Old Europe grows a set of balls

And about time too. German prosecutors have issued arrest warrants for the CIA spooks who kidnapped a German man and took him to be tortured in Afghanistan.

Mr Masri, right, is German of Lebanese descent. He was kidnapped by the CIA while living in the Macedonian capital, Skopje, on New Year's Eve, 2003.

Happy new year, waking up in Kabul about to be tortured by America's proxy medieval inquisitors, I don't think.

Obviously Mr Masri wants compensation for being flown across the planet with a bag over his head and being subsequently tortured for no good or legal reason.

Italian prosecutors are also about to indict CIA operatives and Italian nationals for arranging and carrying out a kidnapping on Italian soil.

The whole world knows that America is kidnapping people at will in any country they choose and taking them to remote parts of the world, beyond media scrutiny, to be tortured. All in the name of the war on terror.

In fact, this is the war OF terror. Remember Paster Niemoller's famous statement about the climate in Germany during the Thirties:

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Will you demand that your Government stop being complicit in kidnap and torture and start prosecuting US agents and troops that kidnap, torture or transport kidnap and torture victims through your country? Will you do it before the CIA start kidnapping you, or your family or your friends or neighbours?

Germany is remembering that it is a sovereign nation that upholds the rule of law. So is Italy. When will Ireland and Britain remember they are not the 51st and 52nd states, and begin to insist on inspecting the shady planes full of spooks that come in the night to refuel at Shannon and Prestwick?

If your Government won't listen to you when you ask them to stop supporting kidnap and torture, then it's time to get rid of them. Their hands are as equally covered in blood. Tell your local political representatives that. And keep telling them until you can remove them from office or until they decide that human rights and the rule of law are worth respecting again.