"Polska jest 51. stanem"

Dziennik New York Times pisze - powołując się na zeznania wysokich urzędników CIA - w niedzielnym wydaniu, ze miedzy rokiem 2002 a 2005 tajny ośrodek w Szymanach w Polsce był najważniejszym tajnym więzieniem dla al Kaidy. NYT podkreśla, ze Polska została wybrana, bo nie było tam żadnych związków kulturowych czy religijnych z al Kaidą. A co najważniejsze, polski wywiad był chętny do współpracy:

Within days, Mr. Mohammed was flown to Afghanistan and then on to Poland, where the most important of the C.I.A.’s black sites had been established. The secret base near Szymany Airport, about 100 miles north of Warsaw, would become a second home to Mr. Martinez during the dozens of hours he spent with Mr. Mohammed.

Poland was picked because there were no local cultural and religious ties to Al Qaeda, making infiltration or attack by sympathizers unlikely, one C.I.A. officer said. Most important, Polish intelligence officials were eager to cooperate.

Chętny do współpracy oznacza według gazety:

But the rules had changed, and the tough treatment began shortly after Mr. Mohammed was delivered to Poland. By several accounts, he proved especially resistant, chanting from the Koran, doling out innocuous information or offering obvious fabrications. The Times reported last year that the intensity of his treatment — various harsh techniques, including waterboarding, used about 100 times over a period of two weeks — prompted worries that officers might have crossed the boundary into illegal torture.

NYT cytuje słowa szefa tajnych operacji CIA Jamesa Pavitta, ze Polska jest 51. stanem:

“Poland is the 51st state,” one former C.I.A. official recalls James L. Pavitt, then director of the agency’s clandestine service, declaring.