Aleksandr Chepurin hopes the
OSCE will give a principled assessment that Ankara committed a de facto
act of aggression when it shot down a Russian military jet.
Source: Beta, Politika, Tanjug
Russia is satisfied with the close cooperation on all
levels during Serbia's OSCE presidency and its crucial role in tackling
the Ukrainian crisis in which Serbians have shown great political and
diplomatic skill, the Russian ambassador told Belgrade-based daily
Politika.
Chepurin said that Russia's military engagement in Syria
is in line with international law, and stressed that the Su-24 that
Turkey shot down, when its pilot was killed, at no point jeopardized
that country's security.
Asked whether the bomber's downing was
"the start of a wider conflict between Moscow and NATO," the ambassador
reminded that Turkey is a member of the western military alliance, "and
the biggest member beside the U.S." - and that he did not hear a clear
assessment that such attacks are impermissible, nor guarantees they will
not happen in the future, "either from Ankara or from Brussels."
He said that Russia respects Belgrade's foreign policy aimed at both
the EU integration and cherishing friendly ties with Russia, noting that
NATO membership is not among the EU accession criteria.
Speaking about the changing economic relations between Russia and Turkey
in the wake of the shooting down of the Russian bomber, and Moscow's
decision to introduce some sanctions, the diplomat said it will
positively influence strengthening of economic cooperation with his
country's traditional friends, including Serbia.
"Additional
opportunities are opening up in the Russian market in construction,
manufacturing and food sectors. It is important to create effective
mechanisms for that cooperation." said Chepurin.
The refugees were transferred via ferry boat from the islands of Lesvos and Samos
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
More than 3,000 refugees were transferred from the islands of Lesvos and Samos to the port of Piraeus on Tuesday morning.
Specifically the Super Fast XII transported 1,485 from Lesvos, the Blue Star 1 carried 780 and the Nisos Rodos transferred 698 from Lesvos and a further 204 from Samos.
Albanian supporters of Kosovo opposition party
Vetevendosje protested in Tirana against what they called the
‘political’ arrest of MP Albin Kurti, who was detained for tear-gassing
parliament.
Fatjona Mejdini
BIRN
Tirana
Protesters in Tirana on Tuesday | Photo: BIRN
Several dozen activists gathered on Tuesday in front of the Pyramid, a well-known landmark in Tirana, to protest against Kurti’s 30-day remand in a top-security jail.
Students, civil society representatives and independent MP Mesila
Doda took part in the rally alongside the Vetevendosje
(Self-Determination) party supporters.
They also criticised the recent Pristina-Belgrade agreement to create
an Association of Serbian Municipalities to represent Kosovo’s Serbs,
which Kosovo opposition parties believe will give Serbs too much power,
and has led MPs like Kurti to repeatedly set off tear gas in parliament
in protest.
Some carried placards describing Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa
and Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci as 'traitors' for agreeing to the
deal.
Mustafa and Thaci were called 'traitors' | Photo: BIRN
Taulant, a student who took part in the rally, told BIRN that
Albania’s leaders should speak out against the Association of Serbian
Municipalities.
"They are afraid of international bodies in raising their voice
against this anti-Albanian agreement, but we aren’t keeping quiet," he
said.
The Albanian government has been careful to remain neutral about the arrests of opposition figures in neighbouring Kosovo.
A protester with a map showing Albania and Kosovo united | Photo: BIRN
Some protesters also called for the unification of Albanians in a
united state, holding posters with a map of Albania and Kosovo joined
together.
Abdi Baleta, a former Albania ambassador to the United Nations known
for his nationalist rhetoric, said Vetevendosje’s wish for the
unification of all Albanians would be granted sooner or later.
“The Vetevendosje cause of united Albanians is taking shape,” he said.
Albanian MP Mesila Doda (in sunglasses) at the protest | Photo: BIRN
Independent MP Doda criticised the Kosovo authorities for remanding
Kurti, who was arrested by riot police when they stormed the
Vetevendosje party’s headquarters on Saturday.
"There is no reason at all for the detention of Kurti. We cannot
return to political imprisonment; this should be an obsolete concept
across the Albania nation," Doda told BIRN.
Activist Erion Kristo also said that that he came to the rally to oppose what he called a politically-motivated detention.
"The detention of young activists and opposition members of
parliament is a democratic national cause. This arrest is going to badly
affect the political climate in Albania as well," he told BIRN.
The
European Union will introduce a visa-free regime with Turkey in autumn
2016, in case Ankara meets all outstanding requirements, European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Sunday.
BRUSSELS
(Sputnik) – Earlier, President of the European Council Donald Tusk
stated that the European Union and Turkey at a meeting in Brussels
on Sunday approved a joint plan to boost negotiations on its membership
in the bloc.
"If all conditions are met, I think that visa
liberalization could take effect in the autumn of 2016," Juncker told
reporters after an EU-Turkey meeting in Brussels.
A previous tear gas incident in the Kosovo assembly, on Nov. 17 (Beta, file)
They oppose the part of the EU-brokered Brussels agreement on the setting up of a Community of Serb Municipalities.
Previously, the police did not allow opposition
Self-Determination party MP Fisnik Isamaili to enter the hall. Plain
clothes police officers escorted him toward "offices in the parliament
building," reported the Beta agency, adding that when reporters asked
"where he was going", Ismaili "did not respond."
Self-Determination assembly group leader Glauf Konjufca said that the
opposition will not allow any sitting to be held "until signatures have
been withdrawn from the agreement on the community of municipalities
with a Serb majority, and from that on border demarcation with
Montenegro."
Tanjug is reporting that following today's meeting
of the leaders of the three opposition parties which oppose the
implementation of the Brussels agreement, Self-Determination party
leader Visar Imeri said that the opposition would continue the blockade.
He told Koha Ditore daily said that their protests would
continue at today's meeting, but did not explain the manner and means
that would be used.
"We will continue the blockade. The protest will continue today," Imeri said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu met on Monday (30 November
2015) to discuss a wide range of pressing international issues,
including the crisis in Syria and last week’s incident which led to the
downing of Russian Air Force aircraft.
“All Allies fully support Turkey’s right to defend its territorial integrity and its airspace” the Secretary General said after the meeting. “I
welcome Turkey’s efforts to establish contacts with Moscow and through
its contacts with Russia, to de-escalate the situation. It is important
to stay calm and to calm tensions”, Mr Stoltenberg added.
The Secretary General also highlighted the need to avoid similar situations in the future. “Last
week’s incident shows how important it is to strengthen international
mechanisms to build stability, transparency and predictability in our
relationship with Russia. This is key to reducing the risks of incidents
and accidents.” Mr Stoltenberg said. Looking ahead, he stressed
that risk reduction and transparency on military activities will be
discussed at the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers on 1 and 2 December.
The Secretary General urged Russia to play a constructive role in
Syria by targeting ISIL, which is our common enemy. Mr Stoltenberg
emphasized that NATO strongly supports the renewed international efforts
to find a genuine political solution to the conflict in Syria.
“I believe that sooner or later (Kurdistan) will declare its independence,” Zeman said.
According to the Czech leader, he met with the President of Iraqi
Kurdistan Massoud Barzani, who said that in some time he will be ready
to announce a referendum.
In addition, the Czech president mentioned the Turkish fight against the Kurds.
“It is in fact the armed Kurds that are the only (ground) force that is at war with ISIL,” Zeman said.
“There is a saying: the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” the Czech
president said. “Turkish hostility towards the Kurds leads to the fact
that Turkey is hesitating in its fight against ISIL.”
“Turkey has to decide whom it will join,” Milos
Zeman said, adding that one of the problems when dealing with ISIL is
the fact that some of the countries extend “financial and other
support.”
The
president also noted that, “Turkey wanted to flex its muscles, but made
a mistake that will not help anyone. If possible, for 17 seconds the
Turkish airspace was violated and it is unlikely that during this time
the Russian pilot was warned 10 times to move to Syrian territory,” when
commenting on the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air
Force on Tuesday.
Ankara claimed that it downed the Russian aircraft because it had
allegedly violated Turkish airspace. The Russian General Staff and the
Syrian Air Defense Command have refuted the claims.
Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, along with several interviews given to the German media, spoke about the most read daily in Germany, "Bild Zeitung".
Thaçi said that the Balkans is over three challenges, which could put into question the stability and security in Southeast Europe.
The first has to do with the Russian influence in the Balkans, the second with the refugee crisis and the third with religious radicalism.
German daily, Thaci warned that Russia, through intervention in the region is investing against countries that aspire to membership in NATO and the European Union.
Speaking about the crisis of migrants stated that the closure of European borders to immigrants can create problems for the Balkan states, which do not have the same capacity as the European Union countries.
"Balkan countries do not have the same capacity as those of the EU to cope with the crisis. So you need a more intensive cooperation between the EU and the Balkan states, "said Thaci.
Neither surface the increase of religious radicalism in the margins of society can create incidents in this region. "Bild" wrote that on Wednesday in Kosovo closed 17 non-governmental organizations, which among other allegedly financed the imams, who have used hate speech. / KosovaPress
Turkish warplanes abruptly ceased violating Greek airspace after
downing a Russian Sukhoi Su-24 bomber on November 24. Previously, air
intrusions made by Turkish fighter jets took place on a daily basis and
amounted to thousands a year.
The data comes from a diplomatic source in Athens, cited by RIA Novosti.
The
last time Turkish warplanes were spotted in Greek airspace was on
November 25, when six jets, two of them carrying weapons, entered the
neighbor’s aerial domain.
Intrusions of Turkish jets into Greek national airspace remain a
constant headache for Athens. Turkey and Greece, while partners in
NATO, have been adversaries for centuries. The two nations have warred
with each other before and still have territorial disputes.
In
particular 2014 was marked with a sharp increase of Greek airspace
violations by the Turkish Air Force, which amounted to 2,244 incidents.
From January to October 2015, Greece’s airspace was violated by Turkish
warplanes 1,233 times, including 31 flights over Greek territory itself,
according to the Greek Air Force’s headquarters. In November, before
the downing of the Russian bomber, there were at least 50 registered
airspace violations.
Turkish jets habitually intrude into Greek
airspace over disputed islands in the Aegean Sea, provoking the Greek
Air Force to scramble fighter jets to intercept. Such airborne
rendezvous often end with mock dogfights, with pilots performing real
lock-ons of their air-to-air missiles onto their NATO partner’s
aircraft.
Athens has repeatedly raised the matter at NATO
meetings. Greece’s representative to NATO last reported Turkish
violations of their national airspace on November 24. The reaction of
other NATO member states has been usually to sit on the fence, and
Ankara continued to test Athen’s patience.
When Turkey shot down
the Russian bomber on Tuesday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikas Kotzias
expressed solidarity with Russia in a phone conversation with his
Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
“Athens agrees with the Russian president’s assessment on
Ankara’s hostile actions, which are contrary to the goals of the
anti-ISIS coalition,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said, as reported by RIA Novosti.
Greece, according to its Foreign Ministry, “especially
comprehends provocative moves by Turkey given regular multiple
violations of Greek air space by Ankara lasting for years.”
According
to Greece’s General Staff, on November 24, the day a Turkish F-16
fighter jet fired an air-to-air missile at Russia’s bomber, the Turkish
Air Force made no violations of Greek airspace for the first time in a
long period.
Once the Russian warplane went down in flames, “there was zero activity of Turkish aviation in Greek FIR in the Aegean Sea, and it is understandable why,” RIA Novosti cited a diplomatic source in Athens.
The
Turkish Air Force also halted strikes on Syrian territory after Russia
deployed S-400 long-range air defense complexes at the Khmeimim airbase
in Syria’s Latakia, from where the Russian Air Force strikes Islamic
State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL).
Dozens of Albanian and American flags are being hung from
utility poles along Hylan Boulevard today in celebration of Albanian
Independence day. (Staten Island Advance/Vincent Barone)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- If you noticed dozens of red flags adorned
with a black two-headed eagle hanging alongside American flags on Hylan
Boulevard Saturday and wondered their significance, you are not alone.
The flags are being flown from utility poles along the major Island
thoroughfare in celebration of Albanian Independence Day, held annually
on Nov. 28.
Albanians living on Staten Island gathered Friday night at the
Albanian Islamic Cultural Center in Tompkinsville to celebrate the
holiday, which commemorates Albania's revolt from the Ottoman Empire in
1912.
"When we celebrate, there is usually a lot of singing and dancing to
Albanian songs," said Dr. Tahir Kukaj, the vice president of the
cultural center. "At the center on Friday, because it's a mosque, we
hosted lectures on the history of that day, Nov. 28, 1912. We also
talked about and celebrated leaders from all religions – priests,
imams."
Dr. Kukaj is thankful that the city lets Albanian Americans hang the
Albanian flag on Hylan each year. He said that Hylan Boulevard is chosen
for the flag placement because there is a sizeable number of Albanians
that live along the boulevard.
"We have a large Albanian community on Staten Island...and we're
happy to be part of this great city where we can practice our full
rights side by side," he said. "The holiday is right after Thanksgiving
and we cherish and celebrate both glorious holidays."
Bob Baer, a former CIA operative, believes the
situation in the Middle East is out of control and shaping up to look
like the beginning of World War III.
“This mosaic in the Middle East of conflict is getting out of control,” Baer told CNN.“It’s
not just Russia and Turkey, it’s Iran and Saudi Arabia. It is expanding
rather than contracting, and nobody has a strategic plan.”
Baer said Vladimir Putin is likely to react to the Turkish shoot down of a Russian warplane.
On Thursday Putin said the United States knew the flight path of the aircraft and may have fed this information to Turkey.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced expansive economic sanctions against Turkey andRussia’s
military shut down all communication channels with the Turkish
military, including a “hot line” to help avoid air incidents.
Turkey remains intransigent on the shoot down and has vowed to respond if Russia targets its planes violating Syrian airspace.
On
Thursday Moscow deployed its advanced S-400 air defense system in
Syria. The weapon will be used to protect the Russian Hmeimim airbase in
Latakia. The Russian defense ministry posted a video of the deployment
on its Facebook page.
Baer said we should expect Putin
to respond to provocations by Turkey. “I wouldn’t put it past him. He’s
not going to back down,” he said.
“That’s the way he
framed this conflict,” Baer said. “The chances of this escalating from
here without deconfliction of any sort are pretty good.”
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday voiced regret over Turkey's downing of a
Russian warplane, saying his country was "truly saddened" by the
incident and wished it hadn't occurred.
It was the first expression of
regret by the strongman leader since Tuesday's incident in which Turkish F-16
jets shot down the Russian jet on grounds that it had violated Turkey's
airspace despite repeated warnings to change course. It was the first time in
half a century that a NATO member shot down a Russian plane and drew a harsh
response from Moscow.
"We are truly saddened by this
incident," Erdogan said. "We wish it hadn't happened as such, but
unfortunately such a thing has happened. I hope that something like this
doesn't occur again."
Addressing supporters in the western
city of Balikesir, Erdogan said neither country should allow the incident to
escalate and take a destructive form that would lead to "saddening
consequences."
He renewed a call for a meeting with
President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a climate conference in Paris next
week, saying it would be an opportunity to overcome tensions.
Erdogan's friendly overture however,
came after he again vigorously defended Turkey's action and criticized Russia
for its operations in Syria.
"If we allow our sovereign
rights to be violated ... then the territory would no longer be our
territory," Erdogan said.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu also said he hoped a meeting between Erdogan and Putin would take
place in Paris.
"In such situations it is
important to keep the channels of communication open," he said.
Putin has denounced the Turkish
action as a "treacherous stab in the back," and has insisted that the
plane was downed over Syrian territory in violation of international law. He
has also refused to take telephone calls from Erdogan. Putin's foreign affairs
adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Friday that the Kremlin had received Erdogan's
request for a meeting, but wouldn't say whether such a meeting is possible.
Asked why Putin hasn't picked up the
phone to respond to Erdogan's two phone calls, he said that "we have seen
that the Turkish side hasn't been ready to offer an elementary apology over the
plane incident."
After the incident, Russia deployed
long-range S-400 air defense missile systems to a Russian air base in Syria
just 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the border with Turkey to help protect
Russian warplanes, and the Russian military warned it would shoot down any
aerial target that would pose a potential threat to its planes.
Russia has since also restricted
tourist travel to Turkey, left Turkish trucks stranded at the border,
confiscated large quantities of Turkish food imports and started preparing a
raft of broader economic sanctions.
On Saturday Turkey issued a travel
warning urging its nationals to delay non-urgent and unnecessary travel to
Russia, saying Turkish travelers were facing "problems" in the country.
It said Turks should delay travel plans until "the situation becomes
clear."
Russian
President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday to boost national
security and introduce economic measures against Turkey, the Kremlin
press service said.
"Russian
President V.V. Putin has signed a Decree ‘On Measures to Guarantee
National Security in the Russian Federation and Protect Russian Citizens
Against Criminal and Other Illegal Actions, and on Special Economic
Measures Against the Turkish Republic," the statement said.
Russian travel agencies will have to stop selling tours to Turkey after January 1, 2016, according to Kremlin.
Charter air transportation between Russia and Turkey will also be banned.
Moreover, Russia will restrict import of certain Turkish goods, the statement said.
PEC – Patriarch Irinej of the Serbian Orthodox Church on Tuesday
urged all former residents of Kosovo-Metohija to return to their homes
in the province.
“We know that they live in difficult circumstances – the Lord will
give them the strength to endure – I call on all former residents of
Kosovo-Metohija to return to their homes, their temples and cemeteries
to protect and preserve what they had received from their ancestors,”
Patriarch Irinej said.
After a liturgy marking the day of the ktetor of the Visoki Decani
monastery, the patriarch said that “any message is weak compared to the
message of this sacred site and (its ktetor) the Holy King Stefan
Decanski.”
The Albanian national made the victim feel "intimated, scared and extremely uncomfortable" according to police
Link
A 21-year-old man will be deported back to Albania and placed on the
sex offenders register for seven years after he pleaded guilty to a
sexual assault.
Besnik Ferizolli, an Albanian national, appeared before Blackfriars Crown Court on Tuesday, November 18.
Ferizolli was arrested by British Transport Police after he sexually assaulted a woman at Northwood London Underground station on Wednesday, October 7.
According to British Transport Police
, Ferizolli approached a 19-year-old woman asking her to sit down near
him. He then proceeded to kiss her and put his arm around her before
boarding the train with the woman. He sat next to her and kissed her
again on her cheek.
He also demanded that the woman give him her number.
Throughout the journey Ferizolli continued to harass the woman and intimidated her until he left the train at Harrow-on-the-Hill London Underground station.
Investigating
officer DC Matt Nolan said: “Ferizolli made this woman feel intimated,
scared and extremely uncomfortable. She was simply going about her daily
commute home.
“Nobody should be made to feel this way and everyone has the right to travel without fear on the transport network.
“I
am pleased that the woman had the courage to come forward and report
this man and the crime that he committed so that he could be caught and
convicted. We are determined to give people the confidence to come
forward and report unwanted sexual behaviors."
Siwan Hayward,
TfL’s Deputy Director of Enforcement and On-Street Operations, said:
“'We care about our customers and the journeys they make; working
closely with our policing partners we are determined to rid the
transport network of this type of behaviour.
“Unwanted sexual behaviour is a crime and we are pleased this predatory sexual offender has been caught and convicted.
“We
encourage anyone who has experienced unwanted sexual behaviour to
always report it to the police by texting 61016 or calling 101. Your
report will always be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.”
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia not to "play with fire" after reports emerged that Turkish businessmen had been detained in Russia.
Moscow said it would suspend visa-free travel with Turkey, and its tourism agency head announced on Friday it will ask more than 9,000 Russians currently in Turkey to return home by the end of December.
Relations between the former Cold War antagonists are at their lowest in recent memory after Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border on Tuesday. The pilot was machine-gunned dead by rebels on the ground in Syria as he parachuted down.
Russia has threatened economic retaliation - a response Erdogan has dismissed as emotional and indecorous.
"It is playing with fire to go as far as mistreating our citizens who have gone to Russia," Erdogan told supporters during a speech in Bayburt, in northeast Turkey, on Friday.
"We really attach a lot of importance to our relations with Russia... We don't want these relations to suffer harm in any way."
RELATED: Russia raids Turkish firms, sends imports back
Erdogan said he wants to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a climate summit in Paris that starts on Monday. Putin has so far refused to talk with Erdogan because Ankara has not yet apologised for the downing of the jet, a Putin aide said.
Erdogan has said Turkey deserves the apology because its air space was violated.
The nearly five-year-old Syrian civil war has been complicated by Russian air strikes in defence of President Bashar al-Assad. Turkey and regional powers have accused Russia of targetting moderate armed groups fighting Assad.
The frayed relations could also impact two major planned projects - a TurkStream gas pipeline and the Akkuyu nuclear power plant - between the two countries.
Turkey and Russia have also sparred over ISIL, with each side accusing the other of being soft on "terrorism".
Former
President George W. Bush awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to
former CIA Director George Tenet on December 14, 2004.Kevin Lamarque KL/ReutersGeorge
Tenet, the former CIA director, has been understandably reluctant about
giving interviews since he resigned from the spy agency 11 years ago.
After all, he was the nation’s top intelligence officer during three of
the nation’s most troubling espionage failures: the 1999 bombing of the
Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia; the September 11, 2001, attacks;
and George W. Bush’s disastrous invasion of Iraq, which the CIA enabled
with its false finding that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass
destruction.
So naturally, when he sat down for his first
on-the-record interview in more than eight years, Tenet tore into the
failure of others to act on his warnings, from 1999 through the late
summer of 2001, that Al-Qaeda was determined to strike targets in the
United States. He could “barely contain himself when talking about the
unheeded warnings he says he gave the White House,” says Chris Whipple,
executive producer and writer of The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs, a surprisingly riveting documentary premiering November 28 on Showtime.
Likewise,
Tenet’s former deputy Cofer Black is still livid about those White
House meetings more than 14 years ago. “You know what pisses me off?
When people call this an intelligence failure,” he says on the show,
nearly jumping out of his seat. “I mean, how is it that you could warn
senior people so many times and nothing actually happened?” It was like “The Twilight Zone,” he says.
Tenet
and company are full of excuses, however, when it comes to the CIA’s
own failures to prevent the 9/11 attacks. Years after the debacle, two
FBI agents who had been stationed in the CIA’s Osama bin Laden tracking
unit came forward to say that the CIA knew
two of the future hijackers were in the United States but—for reasons
that remain unclear—forbade them from alerting their headquarters, which
is responsible for preventing domestic attacks. Under questioning by
Whipple, Tenet blames “policies” that “were out of date.” Former Bush
White House counterterrorism adviser Richard A. Clarke has suggested
that the CIA didn’t want the FBI barging into an operation to try
to recruit one or both of the Al-Qaeda operatives as double agents.
This
is old ground, of course, as is Tenet’s rationalization for going along
with Bush’s case for invading Iraq because, as he put it to Whipple,
further resistance was futile. “The decision to go to war, the orders to
send troops, had already been decided,” he says.
But Whipple’s
questioning of Tenet makes for compelling television, not so much for
what’s on the screen as what we know happened after the original sin of
invading Iraq on false premises: the rise of the Islamic State militant
group (ISIS). As Robert Gates, another former CIA director as well as a
defense secretary, puts it, “an intelligence failure such as that that
took place in 2003 changes history.”
Does Tenet reserve any blame
for himself for 9/11 and the Iraq invasion? “Well, look,” he tells
Whipple, “there—I still look at the ceiling at night about a lot of
things. And I’ll keep them to myself forever. But we’re all human
beings."
Yes, he feels the pain. As well he should—and for so much
more that put the CIA in the crosshairs of the public, Congress and the
courts for the past decade or more. Much of it is all too familiar.
Spymasters—the title seems ironic, in retrospect—get the obligatory
rehashing of CIA renditions, secret prisons and harsh interrogations.
The deaths of two prisoners
in the CIA’s hands is “regrettable,” Tenet says. “Shit happens,” says
Jose Rodriguez, the head of CIA clandestine operations under Tenet’s
successor, Porter Goss. “And we were at war. The fog of war.”
One
thing that Rodriguez, who spent virtually his entire career in Latin
America before 9/11, says on the show rings absolutely true. “At the
beginning of 2002 when we started to take prisoners, we just did not
know what we were doing. We are not jailers and just didn’t have those
skills. And abuses were made.” He adds that “we have ’fessed up to
those.”
Not really. He and most other top CIA officials continue
to defend waterboarding and other harsh measures, saying they
were carefully monitored and effective. As for the Senate Intelligence
Committee’s dismissal
of the CIA’s proffered examples of 20 cases where harsh measures
worked, “it’s dead wrong on every count,” Tenet says. “Period, end of
paragraph.”
Rodriguez also heaps contempt on those who think drone
strikes are somehow morally superior to the kidnapping and “torture” of
“some folks,” as President Barack Obama put it. “This administration
prefers killing prisoners rather than holding them captive,” Rodriguez
says, “and the reason is, I think, it’s hard to capture [them]...and
many would consider it dirty business.” John Brennan, the current CIA
director, says that when he was working under Tenet he expressed his
“discomfort” that the harsh interrogations “would come back to haunt the
CIA.” Tenet says he has no memory of that.
You can’t get to the
bottom of everything in a single program. But Whipple and his team,
which includes veteran CBS News producer Susan Zirinsky, deserve credit
for getting Tenet and the other living former CIA directors on camera.
With previous hearings and other investigations a hazy memory, it’s
about as close as we’re ever going to get to a televised “truth and
reconciliation commission” on the spy agency’s key role in the most
profound intelligence disaster since Vietnam. While many have been
blamed over the past decade, few officials have publicly apologized,
much less been held responsible for their roles in creating today’s
unending, bloody chaos. All seem to enjoy robust Washington social
lives, book and consulting deals, and lucrative appointments to the
boards of government contractors.
The show’s two hours move
quickly. Too bad it isn’t a miniseries. There’s so much left out: the
CIA’s failure to grasp the Arab Spring or predict Russian interventions
in Crimea and Syria, not to mention its botched kidnappings of a
suspected Al-Qaeda operative in Italy and a Lebanese-German citizen in
Macedonia. The messy episode in which Senate Intelligence Committee
Chairman Dianne Feinstein accused
the CIA of “spying” on her staffers also gets a pass. Meanwhile,
another intelligence scandal has erupted, this one inside the U.S.
Central Command’s intelligence wing, where analysts say their reports
have been skewed to provide a rosy view of U.S. progress against ISIS.
Sounds familiar. There must be a big intelligence success in there somewhere, but, as they say, those must remain classified.
The Spymasters: CIA in the Crosshairs, a joint
Showtime and CBS News production, premieres November 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
on Showtime across all platforms. Executive producers are Jules and
Gédéon Naudet, Chris Whipple, Susan Zirinsky and David Hume Kennerly.
Denmark could be back in Euro 2016 if match-fixing claims by Armenia FA are found to be true.
Albanian fans celebrate beating Armenia.
Image: AP/Press Association Images
ALBANIA’S PLACE IN Euro 2016
could be in doubt, after the head of the Armenian FA suggested
a “betrayal” took place in his country’s match against the Balkan state
in October.
A 3-0 victory for Albania in Yerevan, looked to have sealed
their first appearance at a major tournament, but match-fixing
allegations have put a question mark over their participation in Euro
2016.
“Our national team players simply do not want to play. As for the
match against Albania, there was a betrayal during it. If even the best
coach had headed our team during the match against Albania, the result
would have been the same,” said Ruben Hayrapetian, who is in charge of
the Armenian Football Federation (FFA), reports World Soccer.
Denmark will keep a close eye on any possible UEFA investigation,
after they finished two points behind the Albanians in qualifying, and
lost to Scandinavian rivals Sweden in the play-offs.
The Danes famously won the European Championships in 1992, despite
failing to qualify, after Yugoslavia were expelled due to the on-going
conflict in the country.
![Associated Press]({"default":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA42CeQ.img?h=50&w=50&m=6&q=60&u=t&o=t&l=f&f=png"})
![Al Jazeera]({"default":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA3EX8R.img?h=50&w=50&m=6&q=60&u=t&o=t&l=f&f=png"})
![Turkey's president warns Russia not to 'play with fire': Erdogan condemns reports that Turkish businessmen were detained in Russia as animosity between Cold War rivals grows.]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"27","h":"15","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AAfKoGu.img?h=152&w=270&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=232&y=115"}})
