Extraordinary rendition

Frankly, I'm having a hard time figuring out what the EU's position on the CIA's extraordinary redition practice really is. Wasn't it just a week or so ago that someone over there said there was no proof of secret CIA prisons in Europe? Today, we have another story:

BRUSSELS, Belgium - European lawmakers said Wednesday they had discovered a "widespread regular practice" of human rights violations by theCIA in Europe.

The lawmakers said they had documented a series of incidents in which terror suspects were kidnapped by the CIA in Europe, or handed over to the agency by European officials in violation of human rights treaties.

They said they had also found that the CIA has conducted more than 1,000 undeclared flights over European territory since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks — some carrying suspected terrorists to countries where they could face torture.

The suspects often were transported across Europe by the same planes and groups of people working for the CIA, the lawmakers said in a preliminary report.

"After 9/11, within the framework of the fight against terrorism, the violation of human and fundamental rights was not isolated or an excessive measure confined to a short period of time, but rather a widespread regular practice in which the majority of European countries were involved," said Italian lawmaker Giovanni Claudio Fava, who drafted the report.

I have a feeling some governments over there are trying just as hard as our government to cover this up. But, it just isn't working.