Secret Prisons and the Iraq War

Since the election of Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor, much has been made of apparent renewed ties between the United States and Germany. For example, Eberhard Sandschneider, the director of the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations, and William Drozdiak, president of the American Council on Germany, both agreed that relations between the US and Germany had thawed with her election.^[1] German newspapers have also reported on “definite sign[s] of the improving personal relations between the two leaders.”^[2]

Those relations seem to have become frayed somewhat, and it’s not just because President Bush gave Chancellor Merkel an impromptu, and apparently unwanted, neck-rub,^[3] as Chancellor Merkel “criticized Washington [over the weekend] for keeping terrorism suspects in secret prisons outside the reach of US law,” saying that the “use of such prisons is not compatible with my idea of the rule of law.”^[4] She also said that the “end does not justify the means” and that we, as ostensibly liberal (in the traditional sense of the word) nations, “have to find appropriate responses to oppose the terrorists without undermining fundamental principles and values.”^[5] The battle against Islamic terrorism, she says, “will only succeed if we strengthen democratic and economic development in crisis regions and cultivate respect for human rights,” and that “our motto in this fight should be respect of international law and respect and tolerance for other cultures.”^[6]

This is, however, not the first time that Chancellor Merkel has criticized the United States’ detention policies. Earlier this year, she suggested that President Bush shut down Guantanamo Bay, a suggestion that he rejected, saying that “Guantanamo is a necessary part of protecting the American people.”^[7] Thus, Chancellor Merkel’s strong language will likely, in the end, fall on deaf ears.

Somewhat related, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has finally, after years of delays, released its “report on the Bush administration’s use of intelligence that led to the American invasion of Iraq.”^[8] Unsurprisingly, the committee found that, among other things such as fabricated WMD intelligence, there was no formal relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda, and that Saddam Hussein, in fact, “did not trust Al Qaeda or any other radical Islamist group and did not want to cooperate with them.”^[9] He did, however, see it as effective in its ability to attack US interests.^[10]

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[1] Online NewsHour, Online Focus: US-German Relations, PBS, Jan. 13, 2006.
[2] See, e.g., Kate Hairsine, Bush Visit Sign of Closer US-German Relations, Deutsche Welle, Jul. 12, 2006.
[3] Friederike Freiburg et al., Rubbing the Chancellor’s Neck and Getting an Earful, Spiegel, Jul. 27, 2006.
[4] Merkel Criticizes Washington Over Secret Prisons, DPA (via Expatica.com), Sep. 9, 2006.
[5] Id.
[6] Europe Stands United Against Terrorism, But Stresses Fairness, Deutsche Welle, Sep. 11, 2006.
[7] PBS, supra note 1.
[8] Stephen J. Hedges, Report Rejects Prewar Link of Iraq, Al Qaeda, Chicago Tribune, Sep. 9, 2006.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.