More on policed state

See pages 9 - 12 of this Italian judicial warrant regarding the kidnapping of an Islamic cleric in Milan in 2003. It describes how Italian police were able to track -- in incredible detail -- the movements of CIA operatives as they stalked Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, dragged him into a van, and drive him to the U.S. airbase in Aviano. Based on an eyewitness report that said one of the perps was talking on a phone, Italian officials identified the cellphones making calls in the vicinity, and with the phone SIM IDs, could track the movement of the phones as they went into and out of various cells, including moving down the highway to the airbase.

(a) Didn't we see this in some movie already?
(b) Duh! Doesn't the CIA go to the movies?
(c) Hey, this stuff cuts both ways!

(For background see the Washington Post story CIA Ruse Is Said to Have Damaged Probe in Milan).

Networks and visibility: unconnected = invisible; connected = visible. And connected in more ways than most of us care to think.

jd