The new world order
By Paul Wells - Monday, February 16, 2009 - 42 Comments
The U.S. says it will do more for its allies, writes Paul Wells, but it wants more, too
For all the assorted domestic and foreign woes weighing down on it, the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama is still in the relatively sunlit early days when it can afford to plan a few steps ahead. So when Vice-President Joe Biden showed up at the Munich Security Conference with a sunny and soothing speech, his largely European audience should have known other emissaries with a darker message wouldn’t be far behind.
By itself Biden’s was an extraordinary speech, and when he delivered it on Saturday morning to the world’s foreign policy elite in a packed ballroom at the Bayerischer Hof hotel, it was obvious why Barack Obama had chosen him for the No. 2 slot. Biden enhances the credibility of his boss’s foreign policy message simply by being the guy who delivers it. A veteran U.S. senator, he knows the Munich crowd well. He has attended the annual weekend getaway in the Bavarian capital many times. He knows it is a more focused, less ostentatious and arguably more important gathering than the glittering World Economic Forum in Davos. A perfect place for the Obama team to road-test its message to the world.
-
What we're talking about when we talk about Omar Khadr
By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 22, 2009 at 1:26 AM - 71 Comments
CBC had a panel of MPs discussing Omar Khadr this afternoon. For the Conservatives, it was Pierre Lemieux, who quite successfully repeated his lines about “serious crimes” and the “process.” Martha Hall Findlay, from the Liberals, proceeded to smack him about until Lemieux noticed that Hall Findlay didn’t have an answer to the question of what to do with Khadr were he returned. The end result was probably a messy draw, though admittedly I zoned out in the cross-talk.
Anyway. Debate is fun, but information is generally important. Here is the U.S. Defence Department’s database for the military commission that was, until yesterday, hearing Khadr’s case. Here is the hub of Toronto Star’s coverage, built around the work of Michelle Shephard (whose book on Khadr is required reading in this regard). As well, Wikipedia’s Khadr page seems fairly thorough. (Wikipedia’s pages on Bagram and Guantanamo might also be helpful.)
Political language is sometimes destructive numbing, but perhaps no more so than when the story is as gruesome and complicated as this one. “Process,” for instance. It’s variously a term of biology, law, mathematics and science. It’s aseptic. It implies a sort of natural unimpeachability.
Take that word and keeping it in mind, read through the affidavit filed by Omar Khadr—the allegations contained therein unproven by due process as they are. A few excerpts. Continue…
-
Ignatieff on Khadr
By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 3:21 PM - 5 Comments
Hot off the electronic presses.
Statement from Michael Ignatieff, Leader of the Official Opposition, on the Status of Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr, a Canadian citizen who was 13 years old when he was recruited as a child soldier and 15 years old at the time of his arrest, has been held in Guantanamo Bay for more than six years. His continued detention has violated fundamental principles of law, including arbitrary and illegal detention, denial of procedural due process, denial of the right to trial within a reasonable time before a fair and impartial tribunal, and as a child soldier, denial of his rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The military commission responsible for trying Mr. Khadr has lost its legitimacy. It is incumbent on the Conservative government to ensure that as a citizen of Canada, Mr. Khadr is swiftly repatriated to Canada, where his case can be brought forward in a fair and impartial system that will respect his rights.
Our party’s position is long-standing and clear: the government must ensure Mr. Khadr’s rights as a Canadian citizen. I am calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to work with the Obama Administration to facilitate Mr. Khadr’s return to Canada on an urgent basis.
The repatriation of Mr. Khadr would form Canada’s contribution to a full and final closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.
-
On Closing Gitmo
By John Parisella - Wednesday, January 14, 2009 at 1:35 PM - 17 Comments
Barack Obama has made it abundantly clear: America does not torture. This means that he will issue an executive order closing down the prison at Guantanamo Bay very early in his administration. This will go a long way to begin restoring America’s moral credibility in the world. An executive order ending torture as an instrument for interrogating suspects will soon follow. This is significant, as the outgoing administration has now openly admitted its endorsement of the torture policy before it was actually applied.
For Bush and Cheney, Gitmo and torture were essential to preventing further terror attacks on US soil. Never mind that the American constitution is at issue and may have been violated. Never mind that this “ends justifies the means”-policy could be grounds for future prosecution before the courts. Never mind that these policies create further disdain for America and its ideals in many parts of the world.
-
Barack Obama's first present for the Prime Minister
By Aaron Wherry - Monday, January 12, 2009 at 3:32 PM - 4 Comments
Update. Oddly enough, as Kady points out to me in an email, Mr. Harper’s first gift to the new president is the presence, at next week’s inauguration, of Jason Kenney, he of the fighting with Romeo Dallaire over Mr. Khadr’s future and repeating of false assertions about suicide bombers with Down Syndrome.
-
The last serious politician?
By Aaron Wherry - Monday, December 8, 2008 at 3:41 PM - 16 Comments
What was Irwin Cotler doing while all of Ottawa was imploding? Writing about Omar Khadr and Iran.
-
Canada, so totally back
By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 25, 2008 at 1:35 PM - 1 Comment
Three of a kind.
Paul Koring in the Globe. “Although ministers told the House of Commons last spring that Abousfian Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen, had received full consular assistance, the documents show a senior Foreign Affairs official explicitly ordered Canadian diplomats in Khartoum to stay away from the interrogation by U.S. agents.”
Wesley Wark in the Citizen. “The Conservative policy has hit a realpolitik wall. The United States has a new president-elect, Barack Obama, who has committed his government, repeatedly, to the closing down of Guantanamo Bay. Even if this promise is delayed in its execution, the trial of Omar Khadr will never lead anywhere; its wheels will come off, just as so many others are doing at Guantanamo Bay.”
Michael Petrou in Maclean’s. “Vafaseresht, a man who surely would have been a valuable witness and source of information for any legal case Canada might compile against Saeed Mortazavi, hasn’t been in touch with any Canadian diplomats or government officials since. It’s a stunning oversight, if one assumes that Stephen Harper was sincere when he said that Canada had not “dropped” the matter of Kazemi’s murder. But the available evidence suggests that Canada still isn’t serious about building a case against Mortazavi.”
-
An interesting choice of words
By Aaron Wherry - Friday, November 21, 2008 at 5:07 PM - 3 Comments
“It looks like Stephen Harper is going to be the last defender of Guantanamo Bay.”
That’s Omar Khadr’s lawyer, Bill Kuebler, commenting on the Conservative government’s latest refusal to ask that Khadr be returned to Canada.
It’s a not entirely facetious statement. The Obama administration is talking hopefully of closing the infamous facility (even if it’s not yet clear how). A federal judge in Washington ruled this week that five Algerians, held at Guantanamo for the past seven years, must be set free. Britain and Australia have long since succeeded in having their citizens released or repatriated. The Law Society of Upper Canada recently joined the likes of Amnesty International, the United Church, and Human Rights Watch in opposing Khadr’s American prosecution. And according to one poll, only 30% of Canadians approve of Khadr’s standing trial in Cuba.
Still here was what Lawrence Cannon said this week when pressed: “Mr. Khadr faces very serious charges. He is being held and it’s our government’s intention to follow and respect the process that’s in place and, of course, to respect American sovereignty on this issue.”
That’s in keeping with the rote statement delivered each time the government has been pressed in the House to account for their position on Khadr.
But the Bloc’s Serge Menard gave it another try today. And here was Deepak Obhrai’s response.
“Mr. Speaker, our position remains unchanged, because unlike many prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay, Omar Khadr has actually been charged with serious crimes and is in a judicial legal process to determine his guilt or innocence, and we support this process continuing.” Continue…
