Dea Closson No. 6 (Kahlili)

            In the chapter entitled “Invisible Prisoners, Proxy Run Prisons” Laleh Khalili goes in depth on many facets of covert warfare, specifically focusing on visibility, or lack thereof. The article has a central theme of invisibility, from the well-hidden black sites used by CIA and Israel to the prisoners in them that just “disappear” into black holes of intelligence gathering. She discusses this theme of invisibility by going into detail specifically about proxy run prisons and black sites both by the CIA and Israel forces.

            She first begins by discussing proxy run prisons and detention centers used by both Israel and the US. The first case she goes into detail about is the SLA or Southern Lebanese Army and the notorious Khiyam detention center.  Essentially, the Khiyam detention center is this place where Israel can hold whoever they like and torture whoever they like without having their fingerprints all over it. This magical feat is possible because of the SLA.  Because the SLA is only comprised of Lebanese members and they are based in the “no mans land” in the south of Lebanon many traditional legal requirements no longer apply to them. This allows them to conduct traditionally illegal acts of torture or lack of habeas corpus without being prosecuted. The key to the SLA though is that they are funded, trained and supervised by Israeli forces. This “twilight zone” of legality is fully utilized by the Israelis in their fight against Hezbollah.  Similar examples to the Khiyam site are given for the US as well. Along with these proxy sites Khalili discusses third party rendition and black sites using similar examples and examples of similar justifications.

            While reading this chapter the first thing that came to mind was a book I am currently reading entitled “Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War” by Robert Gates, the secretary of defense for the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration. The first question that popped into my head was, how could a man like Robert Gates, who in his memoir seems to be so caring and compassionate, rightfully authorize the operation of these terrible and horrific prisons and detention centers. Logically in a timeline many of the centers were continuing to be operational during Gates’ terms.  The second question I had was, does a higher leveled member of an administration, like Gates, even know about these sites? It seems, following the trend of invisibility, that many people in an administration, if not all of them, are not informed, fully or at all, of these centers. This is where the real power of these sites comes into play. If they can be hidden to even the highest members of an administration, then they can probably be hidden from everyone else.  It is this immense amount of power that these sites and centers bring that I think Kahlili is really trying to emphasize in her account of these off the books interrogation strategies.