Reporter Dana Priest has landed a story on the front page of the Washington Post that ought to embarrass the Congress, not to mention the CIA and the American people.

The story gives in some detail the history and travels of a Gulfstream V turbojet, "the sort favored by chief executives and celebrities." It's the jet being used by the CIA to whisk prisoners destined for torture to torture-friendly countries. Every writer in Blogistan will be linking it, so I won't spend too much time on it, but I was struck by several points—

• that "secret renditions have become a principal weapon in the CIA's arsenal against suspected al-Qaida terrorist," which is another way of saying that torture has become a principal weapon.
• that a Pakistani journalist broke the story of the plane six weeks after 9/11 and that "the tail number was also obtained by The Post's correspondent in Pakistan but not published."
• that "hobbyist" plane spotters and the internet, especially the Freepers, have kept this story alive.

Countries that have participated or cooperated in the CIA operation include Sweden, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Uzbekistan, Kuwait, Azerbaijan, Morocco, Cyprus, Jordan, Germany and, of course, Britain. Sweden is the only country said to be "conducting an investigation."

The plane has recently been transfered from "Premier Executive Transport Services" to "Bayard Foreign Marketing" of Portland, Oregon.

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