CIA ruse on missing cleric misled Italians - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

Well, here we have it ladies and gentlemen: Our nation has now been caught lying to one of our staunchest allies in the war on terror.

Caught. Not suspected, no outlandish conspiracy theories, none of that. They were actually caught lying to a friendly foreign govt.

The Italians were already investigating Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr for terrorist activities. It's not like they were the Taliban, providing him with safe have, they were trying to stop him.

But they were trying to do it legally. And I think we all know how this current administration feels about "due process."

In the end, he was tortured in Egypt and who knows what information they could extract from him there. (Most military experts agree that testimonies and confessions under torture are worthless.)

Armando Spataro, the lead prosecutor in Milan said, " . . .If Abu Omar had not been kidnapped, he would now be in prison, subject to a regular trial, and we would have probably identified his other accomplices."

Iraqis may have inked-stained thumbs, but we have blood on our hands.