I was almost late for work today, but I just couldn't stop staring at these pretty little lines from the latest EKOS poll.Especially the blue Con one going down like a hot air balloon with a hole Guergis... in its side.
Helena Guergis and her husband Rahim Jaffer are doing what Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals could not – shake up the electorate and provoke a Tory slide, according to a new poll.
But I was surprised that more people didn't pick up on these ominous words:
“Obviously, highly speculative this week but if things worsen for the government over the coming week, speculation about a snap election will become almost as interesting as the prurient innuendos swirling about Jaffer and Guergis,” Mr. Graves says.
Because I believe we could be very well heading for a early summer election. Just like Chantal Herbert predicted.
The opposition parties and, in particular, the Liberals are adamant that they are not seeking a snap campaign. But the matter is increasingly out of their hands and into those of the Speaker and, eventually, the Prime Minister. No one who watched Harper in action over the time of the 2008 parliamentary crisis doubts that he would be sorely tempted to take his latest conflict with the minority Parliament to the people rather than bow to the opposition and the Speaker's will.
Because believe me Harper does want to go, and sooner rather than later.
All the sordid scandals swirling around the government can only get worse, and the economy is smelling like roses. But that could change when interest rates start to rise in June. The housing bubble could pop, and the stock market could take a tumble.
So now is the time. The Liberals are still looking for a campaign plane. Jack Layton is battling cancer. Stephen Harper must be twitching foaming with anticipation.
He could run on the economy, he could shutdown all the inquiries, he could dismiss the Afghan torture and murder scandal, like Peter McKay was doing today in Question Period.
“I just wish,” (McKay) continued, the rest of his comments playing out rather predictably, “that for once we would get a question from the honourable member that would reflect an acknowledgement that the men and women of the Canadian Forces are continuing to do great work on behalf of our country, at great risk to themselves and their families. He should stop disparaging their name, their work, stop making allegations, insinuating that they are war criminals. That is despicable, detestable evidence.”
And since sadly so few Canadians care about Afghanistan, he just might get away with it.
Of course it all depends on that little blue line. Will other polls confirm the Cons are falling like a hot air balloon? Because if they do Great Ugly Leader probably won't dare take the plunge.
But you know what I'm saying eh? We better be ready.
Because the monster is foaming, hungry and DESPERATE. An election call could come next week.
If you wanted to get a really good idea of what Great Chucky Leader's Cons have done to this country, all you had to do was take a helicopter... or a porker ride... over Parliament Hill today. There was poor Remy Beauregard's widow telling a committee how the Con appointees who took over Rights and Democracy bullied her husband to death.
Trépanier said new board members appointed by the Conservatives harassed her husband, which contributed to his ill health. Beauregard suffered a fatal heart attack in January after an acrimonious board meeting. While in another committee room there was Richard Colvin, the decent diplomat who was smeared as a traitor or a Taliban supporter by the Cons, for blowing the whistle on the Afghanistan Rape and Torture Scandal. Even though we now know that what he said was true.And that the truth is even uglier. A Canadian officer shrugged off a question about whether, in retrospect, Canadians should have monitored the interrogations to make sure prisoners weren't tortured.
“From the Afghan point of view, that would be like your mom sitting down with you on the couch while you're trying to make out with your girlfriend,” the officer said. “It would have been awkward.”
And will haunt our army FOREVER. Because now they've been corrupted too. Then an hour after the Information Commissioner blasts the Cons for trying to muzzle access to information.
Stephen Harper's right-hand man, the political thug Guy Giorno, crawls out of the PMO, and denies that. While Con MPs line up to kiss his ass. The power of Mr. Giorno was reflected in the lineup of Conservative MPs singing his “how great thou art” praises in Hallelujah Chorus union, throwing puffball questions that could have been written by Mr. Giorno himself and, come to think of it, probably were. Has our Parliament ever seen a more porker spectacle?
Have they no shame? Oink. But wait there's more. There they were in the House of Commons grunting and sniffling, and refusing to answer questions about the Helena Geurgis Affair.
Or explain why the Ethics Commissioner doesn't seem to think much of the information Stephen Harper gave her. NDP Leader Jack Layton took a poke at the government’s wall of silence. “Now here is the so-called tough on crime Prime Minister who will not even tell Canadians why he has called the cops on one of his own,” he told the House of Commons.
Which makes you wonder what Great Chucky Leader is up to eh ? Did he whack a female minister just to make himself look good? And is this a government or the MOB?
Oh boy. Sometimes all you see are the trees, and they're ugly enough.
But on a day like today you get to see the forest, and it's absolutely HORRIFYING.
These Con porkers are crawling all over our Parliament, making a mockery out of it, corrupting its very soul. Their government is rotting like meat off a bone. And the stench is overwhelming...
It was sunny and warm today. And I wasn't in the mood for serious blogging...as you may have noticed. But how could I not write about this? “The Prime Minister’s refusal to respect the will of Parliament is a serious abuse of power. He is not a king. He answers to the will of Parliament, not the reverse,” NDP MP Jack Harris said.
The day when the opposition joined forces and stood up for the House of the Canadian People. And my Canada never looked better. I don't know where this process will take us. And like Don Martin I believe it could trigger an election. It’s now Parliament verses the Prime Minister in the battle for procedural supremacy. And Stephen Harper doesn’t back down when his will is under combined opposition attack.
But I don't agree that Harper is in such a strong position. I believe he is vulnerable if push comes to shove. And I do know that weakness will get us nowhere. And that it's the right thing to do, even if it does trigger an election, because nothing is more important than defending our democratic system. Or telling a Prime Minister he isn't a King or a President. This is Canada not Amerika...
And enough is ENOUGH. Oh boy. Canadian politics is about to get a lot more interesting. I am full of hope again. The opposition parties were magnificent. And from where I was today my Canada never looked better...
As the opposition prepares to back down on the Afghan detainees issue, James Travers points out that if Stephen Harper had done what he is doing now, when tin pot dictators were KINGS. He'd be in a lot of trouble.
Too often in politics, principle is the hapless victim of expediency. In the struggle to pry Afghanistan documents from Stephen Harper's grasp, principle never had a chance.
And that whether or not it is politically convenient there can surely be no more important issue.
The Iacobucci appointment carries other, more profound implications for this country's deconstructing democracy. Most significantly, it chips more from the cornerstone principle that the Prime Minister is accountable to Parliament.
Because it defines us as Canadians not Americans. And of course I'd like to point out that it's working.
Because what that means is that despite all the hype and the photo-ops, the Cons lost ten points because of prorogation, and they can't crawl out from under its shadow. And Stephen Harper may still have his head but it's pretty sore.
If Nanos is reflecting reality here, it not only gives Stephen Harper reason to avoid an election, but must have strategists head-scratching themselves to figure out a salvage strategy.
It could signal that the Liberal fixation on smearing the Prime Minister’s heavy-handed Parliament-snubbing character is an attack narrative that’s starting to stick, which would be bad news for the government.
Which makes me think that if the opposition doesn't force the Afghan issue,it should still keep hammering away at the Cons by working into a wider narrative. And asking the following question: What kind of man would cover up torture, act like a President, and try to turn us into Americans? Answer: the same man who would wage a religious war on gays and lesbians, and try to score law and order points by beating up on juvenile offenders. Just like an Amerikan would. Or the same man whose Con flunkies are already hinting at privatizing our medicare system. "I would hope that any country looking at the Canadian system would make sure that they include in their system an element of competition," he said. "I think that makes a big difference in terms of controlling costs." Because Stephen Harper spent 15 years trying to kill medicare, just like Republicans are trying to do in the United States. Yup. I think I see a theme developing...
Stephen Harper likes to pose as Mr Canada. I say we turn him into Mr Amerika. And hit him where it HURTS...
Oh boy. I was so excited. It sounded like it was going to be one of the most exciting Question Periods EVER.Especially after I read this. Lordy I told myself I've never seen a Liberal so ANGRY. Could this really be the day Stephen Harper's ugly Cons would be held in contempt of Parliament?
All told, it was a relatively quiet episode. Neither Prime Minister Stephen Harper nor Liberal Leader Michael Igantieff were in their chairs, which may have helped to calm the waters.
Or perhaps it was the oddly serene manner in which Transport Minister John Baird, who stood in for Mr. Harper, responded to the scrapping from the other side the House. At times, he spoke so softly he was barely audible.
No Harper, no Ignatieff, no contempt motion, no nothing.Just a kinder, gentler, John Baird? WTF? So now I'm thinking what kind of freak show is this? There is no inquiry. At least we can stop referring to the review itself as any sort of inquiry, given the conspicuous lack of any mention of the Inquiries Act in the terms of reference; the former justice is to be styled as either a "special" or "independent" advisor to the minister, which -- as far as I know -- does not provide him with the power to compel testimony or subpoena witnesses. He will also serve "during pleasure," which means that in theory, he could be fired next Wednesday if PMO -- er, the minister finds himself no longer desirous of his advice.
The judge can be fired like a servant. If he doesn't go blind first reading all those documents for the next four years.The Cons are making a monkey out of our democracy.And the Leader of the Opposition isn't even there? So far, Liberal MP Derek Lee, who is pretty much universally acknowledged as the resident expert on parliament's most rarely used powers has been silent; the New Democrats, meanwhile, have set a deadline of March 19th to comply with the demand of the House or face the consequences. All of which is going to make the next few days -- particularly those on which the Afghanistan committee is scheduled to meet -- very interesting, which is why it's a pity that the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition won't be around for what could turn out to be a historic occasion.
Oh well. What's a poor little non-partisan progressive to do eh? Tell Ignatieff that he just needs ONE good idea...and hopefully a narrative... before Harper engineers an election? Or that I hope the Wizard of Oz ...Burnaby gives him the courage he so obviously needs?
Nah. That would be too depressing.
Maybe I'll just keep asking Stephen Harper that same old question:Hey Great Ugly Leader I know you can't feel the pain of others.
But what nasty horrible things are you HIDING?
Because you just know that its gotta be MONSTROUS.
And because I figure that at this point eh?
Unless the Wizard of Burnaby comes through for us.
When I watched Question Period today and I saw Stephen Harper and his Cons making torture sound like a joke.
Or insist that his misogynistic religious fanatics are helping women, on International Women's day, when they have assaulted the rights of Canadian women from the moment they came to office. And I read how Jason Kenney is being allowed to get away with murder.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney denies the omission was deliberate and has promised to correct the mistake.
We're inclined to believe him, considering the bold tone of the 2010 guide.
Even though it WAS deliberate. When I saw how impotent our opposition leaders looked, even though they represent many more Canadians than the Cons ever will.
I felt dizzy like that other Simon in the Lord of the Flies did when he stared at the pig's head...
And realized who the monster was. And what he was doing to Canadians. Who would have thought that so many Canadians would buy into the government's phony law 'n order agenda...But the law 'n order campaign itself has worked. It's conned Canadians into believing there's reason to be afraid. For the first time in years, a majority of Canadians approve the death penalty, a coarsening of public sensibilities that seemed almost impossible And what he could do to our country:
If a government that has the backing of less than a third of Canadians, a Prime Minister who is resented for his inability to resist the low road and the low blow, a leader who ditches absolute commitments without batting an eyelash, who has humiliated the institutions of Parliament, the Supreme Court and the Governor-General, whose economic “expertise” embarrasses economists and whose foreign policy is driven by ignorance and prejudice – what further changes to our national values can he get away with?
And who in the world is going to stop him?
All I could say.... when I recovered from my dizzy spell ....was the truth will set us free eh? And Gerald Caplan is wrong about one thing.There is something we can do. We can put our tortured Canada before our political parties, and form a strong coalition to drive these Cons from power. It's really quite simple. Either we do that or we watch our beautiful country slowly being corrupted and destroyed. Watch the flies crawl up the pig's nose. While we sit on our asses, flip through the ugly channels of Con Canada. And scream, and scream and SCREAM...
Yup. Isn't it time to change the channel and do something DIFFERENT ?
Organize, UNITE, get ready to fight.Our country is screaming for help. And time is running out....
I suppose I could write about how Stephen Harper's plan to sing Oh Conada all the way to a majority, left him looking like a flip flopper and an idiot.
The timing could not have been worse and the Prime Minister clearly needs someone in an office filled with sycophants to grab his collar and shake these sorts of bad ideas out of his head.
And left his pathetic sycophants looking like stooges.
Or I could thank Jason Kenney again... for proving that there IS a hidden agenda.
The guide condemns "barbaric cultural practices" such as spousal abuse, honour killings and female genital mutilation, but ignores the barbaric practice of discriminating against someone based on their sexual preference.
Which we are going to use to KILL these bigot Cons in the next election. And while we're at it... I suppose that while Harper does the Torture Tango. And Jason Kenney sings Onward Christian Soldiers...or I'm a Closet Queen and I'm OK. I could sing this song: Stephen and Jason went up the hill To fetch a golden majority. Stephen fell down and broke his crown, And Jason came tumbling after. But since it's almost Spring in Canada. And my companion Sébastien is back later today after almost three weeks in Haiti. I hope you don't mind if I sing this silly little song instead...
Because I know the joy, the power, and the glory of gay love. Where a kiss is still an act of defiance that could get you killed. But bigotry only makes that love stronger. Oh yeah....and Jason Kenney can eat his dirty heart out. Or BITE me. Have a happy Sunday everyone !!!
He says he likes to see fear in the eyes of others. But why is Stephen Harper so afraid of the truth, and what dark secret is he hiding?
Tonight the CBC National is reporting allegations the Con government made the torture of Afghan detainees a deliberate policy. Which would make Harper and his political thugs WAR CRIMINALS.
"If these documents were released [in full], what they will show is that Canada partnered deliberately with the torturers in Afghanistan for the interrogation of detainees."
Which would explain why he shutdown Parliament. And make this stalling tactic even more outrageous.Because no retired judge has the power to tell Parliament what it can or cannot read.
Oh boy. It's hard to believe something so horrible could happen in Canada. But if it turned out to be true, would we really be surprised? When these hideous alien Cons have assaulted our precious Canadian values from the moment they came to office.
They attacked women by removing the word "equality" and destroying a national daycare program. They savaged their opponents like a pack of rabid animals. Nothing was too low for these hateful ideologues.
They went after feminist groups, and human rights organizations. They bullied poor Rémy Beauregard to death.
Never, ever, ever, forget how those bastard bullies treated that gentle, decent man. Or forget that only foul Cons could appoint a xenophobe and a homophobe to head a human rights organization.
Or how those crazy religious fanatics are going after gay and lesbian Canadians. Again.
Notably absent from an otherwise commendable document, however, was any reference to gay rights or equality rights. These are important omissions, particularly at a time when many immigrants are arriving from parts of the world where homosexuality is illegal and where discrimination is widely practised. New Canadians need to understand that while they may not immediately share Canada's sense of justice, the law protects certain groups from open prejudice. Even though they have a right to be treated with dignity and respect in their own country. Even though it could hurt them or cost them their lives.
Even though that kind of crazy bigotry could cost me mine.
In the last few days, after writing about the theocon conspiracy, I have been bombarded with ugly comments, and creepy veiled threats. Now some weirdo has been wandering around my neighbourhood asking people if they know where I live. And this evening when I took my dog for a walk in the woods nearby, I had the strange feeling I was being stalked.
Hey maybe I'm paranoid. And who could blame me eh? Living in Stephen Harper's Con Canada, the kind of place where paranoia can become a higher state of consciousness...as one grand old mama feminist once told me. And don't worry I am not afraid. I can defend myself. And when Sébastien gets home on Sunday, I'll feel totally safe again.
But all I ask brothers and sisters is that you fight these hideous hatemongering Cons like you've NEVER fought them before. Because the evil is now very close to the surface, and it's bubbling out like acid....and corroding our beautiful country. Organize, UNITE, fight them until these monstrous Cons are driven from power and we have our Canada back. Fight them, fight them, fight them, like I have always tried my best to do. And because I'm not afraid of them. And because it's Friday night. And because I love R.E.M. Fight them, fight them, fight them, until the day is done...
Or until the Cons are done eh?
Oh mama. Won't THAT be a beautiful day? Have a great weekend everybody !!!!
I see that Great Batty Leader has been flapping around the darkened halls of Parliament claiming that Canadians don't care about democracy...or the Con Torture and Rape Scandal. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canadians aren't really concerned about allegations that the government engaged in a cover-up over the abuse of Afghan detainees. "I think polls have been pretty clear that that's not on the top of the radar of most Canadians..." Uh oh. Run for for your lives!!!! It's a moral implosion !!!!! I fear the winged would be dictator may be desperate...or RABID. But who cares eh? The grassroots revolt is growing. "The audacity. The epic scale of the cynicism. The arrogance of a regime that thinks it can get away with just about anything." And all I know is that after looking on helplessly for so long as our beautiful country was dragged through the gutter, it's going to feel sooooo good to join other Canadians in sending a loud message to Harper and his Cons. Enough is ENOUGH. Our Parliament belongs to the people, not to a power hungry thug and his ugly pack of baying jackals. Democracy IS important. Covering up torture is beneath contempt. We need a public inquiry. And we want our country BACK...
I see the Afghanistan committee met today without the Cons, who would rather sabotage our democracy or slurp eggnog.
Than allow the truth about how we treated our prisoners to come out. But there's one thing about this Torture and Rape Scandal. Just when you think it can't get any worse it does.
More horror stories.
A transcript of one of the interviews with the Military Police Complaints Commission investigators reveals the army police compound in Kandahar could do nothing as the detainee baked in 140-degree heat in a detention centre designed to hold a handful of prisoners for a maximum of 96 hours.
The man, later released to his family with gifts intended to make amends, was suffering to the point his screams prompted soldiers in a nearby compound to ask the police if they were keeping a dog in the detention centre.
More evidence the war was being micromanaged from Ottawa.
A military police officer told the commission investigators that commanders in Ottawa repeatedly denied pleas to release the man, and his plight became a "nightmare."
"They could not release him," Sgt. Utton said. "They wanted to release him but we got orders from CEFCOM (Canadian Expeditionary Force Command in Ottawa), the task force commander, that we could not release ... I mean, we did everything we could, it was just our hands were tied between, it was the political stuff in Canada...
More evidence that the generals didn't care about the fate of our prisoners.
Military police Maj. Rowcliffe suggested to the commission investigators he did not get a positive response from Lt.-Gen. Gauthier when he raised concern over the lack of information about detainees after Canadians transferred them to Afghan forces. He likened Lt.-Gen. Gauthier's response to the lack of interest he received from the Kandahar base police commander.
And neither did the Cons.
"As his [Lt.-Gen. Gauthier's] adviser, I was making him aware of these concerns as well, that we're handing them over but we don't know what happens afterwards, and the message I was getting back, that we need to hand them over, I think it's in 72 hours, that's the maximum and basically (censored). I was a little bit skeptical of that whole scenario, but that was the position of the Government of Canada and that was the position I was getting from the military." Even though they knew what was going on.
Officially, the Red Cross would only say the talks focused on topics including Afghanistan, humanitarian law in modern conflicts and co-operation with Canada.
Unofficially, sources in Geneva said the international agency, whose functions include monitoring the treatment of prisoners, was growing frustrated over Canada's tardy notification of its handover of captured suspected Taliban to Afghan authorities. The delay could often be as much as 34 days, making it difficult to track the detainees.
And easier for the Afghans to torture them or KILL them.
Oh boy. You know the other day on my way home from work I came across this sign.
And I couldn't help thinking that if Stephen Harper was prepared to allow a badly wounded Canadian kid like Omar Khadr to be tortured in a place like Guantanamo.
Would anyone really be surprised if it turns out he was a torture enabler in Afghanistan? I realize a lot of Canadians probably wish this story would just go away. And from what we know now, I also understand why the Cons are doing their best to stop the truth from coming out.
But they must not be allowed to get away with it. Because some stories are a measure of the kind of Canadian values most of us still love and believe in.
And this story is one of them. Which is why now more than ever, for the sake of our soldiers, for the sake of our country. We need a public inquiry. ------------------------------------------------ P.S. And Omar Khadr does live here. So bring him home TOMORROW..
Well I see my hero Richard Colvin is a WINNER. He must be if even Don Martin says so. His 16-page rebuttal, running up against a Conservative boycott of a committee probing the Afghan detainee controversy and curt "no comment required" from the Minister's office, suggests a Richard Colvin public relations victory is possible, if not probable.
So watch the government's behaviour in the months to come. If it keeps obstructing documentation, boycotting committees or even proroguing Parliament, those will be the sure signs Richard Colvin's one-man battle to free the truth is triumphing over a government cover-up.
Even if he practically CHOKES on it. But who cares eh?
I LOVE war crime stories with happy endings. Or is it just a dream?
The Prime Minister is now in such command that he can get away with pretty much anything. And he is lauded for his conquests. The key is that once you've established such a pronounced degree of control over the levers of power, you're in position to strong-arm your way past anything. And so the government has halted hearings on the detainee file by boycotting them. And so the government is threatening to prorogue Parliament again so it doesn't have to face more detainee music.
It's more evidence from a stockpile of how the system's been brought to heel. It's democracy Canadian-style. Oh boy. From a parliamentary democracy to a banana republic...or Big Brother's House of Shame ... in just 1,410 days. Never has a great country gone down the toilet faster. Will the left ever unite .... or form a mighty coalition...to sweep these sinister Cons from power FOREVER? How soon can we have a public inquiry?
He was a reluctant whistleblower. Just a quiet, professional doing his job, and telling the truth about torture. The Cons tried to silence him, and when they couldn't do that anymore they smeared him and tried to destroy his career. But today that quiet Canadian came back at them, and blew their dirty criminal cover-up to pieces. Former Afghanistan diplomat Richard Colvin slammed back at some of the testimony heard from witnesses at the committee investigating the Afghan detainee affair, insisting that he had warned Canadian officials that prisoners were being abused. In his letter, Colvin highlights six reports sent to Ottawa in 2006, including one he said noted that "torture is rife" in Afghan jails. My hero Richard Colvin. There are so many stunning revelations it's hard to know where to begin. But this is what we now know: We handed over all kinds of prisoners to the Afghan authorities, including many on the battlefield so they wouldn't be classified as our detainees, and we could wash their hands of them. Even though the Generals should have known they might be tortured. It was generally known that prisoners in Afghanistan are routinely tortured or abused. In Kandahar, the risk is even higher than in the average province. Kandahar is on the front lines of the insurgency. Each side treats the other with brutality, and NDS officers and their families are regularly targeted and killed. About half the NDS's staff formerly served in KhAD, the KGB‐trained Soviet‐era intelligence service, which also had a well‐deserved reputation for ferocity. Lieutenant‐General Gauthier commanded Canadian troops in Kandahar in 2002, and General Hillier commanded ISAF in Kabul in 2004. It is implausible that they would not have known how Afghans treat their prisoners.
But still we rushed these prisoners into the hands of the NDS and then took as long as possible until we notified the Red Cross. According to testimony to the Military Police Complaints Commission, it was CEFCOM in Ottawa, not military officers in the field, that made decisions about each detainee, and urged the field commanders to transfer them to NDS as fast as possible. It was also CEFCOM that created the artificial delays that kept out ICRC monitors during the critical first days when detainees were being interrogated by the NDS.
So the NDS could have more time to torture or rape them.
And how did CEFCOM respond to Colvin's warnings? I informed an interagency meeting of some 12 to 15 officials in Ottawa that, "The NDS tortures people, that's what they do, and if we don't want our detainees tortured, we shouldn't give them to the NDS." (The NDS, or National Directorate of Security, is Afghanistan's intelligence service.) The response from the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM) note‐taker was to stop writing and put down her pen. And how did the Cons react? Interdepartmental Coordinator for Afghanistan David Mulroney suggested that the only reason reports were edited was to remove 'opinion' or 'non‐fact based' information. This is not correct. Instead, embassy staffers were told that they should not report information, however accurate, that conflicted with the government's public messaging. By turning truth into propaganda. And by trying to smear the messenger. On the question of credibility, some officials have suggested that I only left the PRT once and was mostly confined to compounds. For the record, I went "outside the wire" in Kandahar at least eleven times, including attending a shura of 300 elders in northern Kandahar (which was widely covered by the media), visiting villages in Arghandab, and spending the night at a forward operating base in Panjwayi. In Kabul, I left the protected embassy zone (presumably "the wire") an average of twice a day ‐‐ probably 500 times in total. Which is more than those Cons, or those Generals, or that chickenhawk Christie Blatchford ever did. So how are the Cons reacting to Richard Colvins's demolition of their cover-up?
By parroting the Big Lie, and trying to hide behind our soldiers. The miserable sleazy COWARDS. Enough of this criminal charade. We need a public inquiry NOW...
Well cock a doodle do me. I see the Cons have chickened out, and are cut and running from the Afghanistan torture and rape scandal. And no wonder.
Canada was faulted by military allies in Afghanistan over the secretive manner with which it handled detainees in the early months of its Kandahar mission, The Globe and Mail has learned.
One of the complainants was British Colonel Dudley Giles, a senior military police officer with NATO's International Security Assistance Force the 40-plus nation coalition fighting insurgents in Afghanistan. In August of 2006 he brought his concerns to the Canadian embassy in Kabul, saying Canada was stonewalling on providing basic information on the Afghans it was capturing.
"According to Giles, when he contacts Canadian [officials] in Kandahar, 'their first response to requests is 'Why do you want to know?' followed by 'We know what you want, but we won't give it to you.' "
It just keeps getting worse every day, and if the chickens lose any more feathers they won't be able to fly lie anymore.
For more on why we need a public inquiry, and why we should be outraged, you should really read Dave. And Boris. As I've said so many times before, the Cons can run but they can't hide. And the truth will set us FREE...
Explain their chummy relationship with this well known torturer, the infamous former Governor of Kandahar Asadullah Khalid.
A former governor of Kandahar who is accused of personally torturing Afghans might have been removed from office as far back as 2006 if Canadian officials hadn't defended him, according to diplomatic memos that have never been made public by the Canadian government. "As far as I know, Canada has never suggested to (President Hamid) Karzai that Asadullah be replaced," says the memo, dated Oct. 24, 2007.
"In the one meeting where the subject was discussed, in July 2006, it was the president who raised the issue; Canada defended the governor, thereby ensuring his continued tenure." Defended him despite the fact he was known to beat and electrocute prisoners in his own private torture chamber. Defended him even though his brutality would lead to disaster. The warnings about Khalid - whose brazen decision as governor to display the battered dead body of a revered Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah to local Afghan media, before refusing to return it for a proper burial, triggered a massive bombing campaign in Kandahar city in the spring of 2007 - were heard loud and clear in Ottawa.
But still they did NOTHING. Oh boy. The other night I looked at some of the things the Harper Cons might be trying to hide.
Now add this sordid episode to the list, and ask yourself what kind of pattern is beginning to emerge.
They knew that torture was going on, but they buried Richard Colvin's warnings, and lied over and over again to Parliament. They kept a governor in office who was a well known human rights abuser. They insisted that prisoners should be handed over to Afghan intelligence agents, trained by the KGB, as SOON as possible. The moment a detainee was captured, Fraser said, he had to notify his boss in Ottawa, Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier.
"As soon as I got a detainee, I would phone him," Fraser said, adding the question he got back was: "How fast could we get them to hand over to the Afghan authorities?"
While making sure that the Red Cross would not get to see those prisoners for as LONG as possible. Then ask yourself if this doesn't sound like a conspiracy to enable torture. And could this be what the Cons are so desperately trying to cover-up? Because they know they could be charged with WAR CRIMES. You know like most people in this country I can't be sure what's going on. But I think I see the shape of something monstrous out there in the darkness. Something that needs to be lit up by a flash light ...or a flare. So I agree with this editorial. Canadians did not elect a politburo in last year's federal election. They elected a minority Parliament that can survive only as long as it commands a degree of opposition support. Harper is squandering that support with his reflexive secrecy, abrasive partisanship and compulsive stonewalling.
Because some things I do know: Richard Colvin is my kind of Canadian. Stephen Harper is not my kind of Prime Minister. And for the sake of our country's soul, now more than ever. We need a public inquiry...
Well at least now we know this: somewhere in a pile of heavily censored documents, is one mother of a revelation waiting to go off like a bomb. In the faces of Stephen Harper's Cons. Because when they wheel out the ridiculous SoCon Doris Day...the Minister of International Trade... to tell us what other parliamentarians can or cannot read.
"There are details of which, if they were to be publicly made available, would only help the enemy. So the law is very clear that there are situations where there could be security issues where certain elements of an operation must be protected." You know these Cons are feeling the coming of the Day of Judgment. And that this outrageous muzzling of Parliament has nothing to do with protecting the lives of our soldiers, and everything to do with protecting THEM. So what ARE these Cons trying to hide? Since I'm not a Con or a General I can't know for sure. But here are some educated guesses: (1) In the bloody year of 2006, when almost five times as many Canadian soldiers were killed than had died in the four years before, we retaliated by taking a lot of prisoners... including many innocent farmers. We weren't too fussy about happened to them in the hands of the Afghan police. And this hardline policy was ordered by the high command and the Cons in Ottawa. Even though they knew that Afghans were being tortured.
(2) As a result of this policy, Canadian soldiers reported numerous instances of abuse, but they were suppressed and nothing was done about them for eighteen months. Even though the Cons were aware of these reports they chose to look away, and let the Afghan torturers extract as much information as possible. (3) Somebody in Ottawa set up a scheme to ensure that the torturers had enough time to extract that information, by dragging their heels as long as possible, before informing the Red Cross.
It would be difficult to conceive of a slower way to bring Red Cross protection to a detainee. Was it just a case of bureaucratic hyper-caution, flowing possibly from the micro-managing style of the Harper government? Or was there something more sinister at play? If you wanted to ensure your detainee was grilled to the hilt over days, weeks, or months, would this not be the kind of play-for-time system that you would devise?
Which, if true, would be a WAR CRIME. (4) Canadian troops were still handing over prisoners to the Americans, even though the previous Liberal government had ordered that practice stopped. (5) Stephen Harper was micromanaging the war from Ottawa, so he knew EVERYTHING. Because let's never forget that back then he was posing as Great Warrior Leader. He was determined to show Rick "Blowhard" Hillier that he was The Boss.
Because he's a control freak AND a student of Stalin. Which explains why this sinister authoritarian Con is trying to muzzle our Parliament, and turn Canada into a closed society.
The departing chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission has taken the Harper government to task for refusing to renew his term in the middle of a major public inquiry into the Afghan detainee controversy.
He said his departure will effectively halt the commission's ability to continue the public hearings - and send a "chill" through other quasi-judicial bodies whose heads are appointed by the government.
And why enough is enough. Releasing the Afghanistan documents will not endanger our troops. Failing to release them threatens the foundations of our democracy. These monstrous thug Cons have gone too far. The lights are going out in Canada. Now more than ever. We need a public inquiry...
