Cost of War NOT What Harper Said
Ian @ October 10, 2008 # No Comment Yet
I can see making a mistake when one estimates a cost for an on going operation. But to mistake that estimate by half of the actual cost? That is just plain wrong, and it makes you wonder, what else are they under estimating? Does it mean their estimate of our surplus is off by twice as much, which would mean a deficit? How can you trust someone who says one thing, does the opposite? Yet Stephen Harper wants our trust, says he’s best to manage our economy, but he can’t honestly tell us how much the war in Afghanistan is costing? He is hiding the figures, making it as hard as possible to find out, but he wants us to trust him on the economy? ANYONE BUT HARPER BEFORE WE GO BROKE.
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Is It Censorship?
Ian @ September 22, 2008 # No Comment Yet
I don’t know how appropriate it is to put up a logo, on a public university, to stir up debate on censorship, but then again, maybe that is exactly where it should be? After all, universities are about the exchange of ideas, or learning about differences, so perhaps it should be there. Whether the subject of the protest is valid, well that is another story. While on the surface it might appear that there is some censorship involved, I rather lean towards it being a valid attempt at preventing hate mongering, and further division among cultures. I think that the fact no cable outfit is carrying Al-Jazeera isn’t because of the rule requiring monitoring, but because they are too cheap & lazy to do it. There are ways to do it, but they aren’t interested. Maybe it is because they don’t believe they have sufficient numbers who would subscribe, but I don’t believe they aren’t carrying it because they have to monitor the broadcasts.
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Just Following Orders
Ian @ July 25, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The release of early memos on the use of torture is scary stuff. It shows how ordinary people have risen to new lows, in how they seek political cover for their actions, knowing it is wrong. If it wasn’t, why would they need to keep records, to show they are innocent of abuse? Just as the Nazis did after WWII, the current crop of Nazis is using the same argument, for abusing other human beings. Torture is wrong, no matter who does it. Worse when it is defended and supported by one’s elected officials.
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Good Question, Wrong Answer Ashcroft
Ian @ July 19, 2008 # No Comment Yet
It is sad when a former Attorney General can stand before Congress and say that waterboarding isn’t torture, and that he assumes it was of great benefit in the War on Terror. He won’t come out and say that if it was done against American Soldiers what his opinion would be, because then he’d have to show what a two faced lie his support of waterboarding is. It is torture, and to hell with what Politicians think, ask the Viet Nam vets what they think.
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Khadr, Emotions Aside.
Ian @ July 17, 2008 # No Comment Yet
IF we are at war, how can we treat prisoners of war as if they are criminals in a civil case? How can we charge a boy soldier, or any soldier, with murder, if they are simply doing what any soldier is required to do, which is kill the enemy. Our troops do it, but are they being charged with murder? Surely we are better than this, yet Khadr is on trial for doing what a soldier is supposed to do. Assuming he did, which is a leap as well. War is about killing, about death, and while any loss of life is tragic, it is the price of war. One we engaged in, are in, so why is Khadr under trial, and not simply being held in accordance with the rules of war, as stipulated by the Geneva Convention? Ignoring that Convention is what one would expect from the likes of Osama, from Hitler, from other despots, but from a US President? A Canadian Prime Minister?
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Gutless and Disgraceful
Ian @ July 16, 2008 # No Comment Yet
For the PMO to claim Justice is being served at Gitmo is like saying George Bush is the most beloved and respected President the United States ever had. It is a joke, to claim that any Justice can be served by hand picked Judges run by the Military. It is a crime against humanity, to claim it is justice, when the evidence is obtained by torture, and bullying. Yet that is what Stephen Harper claims, that Justice is being done at Gitmo against a kid, a Canadian born Kid. This isn’t justice, this is a witch hunt.
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Who Are The Good Guys? Us or Them?
Ian @ July 16, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The tapes of Khadr’s interrogation by CSIS proves one thing. It shows that there is no Justice, that Canada, along with the United States are guilty of abuse, of torture. They can claim the high road, but the world can see for itself, that the high road is bullshit. To abuse a kid no matter his alleged crime, is wrong. This is not what Democracy is about, nor is this even faintly close to what Justice is supposed to be about. This is a disgrace, a blight, that needs to be corrected, needs to be addressed. Stephen Harper, George Bush, need to be shown, that we are human, that we do care about the Rule of Law, and that they are not tin pot dictators. This is wrong, to abuse any child, no matter his crime, no matter the sins of his father. This is not justice, he is a Canadian Citizen deserving of equal protection under the law. It is our obligation and duty to see that he gets it, despite the wishes of George Bush and his Gestapo.
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Does Citizenship Mean Anything?
Ian @ July 10, 2008 # No Comment Yet
While the Khadr case is a clear example of how the United States has evolved into a dictatorship, and is no better than the Terrorists it opposes, the lack of intervention by the Harper Government on behalf of a Canadian Citizen is just as reprehensible. It shows a total lack of support for the Canadian Justice System, and for the values Canadians hold dear to their own hearts. The price of Citizenship has been watered down, because Stephen Harper would rather be friends with George Bush, than he would like to uphold Canadian Values & Morals.
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National Security vs Justice
Ian @ July 1, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Because he wasn’t formally entered into the USA, he can’t avail himself of the Justice System? Like what kind of Democracy is it, that allows its Government to seize a foreign national, in transit, then deport him to a country other than his, and then not be held responsible? Yet that is what the US Court of Appeals said, in the Arar case. Citing National Security, sensitive Foreign Policies, it refused to hear his claim which makes one wonder, who is the terrorist, and who is the victim?
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McCain Should Know Better
Ian @ June 14, 2008 # No Comment Yet
John McCain is a disappointment. For a man who suffered at the hands of a dictatorship, who felt the horror of torture, he should be behind the Justices of the Supreme Court, holding up their decision as a true show of why we are the Good Guys, and why the Terrorists are the Bad Guys. Yet he has fallen to the lowest level of Politics, using what is the only true safeguard for Democracy, as being wrong. He has betrayed what he stood for, in order to gain votes.
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US Courts Figure Out What Democracy Means
Ian @ June 12, 2008 # No Comment Yet
George Bush and his drive for Dictator of the Century has suffered a major blow, by the USA Supreme Court. With today’s ruling, that ALL PEOPLE within the USA are entitled to their day in court, the Justices by a 5 to 4 margin, have shown the world that Freedom does exist. They have shown that the Rule of Law is what separates us from the bad guys, and gives those fighting terror a chance at victory. That is really what this ruling is about. It says to an out of control government that they cannot use fear as justification to ignore the laws that govern a country. They have shown by a slim margin, that the rule of law is above the rule of fear, of scaremongering.
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USA - Unrepentent, Unyielding, Unbending, Arrogant.
Ian @ June 6, 2008 # No Comment Yet
Homeland Security continues to deny it did anything wrong when it kidnapped, then deported Arar, in secret, to Syria. It doesn’t even acknowledge that lying to Canadian Officials about his whereabouts was wrong, or even violated the treaties between the two countries. Instead it deported a Canadian to Syria, where he was tortured, based on false information. Sound familiar? Guess when you can invade a country on falsehoods, you can send a foreign national off to be tortured with a clear conscience, right Mr. Bush?
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New Spies or Just More?
Ian @ May 26, 2008 # No Comment Yet
So for about $27 Million we get a new intelligence outfit, operating under the Military, but yet they acknowledge they already have people in the field doing the stated job this new unit would do. So it begs the question, WHY? I wonder at times, are we too naive in Canada, or are we simply trying to be like the big boys, to say we have spies too.
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Is He a Terrorist?
Ian @ May 23, 2008 # No Comment Yet
There is no doubt that we are losing the War on Terrorism, but not because our Military is incompetent, not because they are unwilling to fight, but because our Politicians are unwilling to stand by the Charter of Rights, or Uncle Sam being willing to stand by the very Bill of Rights and Constitution that makes us so different from the Terrorists. By ignoring our own Rules of Law, by lowering ourselves to their animal actions, we are giving them Victory. That is why we will not win the War on Terror, because we may talk about Democracy, about Law, about Human Rights, Civil Rights, but when push comes to shove, we are just as willing to put all those high principles aside, in order to supposedly be safe. What hypocrites we have become.
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Is It About The Troops?
Ian @ February 26, 2008 # No Comment Yet
The politicians shout till the veins in their forehead pops, when it comes to how they support the Troops. Whether or not they believe in the War itself, they are quick to loudly proclaim their support of the men & women fighting over there, but are they? If equipment that can protect is not sent there, is not quickly ordered and made available, how can they claim to support the Troops? When profits of running a war take precedence over protecting the lives, how is that showing support? This war is being run on a supposed shoe string, despite its enormous cost of a billion dollars a day, but where is the money really going? Obviously not to needed equipment.
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