'Harper Knew About Torture In Afghanistan' - NATO Official
"Harper's office in Ottawa "scripted and fed" the precise wording NATO officials in Kabul used to repudiate allegations of abuse "at a time when it was privately and generally acknowledged in our office that the chances of good treatment at the hands of Afghan security forces were almost zero."
"It was highly unusual. I was told this was the titanic issue for Prime Minister Harper and that every single statement that went out needed to be cleared by him personally," said the former official, who is not Canadian.
"The lines were, 'We have no evidence' of coercive treatment being used against detainees handed over to the Afghans. There were very clear instructions for a blanket denial. The pressure to hold to that line was channelled via Canadian military and diplomatic personnel in Kabul. But it was made clear to us that this was coming from the Prime Minister's Office, which was running the public affairs aspect of Canadian engagement in Afghanistan with a 6,000-mile screwdriver."
The official described the tensions over the fate of detainees as "uniquely Canadian" – despite the fact that doubts over the treatment of Afghan detainees were ubiquitous among all NATO partners with military footprints in Afghanistan."
The Star
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FLASHBACK - March 2008
'It's not our job to show jails are free of torture' - Ottawa argued in Federal Court!
Related stories ....
-'Grave Allegations' - Ottawa Citizen
-'Time For Truth About Torture' - guardian.co.uk
-'Don't Waterboard The Messenger' - National Post Editorial Board
It is very impressive that even the National Post supports Richard Colvin. I don't know how Harpies can hide it anymore.
Posted by
LeDaro |
11:50 am, November 22, 2009
You're right. He can't hide it anymore. This story will be his undoing.
Posted by
leftdog |
12:09 pm, November 22, 2009
I hope this buries the cons. Perhaps it is just the issue to galvanize opposition to them from coast to coast to coast.
Posted by
Elliott Taylor |
12:22 pm, November 22, 2009
This is explosive, but it would be unusual for a foreign policy issue to topple a Canadian government.
Keep in mind too, that we are dealing with a PM who got away with locking our Parliament doors in order to avoid a non-confidence vote. And then brazenly described everyone else as anti-democratic.
No. More likely this is the issue which may snag in people's head that Harper is a total PR control freak, not to be trusted about anything.
His undoing will come later.
Assuming that Harper doesn't find a way to defer this issue until after an election, or get those hapless establishment Liberals to somehow come onside.
Posted by
Mark Richard Francis |
3:20 pm, November 22, 2009
Lying and covering up.
Hmmmm, reminds me of Watergate and Richard Nixon.
Remember what happened to him.
We can do the same up here with Harper.
Open, honest, and accountable government; we're still waiting on that promise.
Posted by
Anonymous |
11:17 pm, November 22, 2009