Arab Spring ‘Intelligence Disaster’ for the US

Former head of CIA Bin Laden unit says the help we were getting from Egyptian intelligence and others “has dried up.”

Failure “to connect the dots”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair has promised action after sharp criticism from President Barack Obama over the failed attempt to blow up flight 253 on Christmas Day. The intelligence community had failed to “connect the dots”, Mr Obama said in a statement, adding: “That’s not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it.” Matthew Bell looks at the fallout after the President’s remarks. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• FAQ Jet bomber case
• Best of BBC: “I boarded a plane with an aerosol can”

CIA agents guilty of Italy kidnap

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

An Italian judge has convicted 23 Americans – all but one of them CIA agents – and two Italian secret agents for the 2003 kidnap of a Muslim cleric. The agents were accused of abducting Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, known as Abu Omar (pictured), from Milan and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured. Marco Werman talks with John Radsan, who served as the CIA’s assistant general counsel from 2002 to 2004. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Central Intelligence Agency

Europe’s own interrogation scandal

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

Human rights advocates in EUROPE are calling for countries there to look into their own role in CIA prisoner abuse. Several countries are accused of abetting CIA prisoner programs during the Bush administration. The World’s Gerry Hadden has the story.

CIA used Canada’s cold expertise

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

Scientists in Canada whose research in surviving cold water is aimed saving lives have learned that the CIA used their work to develop an interrogation technique. The World’s Carol Hills has details.

Ultimate responsibility for prisoner abuse

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

If the U.S. abused and tortured terrorist suspects, and broke the law, why shouldn’t the Obama administration expand its investigation into who was responsible? The World’s Matthew Bell looks at the implications of investigating a former president.>>>The BBC’s Kevin Connolly on President Obama’s dilemma

Entire program – August 26, 2009

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

The possible presidential implications of the CIA interrogations probe; also, the story of a former student democracy activist in China; plus, remembering Ted Kennedy’s fight against apartheid.

Following the chain of command

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

If the US broke the law by abusing terrorism suspects under President Bush, should the Obama Administration expand the investigation all the way to the former president? The World’s Matthew Bell reports on the implications of investigating a former president.

Cheney’s involvement in interrogation abuse

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

Anchor Katy Clark speaks with John Nichols, author of an unofficial biography of former Vice President Dick Cheney, about allegations of Cheney’s role in authorizing the CIA interrogation techniques now under investigation.

How to interrogate terrorism suspects

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

The Obama administration is setting strict new standards for treatment of terror suspects, as the Justice Department launches a criminal probe of past interrogation tactics during the Bush administration. The publication of harsh CIA methods has raised questions about how U.S. authorities should best go about conducting interrogations of terrorism suspects. The World’s Matthew Bell reports. (photo: Associated Press)>>>Click here for BBC coverage.

Plans for new interrogation team

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

The Obama administration is creating a new system for conducting interrogation of terrorism suspects. It’s supposed to be a way to look forward, and avoid mistakes of the past, as The World’s Matthew Bell reports.

Investigating prisoner abuse in the past

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3

Anchor Jeb Sharp speaks with Columbia law school professor Scott Horton about the Attorney General’s reported plans to recommend re-opening nearly a dozen prisoner-abuse cases.

“MI6: A Century in the Shadows”

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Download MP3
Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6, is usually pretty tight-lipped about its role in the shadowy world of international espionage. But BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera recently got access to senior intelligence officers, agents, and even the head of MI6 himself. We interview Corera about the making of his radio documentary, “MI6: A Century in the Shadows.” >>>Click here to read and hear more about Corera’s radio documentary.