There’s a far Left brouhaha in Britain over Craig Murray, formerly the UK’s ambassador to Uzbekistan. He’s trying to sell a new book by whipping moonbat bloggers into a frenzy with claims of British-outsourced torture in Uzbekistan. Murray claims that the British Foreign Office is trying to block web publication of, and book references to, government documents that allegedly bolster his charges. He has organized the left side of the blogosphere in Britain and beyond to disseminate the memos.

Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit has all the lowdown on the controversy.

Wizbang casts a skeptical eye.

James Joyner at Outside the Beltway posts concerns about rendition in Uzbekistan:

Certainly, one wouldn’t blame the Brits for using information so obtained to stop terrorist attacks if they so happened to get it. On the other hand, sending people to Uzbekistan knowing that they would be tortured in order to bypass domestic prohibitions on torture is blameworthy, indeed moreso than torturing prisoners yourself. At least if one violates domestic law torturing terror suspects, one can argue that the threat to national security is so grave that one is willing to risk the judgment of a jury. Having the Uzbeks do the dirty work for you has all the taint of torture with the additional taint of cowardice. It’s the difference between the way Muhammad Ali handled his objections to the Vietnam War and running off to Canada…

…Given the reaction of Powell, Rice, and other officials, though, there’s not much doubt that rendition goes on or that the Uzbeki authorities routinely torture detainees. The rest of the story, though, needs more verification.

Stay tuned.

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