The CIA and Wrongful Detention

The Washington Post reported on the “Masri case” and on the CIA practice of “Rendition” of alleged terrorists. The article gives a negative outlook on the American detention procedures. After reading the article and hearing previous news stories about prisoner abuse in Guantanamo Bay the American public and world get the impression that our procedures are rash, corrupt, and biased.

There are a few things to keep in mind before signing new laws to grant rights of American jurisprudence to foreign enemies or suspects and spurn the system.

It is important to not let a few CIA “mistakes” cloud the difficult job they are expected to perform to protect the American public and allies from harm. Under these circumstances they cannot afford to lose a potential terrorist and would rather err on the side of over caution than under caution (you would too if you carried such a responsibility).

Also some of these terrorists are wily if they know they can get media sympathy to be released they will. This fact has been proved at Guantanamo Bay, a few notorious terrorists once released from “wrongful retention” retuned to Afghanistan and other countries and began spreading terror with double vengeance while gaining the respect of their co-terrorists by their escape. Doubtless they also spread tips for getting out of detention.

Another thing to consider is that the CIA, because they are under cover, deals with many countries and peoples not all with U.S standards of ethics. At times abuses occur without U.S sanction; this is one of the weaknesses of covert justice. The United States dealt honorably in the “Masri case” they could have hid the CIA’s mistake of mistaken identity, but they chose the honorable honest approach and admitted their mistake.

The current administration should be praised for admitting its mistakes and while it improves its procedures. We all make mistakes and err in judgment, what distinguishes the “men from the boys” is how we deal with our failures. Since our government chose the difficult right choice, they should not be criticized for openly declaring their mistakes.

There are many countries in the world who criticize the United States when its mistakes become known; however, many times these countries subject their own people to unimaginable torture. Americans can be proud of their heritage of freedom and equal justice and keep themselves accountable to that standard so that our prized liberty is not stained by abuse.