Tuesday, August 28, 2007

How Canada's Politicians Sold Out Our Country















So now we know exactly how our mangy politicians have dishonoured this country by acting like yankee stooges in the case of Omar Khadr...the Canadian in Guantanamo.

And not just the Conservatives....the Liberals too.

A Toronto Star examination of more than 1,000 pages of court documents, government reports and emails reveals that since Khadr arrived at the offshore prison in 2002, the Canadian government has publicly supported his detention and trial despite concerns about his health, his age and widespread condemnation of the American prison.

The documents show officials downplayed comparisons between Khadr's case and that of child soldiers and, at times, blindly accepted assurances detention conditions at Guantanamo were humane.

How even as Bill Graham mused about the tragedy of child soldiers ....you know Canada's PET project....his Department of Foreign Affairs was trying to play down the child angle.

Foreign Affairs media director Lillian Thomsen, on instructions from Colleen Swords, now head of the intelligence division, wrote in an email a new press message must "claw back on the fact that he is a minor."

Even though Omar WAS a minor and a child soldier....and he had been tortured.

And they KNEW that.

What monsters, what flunkies, what yankee loving poodles.

And now we also know how the Conservatives picked up from where the Liberals left off...and acted like Bush's little bitches as well.

Newly released documents reveal that reams of paperwork were created to help advise former minister Peter MacKay and his spokespeople on how to answer questions on Khadr, even though they said virtually nothing about the case for more than a year.

Armed with this background information, MacKay and his staff were told that they might be asked what Canada was doing about Khadr's continued detention at Guantanamo Bay.

MacKay was to answer: "The government of Canada has sought and received assurances that Mr. Khadr is being treated humanely. ... Mr. Khadr faces serious charges."


In short do nothing but kiss the ass of the criminal Bush regime...just like the Liberals did.

As the lawyer who defends Guantanamo detainees said... even the American flunky state of Kuwait has done more for its detainees in that hellhole than we have.

"You can act like a little, pathetic third-rate country if you'd like to but actually some of these other countries haven't. Kuwait, from the very beginning, even though Kuwait is a much smaller country than Canada, they've stood up for their citizens. They hired lawyers and there are a lot of other countries who have too..."















And our detainee was a CHILD who never should have been there in the first place.

Which brings me back to that haunting question....can a country that doesn't even defend its children....or ignores the horror of the Guantanamo gulag still be called a country?

Surely any Canadian government that calls itself Canadian should demand that Omar Khadr be brought home IMMEDIATELY to be dealt with by his own people. In the land where he was born.

Surely to demand any less than that is to kneel down before the American military machine, and hand them our sovereignty on a plate. Like sellouts or cowards.....or Conservatives and Liberals.

Don't these idiots understand this isn't just about Omar Khadr anymore? It's about us.

And while I'm at it... if we still have any Canadian values left.....Shouldn't we also call for the end of the monstrous gulag itself? Demand that the Bush Cheney war criminals roll up the barbed wire...bring back the Geneva convention...save the cages for rabid animals like themselves...try the detainees in civilian courts.

Or....since I'm heading off on a little adventure...and I need to get motivated or in the mood...just let the walls fall down.

Like the song says....



WTF? What's the point? Is Canada already Amerika?

See you in a while...

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

First post here. You were just name checked as the dumbest blog in Canada by that idiot xenophobe Werner Patels. Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

How about being consistent? If you're going to go on a rant about Guantanamo, what about China's detention and execution, not to mention organ harvesting of Falun Gong members? How about the fact that Cuba still executes homosexuals?
Khadr is a minor by Canadian standards, but not by Afghani standards. At age 15, in Afghani society, he would have been able to marry, drive, and do all the things that adults have the right to do. Even under our laws, a 15-year old who commits a capital crime like murder can be tried as an adult. Khadr committed an act of terrorism - yes, he was not a member of the Afghani military, so he does not qualify for protection as a soldier under the Geneva convention - he committed an act of terror as a member of an extremist, hate-mongering, NGO called Al-Queda who, if ever gained power, would treat women no better than beasts, and execute gays.
Not sure why you would want to rally around such a person. And yes, a 15 year old knows what he's doing. At 15, we all knew it was wrong to go blow up somebody

Patrick Ross said...

In all honesty, do you know where else Khadr shouldn't have been?

Afghanistan.

That being said, the only real objection I would raise to your post is the language. Other than that, there's nothing here that's outside the realm of the perfectly reasonable.

It isn't unreasonable to suggest that Khadr could be brought to Canada and tried here. It isn't unreasonable to suggest that an individual who committed his crimes when he was 15 years old shouldn't be tortured.

Most of all, let's keep in mind that Khadr was a Canadian citizen as well as a child soldier. Clearly, child soldiers aren't merely an issue in war-torn developing countries -- we may have them here in Canada, too. We should be doing everything we can to identify and demobilize them, so what happened to Khadr can never happen to another Canadian.

Anonymous said...

welcome to canada...with the blinders pulled off. this is the way it's always been. in the big picture there's very little difference between the cons, glibs and dippers....jack layton won't even recognize indigenous sovereignty. so we have harper the suit clown, dion the wimp and layton the used car salesman....why? because it's the system.

if we were to go back in canada's history the rotten deals, lies etc. would reveal a pretty dismal place. oh canada, we're bland and like to pee!

Red Tory said...

Congrats on earning the contempt of Werner Patels! You're in good company. ;)

p.s. I added you to my blogroll. Sorry for taking so long to get around to it.

Simon said...

Hi anonymous....thanks for the tip.I'm working on it... :)

Hi Elvira...don't stray from the topic at hand...like bringing in China or trying to make me believe that Cuba still executes homosexuals. Where did you get that one from Miami?
And quite frankly what a 15-year-old in Afghanistan has the right to do is irrelevant as well. Omar Khadr, whether you or like it or not, is a CANADIAN.
And he should be treated according to OUR standards.
Secondly...Khadr didn't commit an act of terrorism. He was part of an Al Qaeda fighting group that was a militia of the country's Taliban government. And he killed and was wounded in a battle with U.S. Special Forces. He wasn't blowing up anyone. And yes I'm perfectly aware that Al Qaeda and the Taliban are murderous religious extremists. Just like I've written before that if I ever met Omar Khadr it would probably take about 30 seconds before I'd want to slap him or strangle him.
But thta's beside the point. The fact is the kid was taken to Afghanistan by his crazy jihadist dad...and sent to terrorist training camps when he was just ten. And that he was a child soldier because his parents led him astray.And that when he killed according to Canadian law he was a JUVENILE and should never have been sent to Guantanamo...and never should have been tortured.
But here's the larger point. I'm sure you and I share the same desire to see the threat of religious extremism and terrorism banished from the world. But you and others think we are in such a desperate position that we should cut corners and act like animals just like our enemies do. While I on the other hand believe that we can and must uphold our Canadian values...and be better than them...so our victory over these dark forces won't be a hollow one...

Hi Patrick...Of course Omar Khadr Canadian kid should never have been anywhere near Afghanistan. But as I just said to Elvira he didn't have any control over that. As everyone knows his crazy family... made those decisions for him.
And of course it all ended tragically. With his father dead, one brother crippled for life, another brother locked up in Guantanamo before he started working for the CIA, and of course Omar.When you read what the other Al Qaeda fighters said about him...how hard he worked to please them by bringing them tea and other things...it's really quite pathetic.
As for the child soldier angle...Canada has made a big deal out of rehabilitating child soldiers in Africa...as we should.
But how could we then do nothing about Omar?
Finally ...as for my language...I apologize for that...it's just that the weak way our government has acted...compared to other countries...it just makes me so mad..

hi Scout!! ...yeah you know I want to believe that the Liberals are better than the Conservatives...and in so many ways they are. But when it comes to dealing with the Bush administration both parties have behaved shamefully.
I'm proud of our humble Canadian values...and I expect all governments to stand up for them...

Hi Red Tory! I certainly am in good company. And I see you have been busy taking care of the problem... :) Excellent!!!
And thanks for adding me to your blogroll.
Never mind Werner's award...THAT is a real honour...

Patrick Ross said...

"Hi Patrick...Of course Omar Khadr Canadian kid should never have been anywhere near Afghanistan. But as I just said to Elvira he didn't have any control over that. As everyone knows his crazy family... made those decisions for him.
And of course it all ended tragically. With his father dead, one brother crippled for life, another brother locked up in Guantanamo before he started working for the CIA, and of course Omar.When you read what the other Al Qaeda fighters said about him...how hard he worked to please them by bringing them tea and other things...it's really quite pathetic.
As for the child soldier angle...Canada has made a big deal out of rehabilitating child soldiers in Africa...as we should.
But how could we then do nothing about Omar?
Finally ...as for my language...I apologize for that...it's just that the weak way our government has acted...compared to other countries...it just makes me so mad..
"

I'm not offended by your language. I just think you should understand that some people may not get your message if they can't read through it.

Aside from that, I should mention that Omar Khadr had some options. He could have run away from his home, or he could have refused not to fight. His presence in Afghanistan does suggest it was somewhat willing, although we must also recognize that he was still a teenager at the time, and had only the faculties of a teenager to make that decision with.

One thing we need to understand is the insidious brainwashing (for lack of a better term) that child soldiers are subjected to. Often, it's identity- and personality-altering, and hard to rehabilitate them.

Omar Khadr is getting the short end of the stick, but a person also has to understand the seriousness of the situation he's been caught up in. It's bigger than Khadr, the United States, or Osama Bin Laden.