Wikileaks, Rendition, and the CIA's Italian Job   | Mon Dec. 13,
2010 3:15 AM GMT   Advertise on   Steve Hendricks: The Deputy
Chief of Mission who had that conversation in Germany with his
counterpart there referenced "repercussions" in the US-Italian
relationship [in the wake of the decision to prosecute the CIA
officers involved in the Abu Omar case.] That's an interesting
phrase because there almost certianly weren't any
repercussions. Italy was already doing what the White House
wanted. The governments of [Silvio] Berlusconi, [Romano] Prodi,
and Berlusconi again all got in line, doing everything they
could to derail prosecution. Their problem was that the
magistracy [that was prosecuting the CIA officers] was
independent. About all that Rome could do was to file challenges
in court making the same arguments over there that Obama and
Bush made over here: That we can't talk about these things
because doing so would reveal state secrets.   SH: I don't think
they needed any nudge from the White House to get