Canadian complicity
Canada is a minor player on the world political scene, increasingly seen as nothing more than a U.S. puppet, a minion succouring favour, trying to be one of the big boys on the global stage by supporting the Bush doctrine, even after Bush is gone. The Canadian government under Harper has supported the U.S. in Afghanistan and currently on into Pakistan without considering the context of who started the great mujahideen warriors in the first place (the U.S. CIA and Pakistani ISI) and why they are now fighting them in Central Asia (gas, oil, containment of China and Russia).
This complicity extends to torture. The case of Maher Arar is a relatively well-known extradition case that the government aided in. More recently, now that Guantanamo is being shut down, a Canadian citizen Omar Khadr is being denied entry back into Canada even though the Federal Court has said it should be allowed. One of the government's arguments is that Khadr needs to be processed through the U.S. legal system (hmm...see above) even though under international law he could be tried here in Canada. While Harper wishes to appear tough on terrorism, he is only making himself complicit in the illegal practices utilized by the U.S. at Guantanamo, soon perhaps to be sanctioned by Obama as well.
The Canadian pretender to the throne, whom I do not always agree with, appears to understand the situation more clearly than Harper. Michael Ignatieff states,
...even in emergency, even if some liberties must be suspended, a constitutional state must remain answerable to the higher law, a set of standards that protect foundational commitments to the dignity of every person. [9]
Terror's answer
Terror is an act of aggression. It is part and parcel of the nature of warfare, and is a particular conjoint of unilateral pre-emptive warfare. The answer to terror is twofold. First the initiating countries, those that are doing the invading, manipulating, coercive activities, need to stop. The second is that terror used in response to terror cannot be stopped by war, but needs to be stopped by international police work and the upholding of international law internally and internationally by all parties.
For Canada, hopefully Harper will see the last of his controlling reign in the next election and equally hopefully, Ignatieff can stand up his own beliefs in human rights extending beyond state legalities. Obama needs to act in his own back yard and ignore his own state legalities of the Military Commissions Act, or terror will continue regardless of any war label applied to U.S. actions. If it cannot be contained and brought to justice in the U.S. it will not happen internationally.
[1] Byers, Michael. War Law – Understanding International Law and Armed Conflict. Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, 2005. p. 154.
[2] McCoy, Alfred W. A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, From the Cold War to the War on Terror. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2006. p. 207.
[3] perhaps I should be more patient, Gorbachev's peristroika and glasnost took several years to transform the Soviet empire....
[4] Sands, Phillippe. Torture Team – Deception, Cruelty and the Compromise of Law. Allen Lane (Penguin), 2008. See review at click here
[5] Anup Shah. "Military Commissions Act 2006-Unchecked Powers?" Znet. October 02, 2006. http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/3050
[6] Sands, ibid, p. 252.
[7] Byers, ibid, p. 143
[8] McCoy, ibid, p. 14. [9] Ignatieff, Michael. The Lesser Evil – Political Ethics in an Age of Terror. Princeton University, 2004. p. 44.
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