Thanks Salon - makes me want to read this courageous man's book.

It all sounds so low-grade John Le Carre, and I kept thinking of the movie someone will make of this. Casting choices abound, but everytime he mentioned the "White House" presumably driving the bogus agenda, all I could see was a giant close-up of big fat snarling lips. Guess who.

There have been a few times in my life where I have acted impulsively and then, regretting it, have looked back and analyzed the decision. One time I decided suddenly to run across a wide street while carrying luggage, as cars were heading toward me from a reasonable distance. I almost made it across the street and then tripped. The cars stopped, fortunately, and someone helped me get to the sidewalk. I did injure myself, though, and I still have a noticeable scar (at least to me, although other people claim not to notice it) from the incident. Every time I look at the scar, I regret that impulsive decision, but then I think about how the scar is there to remind me not to act impulsively.

So this is just a little scar. No serious damage to my health. This incident happened almost 4 years ago, and yet, I still think of it whenever I am inclined to do something risky. Then I read this interview, and I realized how miniscule my own personal concerns are compared to the damage this Administration has caused throughout the world. More than 3,000 American lives cut short. Many more Iraqis have died. And we have more enemies than ever before, and ever spreading. If this had been an impulsive decision, then I could at least think, "Lesson learned." But no, this was a conscious act. It was not an impulsive mistake. These people have deliberately dug us into a hole from which we might never escape. And every time I read another story about pre-war intelligence, I get more upset. The notion that Bush and his cronies would dismiss evidence that could have prevented the deaths and injuries that we have sustained...just so that Cheney's friends (and eventually he) could make some extra money...this is beyond Shakespearean. We need a new Shakespeare who can articulate the depth of this tragedy and the flaws of our government.

Few surprises here except that Drumheller seems to accept, at least in principle, the idea of extraordinary rendition. This worries me.

If you suspect somebody of terrorist activity then you should arrest him or put him under surveillance. But with rendition, we're talking about the kidnapping of a foreign national in a foreign country, with or without the connivance of the local government, and his transportation to a third country for secret interrogation and, we now know, possible torture. It may well turn out that the kidnapped person is totally innocent and is eventually allowed home, having been tortured and lost months or years of his life, with no apology or recompense. Oh dear, never mind.

This is NOT alright and the CIA, the US government and those European goverments who cooperated in this outrage should be deeply ashamed.

Short of invading and trashing your country, it's difficult to think of anything more likely to fan the flames of terrorism than this sort of casual and arrogant illegality.

The Bush administration has wanted war at a horrible expense not only for Americans but for the entire world community.

The bloody everyday reports from Iraq, the unrest created in the whole region mirror how American democracy has changed into what Flaubert called "la démocrasserie", the abuse of power in the name of the people.

Small minds in the White House toying with too much power - the game is clearly a case for the International War Crime Court at the Hague.

For a very longtime, I was neither a supporter or a detractor of the war. I wondered, as did so many Americans: what is it we really don't know that could be making this war a righteous war?

When you couple that with the radical political spin from both sides on the war, is it any wonder Americans were split, and still are privately (too risky to be pro-war for some publicly in light of the botch job.

If you think about it logically, it is clear our leadership took every liberty they could to assure support of the effort. Given the fact that no matter how many jokes we make about Bush and Co., none are stupid. They fully understood the level of deceit used to gain license for the war. Given the slight of hand along with shameless partisan politics on such a vital issue, it was understood they could gain support through their own misinformation along with media and political hyperbole.

Will there ever be a time that we bring facts to bear on our actions in the future, or must we continue manipulate every platform? Frankly I am sickened.

If they didn't do paramilitary actions for a living, they would probably be robbing banks.

Knights in shining armor. These are the goons we're using, the "good" guys who're willing to undertake rendition operations? The GOP loves the under the table, off the shelf kind of operating, with goon squads waiting in the wings to afford the leadership maximum deniability (and responsibility) for its policies. It's this kind of action that serves as excellent propaganda for our enemies, and makes us less, and not more safe at home.

The "party of personal responsibility" seems intent on evading responsibility for its action, where the leadership is concerned. This kind of cloak-and-dagger thuggery is reflective of our political weakness in international affairs, where we lack real diplomatic connections in various regions, and try the kidnap-and-torture-in-secret-prisons route to gain information, and then wonder why we're held in ever-lessening esteem abroad.

If they weren't paramilitaries, they would probably be robbing banks.Couldn't find honest people for the covert CIA operations?Long live DEMOCRACY!!! And I thought there were some ethical reasons behind all this.

Reading the second page it became crystalclear that if you want to make an illegal war, any illegality counts. Who needs more proof that this war was criminal and should be basis of of the prosecution of those criminals in Washington who deceived the American people and created an unprecedented mess for all. And all that it seems on behalf of the Oil business and the likes of Halliburton, who managed to get their boss into the position of Vicepresident to dominate over a certain Dumbya.