US Intelligence Campaign to Discredit Germany?

I was not the only one who found it suspicious that information about the complicity of German intelligence (BND) in the Iraq was disclosed just as Angela Merkel was on her way to Washington to meet with President Bush. This morning Deutsche Welle has published an interview with German intelligence agency expert Erich Schmidt-Eenboom who sees a concerted "campaign" on the part of the US to discredit Germany:

We're experiencing a sort of psychological attack on the part of the American intelligence agencies against the old Social Democratic-Green party coalition government, but also against the new government following Merkel's demand that the US close Guantanamo Bay. The Americans want to make clear -- especially in light of their bad image following the CIA torture allegations -- that Germany isn't as pure as assumed, because they were more involved in the Iraq war than they said they were.

One can only hope that this "campaign" will not prevent Merkel from bringing up Guantanamo and the case of the Turkish-German detainee Murat Kurnaz in her meetings.  The blogger TalkingDog conducted an interview with Murat's US attorney, Baher Azmy, Professor of Law at Seton Hall University Law School in Newark, New Jersey earlier this week. It is worth reading and is an excellent example of how bloggers are making up for the lack of journalism by the mainstream media. Here is an excerpt of Professor Azmy's comments on the treatment of Murat by the US military:

The conditions of Murat's detention are as he described them to me, as I have not been permitted to observe anything beyond the bungalow in Camp Echo. The description of conditions is twofold, between the Afghan (Kandahar) piece, where his treatment was brutal and episodic and chaotic by angry MPs shortly after 9-11, and his later Guantanamo piece, where the treatment has been systematic and organized. At Kandahar, Murat (and others) were left outside in shorts, and just a blanket-- despite December in Afghanistan being brutally cold. While in American custody in Afghanistan, Murat was waterboarded-- his head dumped in a large ovular tub of water t simulate drowning. Murat is funny-- still has his sense of humor despite being deeply depressed about his situation overall. When I suggested a few seconds as the length of his submersion, he said "no, that's what I'd do with my brothers when I played with them... this was longer!" Also at Kandahar, electrodes were attached to his feet, he was told by a soldier "this should warm you up" as they ran electricity through it. At one point, a soldier loaded a magazine into a rifle, and put the rifle into his mouth, screaming at him "I'll kill you ". He was hung by his hands over his head, and placed in a shipping container at one point for a few days without food. In Afghanistan, Murat was suspected of an association of Mohammed Atta, who was from Hamburg, Germany, while Murat is from Bremen, Germany. That justification for holding Murat is now gone, of course. Also at Afghanistan, Murat believes he witnessed a detainee being beaten to death.

In Guantanamo, the conditions of detention have been more systematic and planned. There has been constant sleep deprivation, noise generated such as loud music and other noise, constant interrogations; he has been short shackled for hours and forced to go to the bathroom on himself... he has been taunted sexually by female interrogators. One woman put her hand in his shirt; Murat headbutted her, at which point, other interrogators rushed in the cell and beat him, and shackled his hands behind his back for 20 hours. He was deprived of food, at one point, for 11 days. At one point, he was on a hunger strike, and he and others were force fed through feeding tubes.
I have said I viewed Guantanamo Bay as a great big experiment in interrogation methods. For one thing, as to the sexual humiliation, I was very skeptical, until the afternoon after I first heard it, the stories of the use of the menstrual blood on detainees came out in the press. My understanding is that these events occurred before the Abu Ghraib abuses became public.

No wonder US intelligence wants to deflect criticism by misinformation campaigns.

murat kurnaz torture Merkel BND

Comments

[Kuch]

First of all, I have read that there were at most a few BND agents in Iraq during this time. Do you really believe they could provide useful information to the US invaders? Also, the DW-World article/interview is very lean on details. Herr Schmitt-Eenboom sees a "campaign," but doesn't provide enough information to really even evaluate his claim. How was this "campaign" conducted? What are some examples of CIA involvement in this campaign? Do you really believe that if the CIA was the "news source," that Süddeutsche Zeitung and ARD would not have named the CIA as such?

[Kuch]

Hey David
Why not mention in your post that Mr. Azmy has also been reported as being the lawyer for... Murat Kurnaz? I wouldn't think this to be un-newsworthy, or un-related to the story!

[David]

Kuch -
I write he was Murat's attorney. I assume everyone would know I mean Murat Kurnaz, or are there other Murats at Guantanamo?