I am absolutely disgusted with our Gov't - the Colvin Case

[The Old Fogducker]

Canadians care. That much is obvious. Harper is just trying the tired Bushism of repeating the same thing long enough that the people believe it - I think he'll find that doesn't play as well here, despite what the Conservative "apologists" on Avcanada seem to think.

stl

Oh, you mean just the same way the left does STL?

OFD

[Rockie]

Hey Foggy, your neck must be getting sore. Why don't you turn around so everybody else can be on your right for a change?

[The Old Fogducker]

Oh, I have an excellent masseuse Rockie ... and a good supply of A-535, so there is no need to worry about my suffering from muscular aches and pains ... LOL.

I have been doing some electrical work in the basement recently and what with standing on the bare concrete floor for extended periods, my feet are a tiny bit sore though.

How very charitable of you to be thinking of me and worrying about my state of health .... that's one trait I'll certainly give the left ... they are inordinately concerned with feelings, albeit at the expense of rationality .. LOL

OFD

[flyinhigh]

I'm out and done with this thread. And you're out of here for a little vacation too...

Mike

[Rockie]

These guys are out there fighting for us, they capture a few guys that are trying to KILL our boys. We turn them over to afgan and they get tortured. Boo HOO

My opinion they got off light, they should be shot on site. But now, we catch you give you food and water, medicate you and send you on your marry way to Fight us AGAIN. Thats a crock.

Er...not quite. According to our own government and military information the vast majority of those captured and handed over were simple dirt farmers who had nothing to do with the Taliban and weren't trying to kill anybody. I guess just being Afghans is enough to justify torturing them right? Same with shooting them on sight?

By the way, were you by any chance drinking when you posted this?

[sky's the limit]

Rockie,

Don't bother, he has no idea what he's talking about. There are better things you can do with your time.

stl

[reality check]

Last Updated: Monday, April 12, 2010 | 10:27 PM ET

CBC News has obtained top-level government documents that reveal Canadian authorities were aware as early as spring 2007 that a governor of Kandahar praised by senior Canadian officials was also notorious for human rights abuses.

Asadullah Khalid, left, former governor of Kandahar province, and Brig.-Gen. Denis Thompson, then Canada's top soldier in Afghanistan, speak to reporters at a news conference in July 2008. (Alexander Panetta/Canadian Press)The documents also reveal that Chris Alexander, a top Canadian official working with the United Nations, alleged that Asadullah Khalid had ordered the deaths of five UN workers in a bombing.

Khalid served as governor of Kandahar province, where Canada's troops are stationed, from 2005 until he was replaced in mid-2008. It was widely suspected that the feared governor kept a private dungeon for prisoners under his palace.

One internal Canadian document from the spring of 2007 states that "allegations of human rights abuses by the Governor are numerous and consistent.

"According to multiple sources, including the U.K. Embassy, the private detention centre is located under the Governor's guest house."

Alexander, who at the time was the deputy UN special representative in Afghanistan, told Canadian officials that the UN's internal assessment of a recent deadly bombing of a UN vehicle in Kandahar concluded it was ordered by Khalid.

A few months later, in the summer of 2007, Canadian officials noted that Alexander "suggested that attacks on Internationals in Kandahar are increasingly being carried out by … narcotics interests, that have a stake in continued instability, rather than by insurgents."

Alexander, a former Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, is now a federal Conservative candidate in Ontario. CBC News made several attempts to contact Alexander for further comment regarding this story, but he has not responded.

Despite the warnings that Canada's own ally in Afghanistan had killed UN workers, the Canadian government continued to work with Khalid.

In August 2008, almost a year after the warnings, Maxime Bernier, Canada's foreign affairs minister at the time, caused a political stir during a trip to Afghanistan when he suggested Khalid should be removed. Although Bernier later clarified his comments, the diplomatic gaffe prompted opposition MPs to call for his resignation.

Colvin to testify Tuesday

Canada's Military Police Complaints Commission is set to hear this week from another key figure at the centre of the Afghan detainees affair — former top diplomat Richard Colvin.

The civilian-run agency is investigating an allegation from two human rights groups that Canadian military police did not properly investigate officers responsible for directing the transfer of detainees to Afghan authorities.

In testimony last November before the special parliamentary committee on the Afghanistan mission, Colvin alleged that all prisoners handed over by Canadian soldiers to Afghan authorities were likely subsequently abused and that government officials were well aware of the problem.

Government and military officials, past and present, have vehemently denied Colvin's allegations.



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/politics/story/2010/0 ... z0kwy9s21U