Maher Arar, an innocent Canadian tortured by American extremists. Or is he something else?
After being freed from American rendition and torture, Canada appointed Mr. Justice Dennis O'Conner to enquire into just what had happened and why. He considered the evidence and completely vindicated Mr. Arar.
Now, Canada has been a willing and faithful partner in Washington's "war on terror." We've even sent our soldiers to Afghanistan as part of a NATO effort to try to sort out the mess left in the wake of George Bush's insane desire to conquer Iraq instead of finishing the job there.
Upon Mr. Arar's return to Canada we call an enquiry but our lead partner in their war on terror, the US, refuses to co-operate. They torture a Canadian citizen and refuse to provide any explanation of why.
Our enquiry exonerates Mr. Arar but the US won't apologize. Instead the American ambassador, treating Canada like some irrelevant minion, says his country has some secret assessment of Arar that presumably justified this outrage - only they have no intention of revealing it to us.
Wait just a goddamned minute. These morons, who have set the Middle East ablaze with their lunacy, torture one of our citizens, claim they have reason to continue to suspect him, refuse to divulge why they're afraid of him and, being stupid enough to assume these jackasses are right, aren't willing to share that with us?
The moral to this story: You play ball with us (in assisting our "War on Terror") and we'll stick the bat up your ass.
That weasel Harper came to power boasting about his party's fervour to "stand up for Canada." Okay Steve, this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where you need to get up off your Tory lardass and actually stand up for Canada.
It's time to tell the Americans, who we're serving so dutifully, to either put up or shut up. If they have information that we're not worthy of receiving that Maher Arar is some sort of terrorist threat, they are leaving us vulnerable to a known threat. What sort of partnership is that? If there is reliable information that Arar is in league with the bad guys, why are we being put through this charade.
On the other hand, if the Americans are, once again, blowing smoke up our backsides, it's time to stand up for Canada by standing up for Mr. Arar and telling these loudmouth bullies that they can either start dealing with us honestly and openly or we're leaving their war on terror tea party.
Rollback,
ReplyDeleteYou said what?
"That weasel Harper came to power boasting about his party's fervour to "stand up for Canada." Okay Steve, this is where the rubber meets the road. This is where you need to get up off your Tory lardass and actually stand up for Canada."
That's good stuff. Ya, let's huck some stones at the border too.
Look Rollback, the American's may have something, and if they do, we won't ever find out what. Or they might be trying to keep their court costs down.
A better question than huck rocks at cheap targets is to ask why Syria tortured him. Why do you think Syria accepted Arar, who is a Syrian citizen, and instead of dusting him off and telling him to go about his business, they threw him in prison and then tortured him for months on end. What was THAT about?
Go huck rocks at the Syrian Embassy while your at it.
At least Harper is on the right side of this. Ask Wayne Easter again what he knew and when he knew it and watch his nose to see if it grows.
cheers,
Tomm
Why would the USA apologize to someone they have a lawsuit with, which they would loose if they admitted they were wrong.
ReplyDeletePlus, they sent him on their own information they have said, not a Canadian tip.
Therefore, if he was sent, he must legitimately be a terrorist in the American's eyes.
Stop defending a terrorist.
Alex Dakota
Red State Canucks
Okay Alex: If Arar genuinely is a terrorist, why isn't our "partner" in the war on terror sharing their information with us on this danger in our midst? Surely they want us to keep the lid on terrorists moving freely just across their border? Or maybe, just maybe it's all a load of hooey and Arar is genuinely innocent.
ReplyDelete