The Italian judge’s order to arrest 13 men linked to the CIA is not an especially good sign. It reveals that we are indeed pressing against bad guys in unconventional ways (renditions--abducting terror suspects and transporting them to third countries--for example), and also that the Italians (and Europeans generally) prefer a different method of counterterrorism, one that works through the criminal justice system.
More bad news. The Europeans are failing miserably in prosecuting terrorists. Light sentences or acquitals. The Germans just acquitted one that all involved knew was a terrorist.
We need to keep doing what we’re doing and ignore the judges.
Imagine if it was discovered that the Bush Administration knew there was a terrorist running around Milan and his cell was responsible for an attack on the US. Could you imagine the outcry..Why didn’t you do anything?
Kidnapping bad guys from foreign lands is becoming more necessary. The failure of Europeans to take terrorists seriously is forcing the US to take a grimmer approach. Rather than kidnapping bad guys from European countries, it may become necessary to simply kill them in situ. Bombs in mosques where the message of "death to america" is preached regularly may bear the fingerprints of rival jihadi groups. Red on red violence within the muslim communities of Europe may grow more common due to the limp wristed European approach.
Peter - Just out of curiosity, why did you put the word renditions in quotation marks?