Gutless and Disgraceful

War on Terror

Despite the release of video tapes, despite the simple fact that he was Fifteen at the time of Capture, and a born Canadian citizens, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper refuses to try to have this kid brought home for trial. He refuses to see, what the world sees when it hears about the Kangaroo Court at Gitmo. He instead, COWERS TO THE WHIMS OF A MAD MAN, George Bush.

Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was only 15 when he was captured in a bloody firefight with U.S. troops in Afghanistan in July 2002, accused of throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic. Now 21, Khadr is the only Western foreigner still being held at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and is awaiting trial before a military commission, scheduled to begin in October.

“Mr. Khadr faces serious charges. There is a judicial process underway to determine Mr. Khadr’s fate. This should continue,” Kory Teneycke, the prime minister’s director of communications, told CBC News on Tuesday morning. (source - CBC News)

I can understand the passionate feelings that this case brings to bear. I can feel for the victims of the crimes done against those who fought, are fighting the war in Afghanistan, but I cannot accept that in order to win, we have to sacrifice our principles of Justice, of Humanity, of GOD. To ignore the simple truth that this kid was born in Canada, and is being denied the support of his own Country, is wrong.

To claim that what is happening at Gitmo as a Judicial Process is simple Insanity. The whole case is based on evidence obtained from the poisoned fruit of the tree, as the legal eagles call it. It is evidence tainted by coercion, at best.  TORTURE would be more in keeping with the truth of it. And how can anyone call it Justice, when the majority of evidence is so obtained?

This isn’t 1933 Germany. The men and women of CSIS or the FBI aren’t supposed to be clones of the Gestapo, and yet here we are in the year 2008, and we are ignoring the mistreatment of people, simply because we are frightened. These aren’t white people, nor are they Christian people, or Jewish people, but Muslim, and dark skinned. AND THAT FRIGHTENS US.

The result is that we IGNORE THE LAW, but worse, we IGNORE OUR VALUES, OUR HUMANITY.

Both Stephen Harper and George Bush spout about human rights, about human values, and about the Christian Ethics that they support, yet at the same time they condone torturing a fifteen year old boy. At the same time they support Torture, they claim it isn’t as bad as what the other guy is doing, as if that makes it somehow cleaner. War is dirty, but this war is worse than that. It is destroying our sense of right and wrong, our sense of GOD.

Torture is not right, and Stephen Harper should be dismissed from office, for not standing up for a Canadian, for our Values. This is wrong on every imaginable level, and we need to prove that, when the next federal election comes. No one should support any political party that supports Torture, or Engages in it. And yes, by doing nothing when you know it is being done, is ENGAGING IN IT. You are giving them a free hand, by doing nothing, and that is how evil wins, because good does nothing.

Contacting Your Canadian Member of Parliament

Ian @ July 16, 2008