Number of operatives tracked: 20
Length of stay: From 5 to 42 days
Total room charges: $158,096.56
WHERE POLICE SAY CIA OPERATIVES STAYED
From Jan. 8-Feb. 19, 2003; amount spent at each for room charges*
Westin Palace $40,098.81 Principe di Savoia $39,995.36 Milan Hilton $21,266.67 Milan Marriott $17,089.29 Star Hotel Rosa $15,280.95 Excelsior Hotel Gallia $5,595.24 ATA Hotel Executive $4,951.19 Four Points Sheraton $4,928.57 Others $8,890.48
* Not including food and other services
"Italian prosecutors wrote in court papers that the CIA spent "enormous amounts of money" during the six weeks it took the agency to figure out how to grab a 39-year-old Muslim preacher called Abu Omar off the streets of Milan"
"Westin Palace $40,098.81 Principe di Savoia $39,995.36 Milan Hilton $21,266.67 Milan Marriott $17,089.29 Star Hotel Rosa $15,280.95 Excelsior Hotel Gallia $5,595.24 ATA Hotel Executive $4,951.19 Four Points Sheraton $4,928.57 Others $8,890.48"
Should have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. Would have figured it out a lot faster.
Why don't we just give the enemies the names and photos of our spies while we are at it?
I stayed in the Star Hotel in Milan and it cost about the same as any downtown business hotel in New York, Chicago, LA or Washington. Nice place mind you, not a "resort" but a good hotel where lots of business types stay. If your business requires you to be in the center city, $300 a night is not a lot in most cities, and damn cheep in many.
That's quite a margin of uncertainty.
Say 20 operatives times 20 days on average = 400 room days, which works out to $395 per night. Anyone who has spent any time in European business hotels knows that this is a pretty average price to pay. Slightly high perhaps, but not really out of line.
US Government per diem rates for overseas travel are established by the US Department of State and can be found at http://www.state.gov/m/a/als/prdm/2005/57475.htm. Per diem rate in Rome is $467 per day and Milan is $442.
One suspects that a CIA operative tracking someone might have other expenses above what a normal person needing a romm and meals.