A former CIA head, Michael Scheuer, has admitted that Islamic Awaking has created major intelligence problems for the governments of the UK and the US.
Scheuer, the former head of the CIA unit in charge of pursuing Osama bin Laden from 1996 to 1999, warned that intelligence agents in these countries might resort to rendition programmes as they face lack of intelligence after the fall of dictatorial regimes in countries like Egypt, Tunisia and Libya.
“The help we were getting from the Egyptian intelligence service, less so from the Tunisians but certainly from the Libyans and Lebanese, has dried up- either because of resentment at our governments stabbing their political leaders in the back, or because those who worked for the services have taken off in fear of being incarcerated or worse,” Scheuer added.
Describing Islamic Awakening as “an intelligence disaster for the US and for Britain, and other European services,” he acknowledged the American and British intelligence agents being left blind.
The special adviser to the CIA chief from 2001 to 2004 warned that extraordinary rendition techniques would be back and admitted that “there is nothing with which to replace the rendition programme.”
Extraordinary rendition, or “torture by proxy,” as described by critics, is the abduction and transfer of a person from one country to states for the purpose of torture.
Sheuer urged the American and British intelligence agents to resume rendition programmes, saying that the detainees have been held in custody for so long that they cannot provide useful information any longer.
“The rendition programme must come back - the people we have in custody now are pretty long in the tooth, in terms of the information they can provide in interrogations,” he said.
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