Canada complicit in torture of innocent Afghans

[Habs_fan_in_LA]

Dear Bleeding Heart Liberals.
How cum we're always the bad guys and the Afgans, Talibans, Sheites, Sunnis, Somali Pirates, North Koreans are always the good guys?

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Here's an update from the Toronto Star.

OTTAWA–The Conservative government revealed Monday that it halted transfers of Afghan prisoners three times this year, a bid to show it is upholding its international obligations in the face of charges it is complicit in torture.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said the military twice suspended transfers because of allegations of abuse and another time because Canadian inspectors were denied entry to prison facilities in Afghanistan.

Later in the article:

MacKay said Monday he is willing to provide documents to the committee, but would also submit corresponding documents from when the Liberals were in government, presumably to try and demonstrate that Conservatives took greater pains to ensure detainees received humane treatment.

www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/729839--ottawa-still-fears-torture-of-captives?bn=1 (link)

Cheers.

[Skilly]

One thing to note here .....

You are allowed to lie in the Commons and under parliamentary procedure you are not allowed to be called a liar

You are NOT allowed to lie while sitting in front of a parliamentary committee ....

ergo - stop fighting this in the House of Commons and bring the lot of them in front of a committee under oath.

[The New Guy]

Nov 23, 2009 7:35:04 GMT -5 Polarice said:

Meh, I see nothing wrong with using torture when it comes to war and protecting our troops against any form of attack.

I know, I would have no problem using nay means necessary to get the information needed to protect my friends. Pretend that those troops dieing over there are your children, then tell me you wouldn't use whatever is necessary to protect them.

My grandfather was a POW during WW2 in a Japanese prison camp. I can tell you that from the exceedingly little he talked about it, there is indeed something wrong with torture. Especially with the dubious claim of "saving lives". If it indeed will save a life (if, for example, the prisoner has a secret code to disable to atomic weapon that will detonate in Manhattan in ten minutes) then it is permissible, but only as an absolute last resort. It is not something to be done lightly, which is what went on in Iraq, and what it sounds like is going on in Afghanistan.

With that said, I think the government and the military are in a bit of a bind here. We have no right to go in and essentially wrest control of the incarceration system from the people of the land, nor do we want to do that (hell, given the state of the HMP in St. John's I would suggest that we should worry more about our own incarceration system). We also do not wish to simply release these prisoners - what sense is it to take prisoners only to turn them loose and let them pick up weapons again and turn them again our men and women. Our only choices are to turn them over or kill them.

It's a nasty business, but in war nasty things sometimes happen. Perhaps it would be better if we all remembered that.