Comments on: Afghan agency reported 400 cases of torture – 47 of them in Kandahar.

By: Al

Al — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:27:21 +0000

The Harper Government is purely Machiavellian and the Afghan story proves it

By: marie

marie — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:23:42 +0000

Senior Source, get your pea brain out of your rear end and quit being so darn dense. If you think Canadians will support Harper with this kind of stupidity, you will be surprised and shocked to find out that only his blind supporters will still support him once the Media starts to open their partisan eyes and they will if the s**t hits the fan and they want to take advantage of the headlines.

You don’t speak for the majority of us Senior source. I would not be so insesetive to the Afghan people and the torture that has taken place. Another thing source, with all the blunders and lies your dictator Steve has done, when it comes to the crucnch voters will show your hero out the door and out ofthe PMO without any regrets.

By: Big Winnie

Big Winnie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:19:10 +0000

Wow!! Blaming the former Liberal government for the (in)actions of the current CON government that has had 4 years to investigate, correct actions is totally ridiculous.

“we would be working with a not-so-democratic Afghan leadership at some point and things like this – handing over prisoners for torture – would happen”

So in essense, by your comments, you are advocating torture, that it is fine that the government was complicit and that the actions of the government don’t contravene the Geneva Convention?

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:03:28 +0000

@Senior Source,

Harper and his government voted to extend the mission. Twice. Once in a suprise motion brought forward by the CPC government in March 2007.

Stop lying. Harper had the chance to get them out and choose to make them stay…this is as much on him as any of the previous governments.

By: JimBobby

JimBobby — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:50:30 +0000

@Senior Source, The cover-up sticks to Harper. The denials of what was "obvious to all but the brain dead" sticks to Harper. The attempt to portray concern for adherence to international law and to the Criminal Code of Canada as sympathy for the Taliban sticks to Harper. The character assassination of a(nother) dedicated and conscientious public servant sticks to Harper. The Liberals were idiots to kowtow to GWB and send us into Afstan in the first place. They committed us til 2009. It was Harper who extended the undefinable mission to 2011. According to AIHRC and the warden at Kandahar, the majority of abuses took place in 2006 and 2007. Colvin sent his memos during the Harper reign. Human Rights Watch submitted a damning report to the UN and NATO in November 2006.

By: Emily A Madsen

Emily A Madsen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:47:39 +0000

Brant, perhaps you should ask those people how they feel about having suspicion of complicity in contraventions to the Geneva Convention hanging over our soldiers and the Afghan mission. We now have long time friends overseas writing about our government’s cover-ups and the smell of warcrimes is in the air.
Not exactly winning hearts and minds, are we? Europeans didn’t think much of the Bush foreign policy and some see Canada as pursuing a similar one.

By: Scott Tribe

Scott Tribe — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:24:50 +0000

@Senior Source, That's quite the delusional statement there. I thought members of the Prime Minister's Office weren't allowed to browse blogs while on duty.

By: Senior Source

Senior Source — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:58:27 +0000

It was a Liberal government that sent us to Afghanistan and kept us there for five years until Harper took over. IT was a Liberal government which volunteered Canada for the dangerous Kandahar mission. Stephen Harper was the one to put an end to the Afghanistan occupation, sagely noting that we’ve been there longer than WWII and promising to pull our troops out in 2011, which cannot come soon enough.

The blame rests 100% on the Liberal government which sent us there, and on Liberal supporters who blindly supported this invasion and occupation. None of this sticks to Harper – he inherited this mess from the Liberals and did well to secure our release in 2011.

It was obviuous to all but the brain dead that we would be working with a not-so-democratic Afghan leadership at some point and things like this – handing over prisoners for torture – would happen; to express shock over it now, 7 years later, reflects poorly on the intellect of the shocked.

By: Jon Pertwee

Jon Pertwee — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:19:58 +0000

@Joan Richard, well that depends on whether individual soldiers are implicated. Then, the argument lies more on the individual. A soldier can refuse to obey and order based on humanitarian grounds like torture. They aren't mindless drones nor should they be regarded as such.

By: Jon Pertwee

Jon Pertwee — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:17:57 +0000

@Brant, that's right Brant. Keep sweeping it under the carpet and it will go away. "These are not the droids you are looking for" Good luck with that jedi master.