow them to determine whether there is probable cause for an arrest. It's natural that with our gulag at Guantanamo Bay that they might wish to avoid having their citizens unjustly detained.

[mattp]

Does anybody remember when, last Summer, they had a mole working for U.S. or British intelligence, and the Bush administration blew that person's cover by telling the press they had inside information in an attempt to justify raising the terror alert during the Democratic convention? After this, the British had to hurry up and arrest a bunch of guys real quick and it virtually put a stop to what was until that point a very productive intelligence operation targetting a cell operating in Brittain.

 

Who knows what they might have learned had they arrested this guy Puget refers to. It is equally feasible that, a year ago, the U.S. blew British efforts that might have prevented 7/7 as it is that, a month ago, the British denied a U.S. proposal that would have. A year ago we had a mole who was exchanging email with higher ups and forwarding his findings on to us. Would we have gotten crucial intelligence from this guy Aswat?

[foraker]

gee, mattp, what are you saying? that the brits blocked a request from their good buddies the US because, oh, a year ago we royally screwed their intelligence people over? what kind of allies are those?!? bloody unreasonable that is!

[mattp]

Nope. I'm commenting on the fact that if you read the article that PP linked, it sounds as if the U.S. was saying that they think they might have prevented the 7/7 bombings if only the British hadn't blocked their efforts to do so.

 

It is all speculation, and everybody is just trying to make their political points regardless of any actual facts -- like those who said 7/7 would never have happened if only Spain hadn't pulled out of Iraq following the Madrid bombings. I'm saying that the connection with last year's bungling an ongoing intelligence operation targetting a British terrorist cell is probably just as clear as that the Bush spokespeople want to make now. You won't find them willing to talk about their screw up last summer, though -- only what they present as Brittain's lack of resolve eight weeks ago.

[cj001f]

Why would British authorities have taken him into custody if he was in South Africa?

[foraker]

read something that PP posts? sorry, I stopped doing that.

[slothrop]

And then there was the CIA kidnapping of a terrorism suspect in Italy, after the CIA had milked the Italians' cooperation for all it was worth. Italy was close to making something of the case, but then the CIA folks disappeared with the guy.