The New York Times is reporting today that the CIA has been using foreign countries to interrogate terrorist suspects:

“The Bush administration’s secret program to transfer suspected terrorists to foreign countries for interrogation has been carried out by the Central Intelligence Agency under broad authority that has allowed it to act without case-by-case approval from the White House or the State or Justice Departments, according to current and former government officials.”

Not surprising in the least, this report screams “Maher Arar” from the mountaintops. In fact, so similar is the description of “rendering” suspects as compared to Arar’s situation, I’d have to be convinced otherwise that this isn’t exactly what happened to him.

Those following the case may remember a report from Israeli newspaper Haaretz in late 2004 that wondered whether Arar was held in a secret prison in Jordon (see second page of this PDF newsletter from maherarar.ca)- a prison controlled by the CIA:

“The Haaretz newspaper wrote that such a facility outside the U.S. ‘enables CIA interrogators to apply interrogation methods banned by U.S. law.’”

The only people who are afraid of disclosure are the guilty. Where have we heard that before? …Probably from the same people now complaining about the costs of figuring out who the hell is responsible.