Sincere Men of Conscience

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

If there's anything that can be learned since 9-11, it is that all intelligence is self-serving and presents a bias. This is my pragmatic objection to the extraordinary rendition program, which seems alive and well within U.S. policy.

If people are tortured, they will talk. This is a given. But if the U.S. delivers people to be tortured by a third party, then the reliability and accuracy of the reported intelligence should be viewed skeptically, at best. Unless a U.S. agent is present at the torture sessions and unless said agent speaks fluently the language in question, then all intelligence gained via tortue is useless.

The agency or country providing this service will always filter and skew all results to assist their objectives. Nobody provides intel to the U.S. just to be friendly and helpful. All nations and intelligence services share intel to benefit their specific interests and policies.

Torture and rendition are a waste of money, effort and intelligence assets. That's the bottom line.