Embattled Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Photo Credit: CBC

In a span of just a few short weeks, Stephen Harper and his minority Conservative government have demonstrated a near total lack of credibility on two important issues which have dominated Canadian news – their stance on the environment and their knowledge and involvement in the alleged torture of detainees in Afghanistan.

The two issues are not by themselves connected, but they have managed to induce Mr. Harper and his government to deal with them in a strikingly similar fashion; that is, they first vehemently deny that any such issues exist, then they categorically refute that they have played any role in creating or contributing to the existence of these issues, and finally they attempt to downplay any legitimacy of the criticisms cast against them for their inability to deal forthrightly with the repercussions of their actions and or inactions once the issues and the government’s complicity with them have been exposed.
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The last few weeks have seen a flurry of promises, dates and opinions regarding the potential withdrawal of ISAF troops from Afghanistan.  While both President Obama and Gordon Brown have publicly declared a surge in troop numbers for their respective countries’ armed forces, Canada has stuck to its guns.

Wednesday’s announcement by foreign minister Lawrence Cannon that Canada’s government would not change its planned withdrawal in 2011 seemed to show solidarity with Obama’s pledge, repeated this week, that the withdrawal of American soldiers would begin in mid-2011 despite an additional 30,000 being deployed in the coming months.  The question though, is whether a strict end date can be placed upon an operation that has seen its objectives muddied and targets missed time and time again?
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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.
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Canadian soldiers and a captured Afghan insurgent

Disturbing allegations regarding the treatment of Taliban prisoners captured by Canadian forces in Afghanistan have resurfaced this week, after Parliamentary testimony by Richard Colvin, the second highest ranked member of Canada’s diplomatic service in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007.

Colvin appeared before a special Commons committee on Wednesday November 18, 2009 and steadfastly reaffirmed previous statements he has made that senior Conservative government officials and Canadian military personnel had been aware of serious allegations that Taliban prisoners had been subjected to systematic abuse since at least 2006, that such treatment was part of sanctioned government policy, and that those he attempted to raise the issue with made it clear to him that these charges were not to be brought to light at a time when Prime Minister Stephen Harper was attempting to persuade an increasingly skeptical public that Canada’s Afghan mission was being conducted in strict accordance with international law, particularly when dealing with captured Taliban fighters.
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Now seeing as Remembrance Day has come and gone, it seems appropriate to discuss our beleaguered military and the misguided government who directs it. Now I am sure I am not the only poppy-wearing Canadian getting sick of our soldiers coming home in body bags, I’m sure our government is too – but seeing as the most significant thing they’ve done in regards to our armed forces is extend our one minute of silence to two on November 11th, I question the level of their concern. Perhaps we should be more invested in our soldiers while they are alive rather than remembering them after they are gone. Although considering the steady stream of body bags coming home, perhaps the government is on to something.

I have never been a fan of war. If I was alive during the ‘60s I would have felt right at home. But I am willing to accept that there are those in this world that just do not excel at co-existing with others. People like Hitler, Stalin, and my favourite character on Team America, Kim Jong-Il. Adding to this list, you got your crazed, blood thirsty revolutionaries which are too numerous to name but dot the international map in mass quantities and can be found in tragedies like Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. No one pretends that our world is a perfect place, in fact, it is pretty messed up. And it is for these unfortunate circumstances that we have our military, and thank goodness we do.
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"Lest We Forget"

To my family and my forefathers whom sacrificed themselves and their futures for all that I have enjoyed in my life, I hope you hear this as my words; defending your gifts:

Remembering our dead and actually learning form their suffering and sacrifice are not the same things. Remembering Canada’s fallen, although sentimental and poignant, is one thing; I have lost family in all the great wars of Canada’s history since 1831 defending our world from those whom would impose their beliefs at the point of a gun or tank turret, a principle for which my grandfather fought and spent four years as a German POW in Bavaria, leaving his infant sons and wife to cold fortune and hope. Remembering these men’s sacrifice, however, (there were no women in combat roles at this time) without “learning” from their sacrifice makes their deaths, their solitude, their pain and the emotional agony they endured pointless.
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Canadian Commander in Afghanistan Brigadier-General Jonathan Vance

Brigadier-General Jonathon Vance, Canada’s commander in Afghanistan, has been the most recent high level official to state publicly what many NATO military and political leaders are increasingly recognizing as a primary obstacle to success in the war torn country.

“The international community is going to demand honesty, integrity and good performance from all levels of government or we won’t stay. We have lost too many soldiers and spent too much of our people’s money to stay if there is not honest co-operation. Our public accepts us here and is deciding right now whether we will stay. Canadians, Americans, the British, everyone is wondering whether it is worth it to stay.” Vance made his comments during his final tour of Kandahar province, meeting with local tribal elders on the eve of his departure as Canada’s top commander in Afghanistan, following his ten month tenure.

His dire warning comes on the heels of similar statements delivered to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, in the aftermath of the election debacle which saw widespread fraud allegations lead to a potential second round of voting, only to have the runoff vote halted at the last moment by the unexpected withdrawal of Karzai’s main challenger, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.
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Isn’t it great to know that the people running this country can’t even be bothered to read a memo regarding allegations of torture? Apparently memos addressed to Senior Military Officers and Foreign Affairs between 2006 and 2007 (16 in total) were never seen by Stephen Harper or then-Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay. Wow, I mean sure they have a lot of things to read and probably have somebody reading every piece of paper they get sent to deem whether it is worth their time, but anybody with half a brain should know that torture is really not okay, and after the 15th memo might decide to pass on the 16th one.

This leads to one simple conclusion – they read them and didn’t care. Scary!

At least the American’s have acknowledged that these things have happened in their recent history, Guantanamo is even being shut down. There are not many things in US Military Practice that I would want the Canadian government to copy, but this is one of them. Have the decency to admit when you have made a serious judgment error and do what you can to fix it. Don’t give a speech about how you never saw the memo, when there is record of 16 being written.
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One hundred and twenty-seven soldiers dead. That’s the causality count (to date) of Canadian solders in Afghanistan… for what could possibly be the biggest most costly renovation project that Canada got suckered into. We’re fixing up Afghanistan folks, but the tenants don’t want us to.

Seven years ago. This whole thing was sold to the Canadian public as a war. The war on terrorism. While not a conventional war, we were still behind it. We were part of a global initiative to make the world safer. For us, them, and everyone. And we were going to kick the Taliban’s butt to boot. Sounded good. Right?
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I was reading the newspaper the other day when I saw the comments made by some thoughtless Americans on the fox program Red Eye regarding the Canadian armed forces. Like most of you, I was outraged and completely appalled by the lack of respect shown by our American neighbours. So many questions went through my mind I couldn’t keep track of my thoughts. (And to be fair, it is FOX news, so let’s all keep this in perspective).

Are the Americans jealous? With all the corruption and financial failure in America today, who wouldn’t be envious of Canadians- we have universal health care, lower crime rates, a steadier banking system. Those could all be reasons for jealousy. Or maybe he truly is ignorant to the sacrifices Canadians have been making oversees. I mean, do you really expect American journalists to report on anything that doesn’t affect Americans? Please. Besides, Americans haven’t had any bit of real journalism in so long their opinions are baseless and without merit.
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