Saturday, January 27, 2007

Stephen Grey on the Talking Dog

Stephen Grey, journalist and author of Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program is interviewed in a recent post on the Talking Dog.

Grey's book sheds light on the clandestine air traffic behind the U.S. government's detention and rendition programs. Not surprisingly, the Guantánamo Bay base has been convenient stop for U.S. government "ghost planes."

Says Grey:
When Guantanamo Bay opened up, someone at the CIA told me that Guantanamo was just the tip of the iceberg-- that there was a much larger network of prisons, jails around the world associated with the rendition program.

But the question becomes how to investigate this, given its immense secrecy. An opening occurred when I heard of one plane involved in the rendition from Sweden. Then the trail was picked up. I found my own "Deep Throat" who could provide me with flight plans of the CIA jet, and then I was able to identify a fleet of planes, and could trace their involvement. The story, in fact, became following these planes, because with this data, we could prove (1) that the stories of renditions told by prisoners who were released or got lawyers at Guantanamo were true, as their accounts matched flight plans precisely, (2) by looking at a fleet of aircraft, we could show that it was the CIA itself doing these things, and (3) I spoke to some of the pilots, who confirmed that they in fact worked for the CIA.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

Just saw Amnesty International have launched another cool campaign. I just joined and it's fun. Give it a try, it's for a good cause and it takes only a couple of minutes. Postin' some of the info from their blog:

"Where can you find bearded ladies, parachuting mermaids and Siamese pirate twins on the web? On the way to Guántanamo!

Amnesty International has launched an animated online petition asking for people to join our flotilla travelling all the way to Guantánamo. We have already got thousands of people on the voyage with us. The travellers are taking part in AI's latest online campaign to draw more people to our campaign against the US government to close Guantánamo. This online petition will run until 26 June, International day for the Protection of Victims of Torture.

Help us pass the message! Please forward the link to as many people as you can http://www.amnesty.org/ and ask them to sign up to the campaign and forward it to their friends and colleagues. People can also link to the flotilla from their website or blog. Find here banners and buttons in several languages. Together we can Close Guantánamo. Let's give it a good try!

Joining only takes a minute and it is a lot of fun. And while you're there, have a look at how your friends and colleagues here have designed their outfits, done their hair and chosen their mode of transport -- its a hoot! Have you always wanted a beard but were afraid to grow one? Now's your chance!

The campaign is gathering momentum and is creating quite a splash. Now we need your help to pass on the message. Can we count on you to keep up the momentum and ensure we get this awful detention site closed for good?

Thanks, everyone!

Amnesty International"


so there you are, ladies, go grow your beard on the way to Guantánamo! :)

(the mermaid with a beard riding a sea dragon, that's me!)