Renditions to continue under Obama

I already blogged about this several days ago, when Obama’s first flurry of executive orders were released, but it’s worth noting again, as the L.A. Times has
And, as the Washington Post devoted a full story to just this issue.

“Renditions” to third-party, torturing countries such as Egypt or Jordan, will continue. And, let’s remind ourselves again that the practice started with Clinton, not Shrub Bush.

That said, the Obama orders say that the CIA is supposed to not render suspects to countries that torture, but there’s probably a loophole inside that somewhere, too.

In the Obama orders, there’s another loophole, too. The CIA’s own “black sites” CAN stay open, as long as used for “short-term” detentions only. Of course, the executive order doesn’t define “short term.”

And, that might be the loophole, if it’s not closed. Bring some Jordanian “advisors” to a CIA black site rather than fly somebody to Jordan.

I’m still cautiously optimistic on Obama’s civil liberties focs on this issue, but won’t write him a blank check.