Europe's foremost guardian of human rights yesterday painted a chilling picture of how more than a dozen European countries became part of a global "spider's web" spun by the US to kidnap and transport outside the reach of the law suspects in the "war on terror". Such lawless practices, including the outsourcing of torture to friendly despots, are spreading like a lethal virus.

They amount to a moral capitulation by liberal societies and a surrender of the rule of law in the face of jihadi totalitarianism. If we behave like this, what exactly are we defending?