"Rendering" of suspects

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In the King James version of the Christian bible, Jesus Christ is quoted as saying, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. ..." Could the CIA just  be trading on this biblical usage?

>There seems to be an implied transitive verb here, but what is it?

Larry Horn:
>I'm afraid it's "rendre." Some uses of (Fr.) "rendre" translate to
>"render", but this one doesn't (yet).

Well, the "rendering" of suspects has already entered public discourse,
and it should probably receive some WOTY consideration (at least for
euphemism of the year):

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050317-4.html
Press Briefing by Scott McClellan, March 17, 2005

Q Are these reports wrong, or does he not believe that there's torture
going on in these countries where these prisoners are being rendered back to?

MR. McCLELLAN: When people are rendered to another country, we seek assurances that they won't be tortured. When we return known terrorists to their countries of origin, or we render people to countries, we want to
have assurances that they're not going to be tortured, because that's a
value that we hold very dearly. ... But we do take very seriously what our
obligations are, and we have an obligation not to render people to
countries if we believe they're going to be tortured. ...
Q Scott, on renditions, has the United States ever rendered prisoners to
countries other than their country of origin?
MR. McCLELLAN: Ken, I'm not going to get into talking about any specific
matters, and that would be getting into talking about specific matters.
But I think I addressed that question earlier when I said that we have an
obligation not to render people to countries if we believe they're going
to be tortured.
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A swing through Nexis suggests that "rendering" has been used by the
intelligence community at least since 9/11, though it took some
investigative reporting by the Washington Post in 2002 and 2004 for the
term to become widely known.

The cites below trace a shift in usage: "render (someone) to justice" >
"render (someone) to a third country" > "render (someone)".

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Boston Globe, October 7, 2001, p. A1
"These are not abductions, these are renditions," said the official,
speaking on condition of anonymity. "If they are wanted by foreign
governments and there is concern that they are involved in terrorist
activities, the idea is to render them to justice."
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Washington Post, March 11, 2002, p. A1
Between 1993 and 1999, terrorism suspects also were rendered to the United
States from Nigeria, the Philippines, Kenya and South Africa in operations
acknowledged by U.S. officials. ... Even when local intelligence agents
are involved, diplomats said it is preferable to render a suspect secretly
because it prevents lengthy court battles and minimizes publicity that
could tip off the detainee's associates. Rendering suspects to a third
country, particularly Muslim nations such as Egypt or Jordan, also helps
to defuse domestic political concerns in predominantly Muslim nations such
as Indonesia, the diplomats said.
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Washington Post, December 26, 2002, p. A1
Those who cooperate are rewarded with creature comforts, interrogators
whose methods include feigned friendship, respect, cultural sensitivity
and, in some cases, money. Some who do not cooperate are turned over --
"rendered," in official parlance -- to foreign intelligence services whose
practice of torture has been documented by the U.S. government and human
rights organizations. ...  Some officials estimated that fewer than 100
captives have been rendered to third countries. ... The CIA's
participation in the interrogation of rendered terrorist suspects varies
from country to country.
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Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), January 19, 2003, p. 4C
In the CIA's euphemistic parlance, captives are "rendered" into foreign
hands, and these "extraordinary renditions" are said to give the CIA
"operational flexibility" in dealing with suspects.
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Washington Post, July 29, 2004, p. A8
The exact number of people "rendered" or moved to foreign countries with
U.S. assistance is unknown, but two cases have received widespread
publicity.
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Washington Post, December 27, 2004, p. A1
Ahmed Agiza was convicted by Egypt's Supreme Military Court of
terrorism-related charges; Muhammad Zery was set free. Both say they were
tortured while in Egyptian custody. Sweden has opened an investigation
into the decision to allow them to be rendered.
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Los Angeles Times, January 13, 2005, p. 1
"It's a growth industry," said a recently retired CIA clandestine officer
who worked on several "renditions" in the Arab world. "We rendered a lot
o FLAGS (XAOL-READ XAOL-GOODCHECK-DONE XAOL-GOOD)
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