If what former diplomat Richard Colvin told a House of Commons committee today is true, than Canada may be guilty of even worse crimes of war than many of the personnel serving in the armed forces of our allies as well as the political leaderships of all at the time the crimes took place. And to make it worse, those who were tortured after our forces turned them over to the Afghan government weren't even "high value" targets, those actually responsible for terrorist acts or in the leadership of the Taliban or Al Qaeda.
Ignorance of what was going on is no excuse, and telling a diplomat to tone down his or her memorandums or to just shut the hell up amounts to, in my opinion, complicity in the crimes. Not to mention the Red Cross -- the ultimate neutral arbiter -- also being told to mind its own business. Hearing the accounts on the radio tonight, I almost threw up. I didn't actually, out of courtesy for the people I was carpooling with, but I might have if I was alone.
What did Harper and MacKay know, and when did they know it? They owe Canadians an answer -- and they owe us the truth. Those responsible for such reprehensible actions should face courts martial in the case of the armed forces, or civilian trials in the case of the politicians.
I do have to ask, though, why didn't Mr. Colvin raise the questions while federal ministers were touring Afghanistan? Someone could have put a stop to this. In fact, it never should have been allowed to happen. Then again it's hard to see how our complaining would have helped much since we forsake our "honest broker" role in diplomacy quite some time ago.
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5 comments:
You're smoking better stuff than I've got if you think these revelations are going to amount to anything.
Harper and company are so teflon coated now they could collectively be found in a room naked with a live girl *and* a dead boy and be praised for it.
Whatever this country is now it is not the one I knew and once loved.
The reputation we once had is gone and may never be recovered.
Which has always been part of Harper's game plan. He's long despised the country he grew up in, the country that nurtured him. He's always wanted to change Canada's reputation as well as change the country itself. Well he's done that, hasn't he?
And we let him - we gave him the opportunity. Every member of the LPC and the NDP bears responsibility. The opportunity to defeat Harper and leave him to the history books was not taken. And now will never be taken.
Goddamn us all.
We deserve it.
When did the mission start? When did prisoners transfer start?
Only 2006 prisoners were turned over?
Where are those prisoners from 2002-2006?
Will Canadian soldiers who transferred soldiers to the local security forces be charged?
How many cases have been investigated and proven in a court from the start of the mission to present?
1-20?
Where are the cases and articles from the international Press from the start of the Afghan mission until now with these trials?
I'm not holding my breath, to be frank. But the government seems to forget that what is said on the floor or in committee is protected by the Parliamentary privilege. So if Harper and Co. knew what was going on and they fess up on the floor, then that cannot be entered as evidence in any court of law either criminal or civil. Even if they didn't know at the time but did know well after the fact they still owe it to the people to say as much. It would not violate our national security; in fact it might actually save lives going forward.
I agree with Anonymous. We are being ruled over by the teflon don of politics.
Harper and his cohorts have left us all with egg on our faces, and our international reputation in ruins. Yet he keeps climbing in the polls? Unbelievable.Do we as a nation harbor that many red necks.Has the average intelligence of the nation slipped that low?
No, the power and influence of the looney left is waning.
People are tuning out the biased media.
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