A step to clean up US secret services

In coming US President Barack Obama has sent a strong message to the American intelligence community that he wants a new start in how the country runs its clandestine services.

By appointing two men, neither of whom comes from the military or intelligence establishment, one as head of the Central Intelligence Agency and the other as Director of National Intelligence, Obama is making clear that it is time to clean up.

Intelligence agencies are a necessary and important part of any government. But just because so much of their work is unsupervised, it is the gravest betrayal of a nation's trust to allow these secret services to operate outside the law.

After years of George W. Bush's permission of abuses, Obama's new government needs to restore some clear standards on how to operate the intelligence agencies. Torture should be stopped. Interrogation should be exactly that and no more.

Prisoners should be held legally, with access to lawyers. Guantanamo should be closed. Another Abu Ghraib should never be permitted. And intelligence gathering should be factual, not twisted to suit a government's prepared prejudices and plans, as was the case just before Bush's invasion of Iraq.