VE KNOW NUTINK!:

Rice to claim Euro backing for CIA prisons (Alec Russell in Washington and Kate Connolly in Berlin, 05/12/2005, Daily Telegraph)

In a preview of her trip, Stephen Hadley, Miss Rice's successor as President George W Bush's national security adviser, said: "There is a lot of co-operation at a lot of levels.

"One of the things she will be saying is: 'Look, we are all threatened by terror'," he told Fox News. "We need to co-operate in its solution."

The administration has long argued that its actions in the fight against terrorism comply with the US constitution, US law and US treaty obligations, claims challenged by human rights groups.

But since the publication in the Washington Post of the report about the CIA prisons, the administration has faced a new difficulty: European officials have argued that secret CIA prisons would violate European law.

Mr Hadley foreshadowed Miss Rice's riposte, saying: "We respect the sovereignty of those countries with whom we co-operate."

This is seen as diplomatic code for saying that anything the CIA gets up to in Europe is done with the permission of the host country.

If they aren't careful, she'll stop letting the Europeans hide behind her skirt.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 5, 2005 7:49 AM