By Alison@Creekside One of the Wikileaks war logs released yesterday contained a friendly fire report filed by the 205th RCAG U.S. military unit which states four Canadian soldiers were killed and seven other Canadians and an interpreter were wounded on Sept. 3, 2006, when a fighter jet dropped a guided bomb on a building they […]
Afghanistan
Blocking the Bloc on Afghanistan
Alison@Creekside The Sun: “The Tories’ house leader Jay Hill told QMI Agency the government has not agreed to allow members of the Bloc to review confidential documents related to the transfer of Afghan detainees.” Haven’t said no; haven’t said yes. “Bloc MPs would ‘have to swear allegiance to Canada and the Queen’ if they want […]
Day One in Khadr’s kangaroo court
By Alison@Creekside Below: Daphne Eviatar of Human Rights Watch is interviewed as she leaves the courtroom on Day 1 of Obama’s first big pretrial for a military commission into the possible terrorist actions of a 14-year old. Terrible sound, I know, but well worth it for her explanation of how after Khadr has been tortured […]
Ottawa expands its terror kit
By Alison@Creekside Your government announced on Friday that it needs more powers to combat terrorism. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson: “These provisions are necessary to protect our country from the threat of terrorism.” A redo of the panicky, now-defunct Anti-terrorism Act of 2001, the new Combating Terrorism Act includes preventive arrest and forcing people to testify […]
The Colvin e-mails: so unimportant we can’t see them
By Alison@Creekside Over at the Military Police Complaints Commission, Department of Justice lawyer Alain Préfontaine is trying to prove that diplomat Richard Colvin’s emails flagging abuse of Afghan prisoners were so vaguely worded that the government could not possibly be held responsible for failing to understand what he was talking about. Colvin and MPCC chair […]
Canada’s next quagmire
By Alison@Creekside “After 2011, the military mission will end,” said Defence Minister Peter MacKay, repeating the Conservative government’s well-worn line. “What we will do beyond that point in the area of training, will predominantly be in the area of policing. And that is very much a key component part of security for Afghanistan.” Training the […]
Jim Abbott explains why torture is okay
By Alison@Creekside Back in 2007 the Cons claimed that the Geneva Conventions do not apply in Afghanistan because we are not officially at war with Afghanistan. On Tuesday in the Afghan parliamentary committee, Con MP Jim Abbott attempted to resuscitate that position. Appearing as a witness before the committee, Paul Champ, human rights lawyer for […]
Where were we? Oh yes. Torture.
By Alison@Creekside On Friday Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced the government was appointing Frank Iacobucci, a former Supreme Court judge with no legal hold over them, to determine what documents pertaining to the Afghan detainee issue could be released without compromising national security, national defence, and/or international relations. The scope and terms of Iacobucci’s appointment […]
The missing Olympic boycott
By Alison@Creekside Thirty years ago in 1980, Canada joined the U.S. in a 64-country boycott of the Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. On Feb. 15, under cover of wall-to-wall Olympics news, Canada joined 15,000 coalition troops in Obama’s assault on the town of Marjah in Helmand province, the biggest offensive since […]
Canada v. Khadr, abridged
By Alison@Creekside Shorter Supremes :While it is true that the Canadian government violated the Canadian charter rights of a Canadian citizen when it sent Canadian agents to interrogate him in a foreign concentration camp and then turned the contents of that interview obtained under duress over to the owners of that concentration camp, and while […]
