The last several weeks have seen the development of the Afghan detainee story unfold in multifaceted directions.  First we had the testimony of senior level bureaucrat Richard Colvin, whom after serving a stint in Afghanistan and numerous other positions as an overseas diplomat and being “promoted” to the top intelligence position representing Canada in the United States, comes before the Special Committee on the Afghanistan Mission and describes what some of us had already known: torture is going on in Afghanistan. Several international organizations have already reported that the NDS (National Directorate of Security) was torturing or allowing the torture of detainees handed over by Canadian soldiers. Colvin places this on a backdrop of poor documentation and negligent attention to warnings from him to the Canadian government and senior military officials.

Upon confrontation in the house the government has switched their stance on this issue numerous times. They began by saying that there were no allegations of torture and, at least at first, lambasted Colvin as a rogue bureaucrat who could not be trusted. This wouldn’t have sat well with the always micromanaging Stephen Harper, whom I’m sure doesn’t want the opposition to get a foothold on anything, and the frame quickly changed from criticizing Colvin, to criticizing the credibility of the reports and not the person. This shifted again when Harper came back to referring to Colvin’s reports for a period of eighteen months as mere “evaluations.” In my honest opinion, this constant reframing of the governments narrative calls into question the complicity of senior PMO officials, ministers and even the Prime Minister. There are simply too many questions left unanswered here. We know that the Liberal Government signed a transfer agreement some weeks before losing the election in 2006/2007, but what about before then? What kind of agreement was in place before the Conservatives took power? I think a full scale inquiry dating back to the beginning of the war and our operations in Afghanistan is necessary so we can have a proper examination of the level of accountability that existed in regards to the transfer of detainees.

On a different note, it’s coming up to Christmas time and I’m wondering how much traction this story is getting.  How many Canadians are even aware of the current tumult surrounding this and other similar stories in Ottawa: Husakos, ten per centers, Copenhagen and Bill C-311, and the current possible Free Trade Agreement between Columbia and Canada to name a few? Are Canadians engaged or are they, as seems to be the trend, disconnected from their law makers? If they aren’t connecting, whose fault is it? Some would point to advent of the Reform Party for the growing rancor in the House of Commons over the last two decades and the distrust they brought of the “corruption” that existed in Ottawa (many of these “reform” MPs actually enjoy the perks and privileges that come with being an MP and can I say elected senate?). As I’ve watched the unfolding of the Afghan issue over the last week, I’ve seen much anger and hostility coming from the government side and lots of unnecessary name calling towards the opposition parties. Any questions that are asked are always directed in some way as being detrimental to the Canadian forces or at the extreme, implicating Canadian forces in the torture of the detainees that were being transferred. Message to Peter Mackay and Prime Minister Harper: We aren’t questioning our soldiers. We are questioning your competence and your motives.

Related posts:

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2. Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper Faces Skepticism Regarding Climate Change and Afghan Torture In a span of just a few short weeks, Stephen...
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4. Canada’s Top Commander Jonathan Vance Voices Concerns About The Afghan Mission Brigadier-General Jonathon Vance, Canada’s commander in Afghanistan, has been the...
5. Fading Ideology of Justice from Government Partially to Blame for Recent Torture Implications in Afghanistan Once upon a time, many years ago, Canada was a...

Tags: afghanistan, Canadian Armed Forces, taliban, torture

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Canadian Armed Forces, Foreign Affairs, war. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.