Rice Visit Fails to Build Bridges

Condoleezza Rice’s visit to Berlin was quickly derailed from its purpose of establishing a harmonious trans-Atlantic relationship by the sensitive and inflammatory issue of torture. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reported that Rice had admitted the US made a mistake by abducting Khaled al-Masri, a German citizen wrongly suspected of involvement in the 9/11 terror attacks, imprisoning and, he claims, torturing him. The US responded by denying that Rice admitted a mistake, saying she had instead asserted that if the US had made errors of that sort they would be addressed. Rice has found herself defending the Bush administration’s handling of terror suspects against charges that the ‘rendition’ process is being used by the US to circumvent international law regarding torture and that it is connected to a network of secret prisons in which illegal activities have been taking place. Her claims that the US has not violated either international law or its own avowed principles have been met with skepticism, and the controversy illustrates the increasing divergence between the US and Europe on the issue of what are legitimate means with which to carry out the war on terror. – YaleGlobal