Julianne Smith Briefs Congress on Rendition's Toll on Transatlantic Relations
Julianne Smith, Director of the Europe Program at CSIS and Member of the Advisory Board of the Atlantic Initiative, warns the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs that America’s liberal use of extraordinary rendition is eroding trust across the Atlantic. Allowing unfavorable European public opinion to dictate American policy would be a mistake, but the US must view its intelligence and security interests as linked to European cooperation and compliance, argues Smith. America’s clandestine rendition practices within individual EU member states jeopardizes trust between European governments, impeding cohesion at the EU level and dividing the European public against individual governments. The US must be mindful in taking steps to revitalize morale among transatlantic partners.
