OMAHA, Neb. -- U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday he was not aware of CIA-operated, secret prisons in eastern Europe used to interrogate top al-Qaida suspects, but he condemned the concept.

"Secret, black hole jails around the world run by the United States of America ... that is wrong," the Nebraska Republican said in a weekly telephone news conference with reporters. "It further erodes the world's confidence in America. We cannot continue to say one thing and do something else."

Such secret jails were first reported by The Washington Post in its Wednesday editions. On Thursday, the European Commission said it will investigate the report, and the International Committee of the Red Cross asked the United States to let a representative visit detainees if such facilities exists.

U.S. officials have refused to confirm or deny the report.

Asked whether other members of the Intelligence Committee might have known about the secret prisons, Hagel indicated he could not speak for other members.

Messages left Thursday by The Associated Press with the staff of Intelligence Committee chairman, Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., were not immediately answered.

While saying Congress bears some responsibility for any such secret jails, Hagel also criticized the Bush administration in the scandal and for other embarrassments, such as the indictment of Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Those incidents should lead President Bush to take "a good, clear look at what has happened to ... his administration."

"This is having an impact on his ability to govern, his credibility around the world, his credibility here. ... It's not surprising that the latest poll numbers have come out that show his job approval rating is the lowest of any incumbent president since Richard Nixon," Hagel said.

Frederick Wettering of Clermont, Fla., a retired senior CIA official with 35-plus years of experience, said he had no expertise about whether the CIA would be required to tell the Senate committee about any secret prisons.

He had mixed feelings about their usefulness, in any event.

"While I have no current knowledge of such matters, it is clear that people of intelligence value retain that value for some period of time, sometimes even years," he said.

"However, one must balance the diminishing value of the information against the cost in terms of international support to the broader counterterrorism program.

"For example, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other senior al-Qaida officials were captured a year or more ago," Wettering said. "At this point, I wonder whether that dividing line between exploitable value and cost to the alliance has been crossed."

Mohammed is the suspected mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Commentary:
The media should ask EVERY member of the Intelligence Committee (the group that was responsible for the Senate shut down) if they knew of Bush's secret prisons.

Recall how Congress found out about the Abu prison scanal? The media told them. Bush withheld the information for months. The Senate let him get away with it. Now, he appears to be hiding this from them also. Will Roberts grow some balls anytime soon?