Sri Lankan war crimes video is authentic, Times investigation finds

A disturbing video captured on a cell phone showing what appears to be Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes is genuine, says Grant Fredericks, an independent forensic video specialist. The Times asked Mr.Fredericks to study the footage after the Sri Lankan government claimed they had “established beyond doubt” the footage was doctored.

“This level of subtle detail cannot be virtually reproduced. This is clearly an original recording,” said Mr Fredericks, who was previously the head of the Vancouver police forensic video unit in Canada.

In Mr Fredericks’s opinion “the injury to the head of the second victim and the oozing liquid from that injury cannot be reproduced realistically without editing cuts, camera angle changes and special effects. No [errors] exist anywhere in any of the images that support a technical fabrication of the events depicted,” he said.

The findings bolster former head of the army, General Sarath Fonseka's charge that the Defence Minister had ordered surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the conflict. They may even spark an independent investigation into the alleged war crimes, carried out by both sides.

In a ruling which stunned several human rights organizations this past May, the United Nations Human Rights Council not only rejected calls for an inquiry into the alleged abuses, but praised the Sri Lankan government in the process. The government for its part, has been quick to lash out at critics, accusing them of wanting to "bring the government of Sri Lanka into disrepute, through fabricated allegations and concocted stories."

In October the U.S. State Department released a report which found that allegations of human rights abuses in the final days of the country's civil war were "credible and well substantiated"

Although the US stressed the allegations in the report did not constitute an accusation of war crimes, the Sri Lankan foreign affairs ministry in Colombo accused the US of smearing its reputation. "The allegations against the government of Sri Lanka ... appear to be unsubstantiated and devoid of corroborative evidence. There is a track record of vested interests endeavouring to bring the government of Sri Lanka into disrepute, through fabricated allegations and concocted stories."

Stephen Rapp, the US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of abuse by both sides. "We want accountability in this situation," he said. "We believe that [Sri Lankan authorities] can investigate this. We're trusting in that commitment."

No, the irony of the U.S. State Department calling for accountability does not escape me. At any rate, as the months go by and evidence mounts, the case for a proper investigation is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. U.N Secretary~General Ban Ki-moon announced the HNHRC would go forward, contingent on reliable new evidence. If this is not enough to satisfy the body and they choose not to act, in my view, they render themselves expendable. Leaving it in hands of the Sri Lankan government won't suffice.

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happy x~mas to all

And with a little luck, here's hoping it will turn into a xx or xxx, for you :)

As a show of appreciation for all who contribute to my favourite blog aggregator, I have decided to make a contribution, in your name. Now now, don't feel guilty for not getting me anything. The true spirit of the holiday season is giving, not receiving. And it is within that spirit which I contribute in all your names to the "Human Fund". Hey, it's money for the people! Who can argue against that?

As a result of this selfless act, you will now have extra time for what truly matters at this time of year. fighting with family Drinking too much and overeating. So with that, I wish all Progressive Bloggers and their families {along with Parliament Shill and reedwrites} a happy and healthy holiday with continued well being.

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Peter Kent: the harper government is only anti~semitic behind closed doors

Why does stephen harper hate the Jooz?
All right, perhaps those weren't Kent's exact words, but if one straps on some tin foil and takes a trip through crazy con country, the implication is obvious.

After reading BigCityLib Strikes Back's post yesterday relating to the harper government's politically motivated decision to cut funding for Kairos on the basis of anti-semitism, I was reminded of a brief interview I read about a few days ago. I don't even recall how I landed on this page, but I did find the short exchange interesting. With stephen harper and his merry band of sycophants accusing anyone who criticizes Israel as being anti-semitic, I thought I'd share Mr.Kent's little Q & A session.


Steve Paikin met with Peter Kent on November 18 and asked him three questions. I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume that's why Paikin titled his piece, Three Questions for Peter Kent.

The first question is irrelevant.
Steve's second question and Kent's response.

Q: I noticed when I attended Question Period earlier today (November 18, 2009) that, rather than ad-libbing your answers as you would have frequently done in your broadcasting days, you read everything from prepared sheets. How come?

A: I can ad-lib answers around specific points but I’m covering a lot of files today that aren’t normally mine.

One of the strengths of our government and one of the shortcomings of the opposition parties is that we make sure everyone knows what our government’s position is. We make sure we speak to issues with a united voice.

Translation: A monkey could do my job, I don't need to know anything, really. We receive talking points from propaganda headquarters and repeat them until our lies seem plausible.

Third Q & A.

Q: So that’s why you, and the prime minister, and other ministers all end up using the exact same quotes when you answer questions?

A: Yes. So when we’re asked about the Israeli position on settlements, we never criticize Israel publicly. We say those settlements are “unhelpful” in finding a comprehensive peace settlement.

We’ve put on the record our position on nuclear power and India. We say “it’s no longer the 1970’s, it’s now 2009.” I saw the prime minister’s quote in the newspapers to that effect yesterday, and so I used it today.

Translation: Again, most of us don't understand what the hell is going on! But as long as we stick to the script and mouth platitudes, we should be fine.

So there we have it. Following the logical conclusion to the conservatives illogical argument that criticism of Israel = anti-semitism, the harper conservatives are anti-semitic, just not publicly.

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Canada's troops being investigated for Afghan abuse

Remember when discredited peter macKay accused the opposition of attacking the troops in response to Richard Colvin's testimony in November? Right, you're probably asking, 'which time?' Well this was on December 10.

"The member is suggesting by implication that the military did something wrong, that somehow they did not do the right thing. That is what is so despicable," MacKay said on Dec. 10.

First, nobody was accusing the troops of any wrongdoing, second, while the military police have ruled five of the six cases lacked merit, one investigation is still ongoing. Disgraced peter macKay had to have known about these allegations because according to the CBC, the documents they received 'were written for Defence Minister Peter MacKay in March to prepare him for question period.'

Canada's military police have been quietly investigating allegations for more than a year that the country's troops abused Afghan detainees, CBC News has learned.

Canadian soldiers captured the detainees sometime in 2008 and the investigation into their conduct has been ongoing for at least a year.

I have no idea how legitimate the conclusions of the military police are, since they seem to be willing to hide anything that embarrasses the harper government. Put aside the fact macKay knew this, put aside the court martial of a Canadian captain charged with murdering a wounded Afghan fighter in his custody, for macKay to hide behind the troops like a coward just reinforces how much of a despicable douchebag he really is.

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"We felt CEFCOM didn't care...no one in Canada gave a crap"

Global National has a short video report of a military police sergeant who says her warnings of a prisoner in custody under unsuitable conditions were ignored.

In an interview with the Military Police Complaints Commission, Sgt. Carol Utton told them that in the Spring of 2007, Ottawa sent word the transfer/release of detainees was to be temporarily suspended. At the time, Canadians were operating a walled compound with eight cells designed to hold prisoners for up to 96 hours. One prisoner was in custody at the time. Due to the new directive, he was held there for days on end with the temperature inside the cell reaching as high as 140 degrees F.

Canadian soldiers tried to help the prisoner by handing over frozen bottles of water, to no avail. His screams continued prompting some soldiers to ask if it was a dog crying. Sgt.Utton says they were frustrated with Ottawa's response.

"Our hands were tied because CEFCOM {Ottawa headquarters} was saying you cannot release him"

Utton said her boss sent warnings to superiors.

"She did everything she could to let the chain of command know how serious it was."

"We felt CEFCOM didn't care...no one in Canada gave a crap"

Let the denials continue.

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Democracy stephen harper-style: How do you like it so far?

um, what he said!

Lawrence Martin with an excellent recap of the past 4 years under the harper regime. A snippet

It is said that a hallmark of democracy is the toleration of dissent. Best leave that one in the church pew. Exceptional measures need be used to crush the opposition. Stuff such as taking the unprecedented step of launching personal attack ads between election campaigns. Or trying to push through a measure that would effectively cut off financing to the opposition.

A heavy dose of demagoguery also can go a long way. Play on simple prejudices by accusing opponents of not supporting the troops or of being anti-Israel. If nothing's working, if the going gets really tough, don't hesitate to bring out the heavy timber. Just after Parliament has reopened, have it shut down.

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peter worthington ~defending torture, disparaging diplomats ~ its just his way

Perhaps he is still reeling over the whole Conrad Black affair.

Whatever the reason may be, Mr.Worthington has put out a piece rivaling Christie Blatchford's screed {which has been debunked and corrected} in an attempt at discrediting Richard Colvin. But while they both dismiss anything Colvin had to say as irrelevant, Worthington goes completely off the deep end by suggesting that as long as Canadian soldiers "don't seriously abuse prisoners -- neither physically nor mentally", whatever happens to them after they are turned over is none of our concern because, "It's not our country".

His piece is full of holes, contradictions and stephen harper's talking points.
The irony is, although Worthington's headline reads, Colvin's tale not full Afghanistan story, it is he who then proceeds with half truths and what I contend are, intentional omissions.

Here is a breakdown.

That 95 former ambassadors have rallied to defend diplomat Richard Colvin who warned that Afghan prisoners turned over to Afghan authorities by Canadian soldiers were tortured, is interesting, even embarrassing to the federal government. But also irrelevant.

What these ambassadors know about Afghanistan and its customs verges on zilch.

Quite an assumption on Worthington's part. What clue does he have with regards to what these former ambassadors understand about Afghan culture? Even if one agrees with that statement, it does not undermine the crux of that letter, which was that the harper government was using personal attacks on a senior diplomat in order to discredit him. The letter has nothing to do with understanding Afghan culture or torture. The point of the letter was the consequences stephen harper's smear job would have on future officers coming forward when they see fit.

They now become weapons for the opposition to attack the government, claiming cover-up, deceit, intimidation, lying and whatever invective comes to mind. Basic is the demand that Defence Minister Peter MacKay be fired for saying there's no evidence prisoners turned over were tortured.

The fact is, Peter, the harper government's actions are directly responsible for creating the situation where others could legitimately claim cover-up, deceit and intimidation. Not the opposition parties, nor the ambassadors. From providing heavily redacted documents which are about as useful as harper's word, to discouraging witnesses from co-operating, to being shown the government's denials have been proven false, the charges against the government are warranted.

Any dispassionate assessment of Colvin's reports and testimony would likely conclude he honestly believes what he was told.

And "told" is the operative word. He didn't witness any torture or abuse, but was "told" by victims they were tortured. Can anyone recall a single Taliban or al-Qaida prisoner who hasn't claimed he was tortured?

Scowl at a Taliban detainee and it's interpreted as torture.

Of course, in the World according to Worthington, anybody who knows anything about Afghan culture such as Mr.Colvin, is aware of the rampant torture, but only if they happen to witness it with their own eyes, otherwise, it simply doesn't occur. Or something.

In yet another of Worthington's fallacies, he adopts stephen harper's right wing talking points. By labeling all the detainees as "the Taliban", the goal is to remove any legitimate criticism of human rights abuses. They set up a narrative in which they can accuse those who deplore torture as sympathizing with the enemy. As stephen harper has done on more than one occasion.

"I can understand the passion that the Leader of the Opposition and members of his party feel for the Taliban prisoners," Harper told the Commons on March 21, 2007.

The facts are there was little evidence that many of the detainees were linked to the Taliban at all, which bolsters Colvin's testimony that many of the Afghans detained by Canadian troops were innocent farmers, peasants or people in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

Worthington repeats Blatchford's claim that Mr.Colvin simply took complaints and hardly went out in the field.

There's little evidence Colvin ventured much beyond the wire with troops, or has ever been exposed to conditions in the field. He did his job as he saw it, but he's more a recipient of complaints than an investigator for truth.

That's also incorrect. Blatchford's piece has been updated with new information.

Mr. Colvin made several trips, not one, outside the military base in Kandahar. Incorrect information appeared in a column Nov. 28.

Now we arrive to the heart of the matter. Pistol~whip~ Pete sees nothing wrong with the Canadian military handing over detainees to be tortured at the hands of others. Heck, we can even abuse them ourselves, just not too much.

On their part, the generals tend to form a unified front in defence of themselves and soldiers. Our top soldier, Gen. Walter Natynczyk, says all this happened before he was in command, but other generals clearly weren't overly concerned about the fate of prisoners turned over to the Afghans. Nor should they have been. It's not our country.

Generals and combat officers should concern themselves that our soldiers don't seriously abuse prisoners -- neither physically nor mentally.

A majority of Canadians disagree with you, Peter. 7O% of them, in fact.

Moreover, fully 70 per cent said it's unacceptable that Canadian forces would hand over prisoners if it's likely they'll be tortured. No less than 60 per cent in any region and even a majority of Conservative supporters subscribed to this view.

Worthington wraps up by attacking the opposition parties, dismissing the need for an inquiry, and accusing the former ambassadors of doctoring reports to please their masters.

And none of that shields the harper government from scrutiny . Talk about having a sense of entitlement!

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N.S. town considers closing Wood Street to keep out teh gheys ~ update...

Alright, no torture~gate for me today.....Well except for this poll on Peter MacKay's job security.


Is Peter MacKay's job safe?

Ah, those mischievous gays. Always rendezvousing and "doing their thing." Okay, yes, - I confess I was originally going to post this solely for the title, however there are a couple of issues in this story I'd like to address.

The first being the separation of church and government. If an elected official relies on their religious beliefs to steer their policy, they should seek new employment. In this particular case from Nova Scotia, Truro mayor Bill Mills has taken a matter of law and order and clouded the issue with his bigotry.

The town council in Truro, N.S., is considering closing a street which leads to a park that the town's mayor has called a favourite pick-up spot for men.

Truro mayor Bill Mills added to the controversy when he told a local newspaper that the spot was a "favourite pick-up spot for guys from all over the Maritime provinces."

"They go up and have a rendezvous and then they go into the woods and do their thing. It's been known for years and years and is becoming more and more of a problem," Mills told The Truro Daily News.

The other point I'd like to make is, if folks are breaking the law, they should face appropriate consequences, but what difference does it make whether they're gay or not. Why inject your misguided dogma into the situation at all? Are there no heterosexuals "doing their thing" in the park? And let there be no doubt, this mayor is driven by his interpretation of Christianity.

Al McNutt, a gay rights activist who lives in Truro, said the mayor's comments do not reflect well on the town.

"Truro is being looked at by many, many communities as a very, very homophobic town," he said.

McNutt referred to an incident two years ago when the same council caused an uproar when it refused to allow the rainbow flag to be flown during gay pride activities in Pictou County.

At the time, Mills said he could not agree to raise the flag as a Christian.

I doubt the mayor was asked to run around Truro waving the rainbow flag. And therein lies the risk of having one's religious beliefs influence their politics. The flag incident illustrates precisely why there should be a disconnect between church and government. Because the mayor's "Christianity" didn't agree with the flag being raised, he wouldn't let others raise it either. Is that the way to govern? I think it's wrong so ~ I won't let you do it!


*update*

While mayor Mills remains unrepentant, the rest of Truro's municipal council members are distancing themselves from his remarks.

Municipal councillors in Truro, N.S. are distancing themselves from comments made by the town's mayor about gay men using a local park for sexual encounters.

"We all have friends and families in every walk of life so you turn around and you don't want to single out one group…you know it's just not right," said Deputy Mayor Greg MacArthur.

MacArthur said sexual activity at the park "in general" is still a problem.

Good on them.

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The Cons vs 50 Former Ambassadors ~ update x 2

After reading liberal catnip's post yesterday titled, The Cons vs 23 Former Ambassadors, I decided to steal borrow her title for this post. Hope you don't mind, catnip.

A group of 23 former Canadian ambassadors released a short letter yesterday chiding the harper government over the personal attacks used in their effort to discredit senior diplomat, Richard Colvin. Today that number has grown.

update As the harper government dig in their heels, the number of former ambassadors rebuking the governments treatment of Colvin has hit 95.

The Harper government responded to Mr. Colvin's testimony with a series of attacks on his credibility, an onslaught that this week brought a letter of protest from former ambassadors against the diplomat's treatment.

On Thursday, the number of former ambassadors putting their names to the letter climbed to 95. The open letter castigates Ottawa for dismissing Mr. Colvin's 2006 and 2007 torture warnings as irrelevant and suspect – a move ex-ambassadors fear casts a chill over the foreign service's ability to report frankly from abroad.

“I have never seen foreign-service officers come together like this before in my life," ex-ambassador Gar Pardy, an organizer, said of the effort.

update 2

Up to 111 as of Friday.

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Memos show stephen harper more concerned with image than torture in 2006

stephen harper's government assured the Red Cross in 2006 it would take a significant role in determining the fate of Afghan detainees handed over by the Canadian Military. They then went on to spend the next several months crafting talking points designed to suppress any negative information relating to possible torture abuse.

The records, examined on a confidential basis by The Canadian Press, show the Harper government placed a greater emphasis on drafting "key messages" to the public and preparing "approaches" for embarrassing disclosures than on dealing with the human rights of prisoners.

Throughout 2006, when Canada took on its combat role in Kandahar, the International Red Cross pressed Ottawa to take more responsibility for prisoners captured by Canadian soldiers.

As predictable as ever, stephen harper had no interest in actually dealing with the situation at hand. His pattern is well established. Climate change, Afghanistan ~ it simply does not matter. The only thing harper is concerned with is protecting the facade his handlers have concocted to fool Canadians.

November 2006

"Canada is reflecting on how to engage more pro-actively with Afghan and international authorities on the issue of treatment of detainees, including asking the Government of Afghanistan for permission to visit the prisons, discussing with Afghan authorities the process and procedures for handling and treating detainees from transfer to arrival at final detention facility, and talking to the (Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission)," say the talking points.

The document also warned officials to prepare "an interdepartmental approach" for dealing with "the potential scenario where allegations of mistreatment or torture are substantiated."

Clearly the government was not in the dark. Their heads may have been in the sand, but they were aware of the potential fallout.

February 2007

No. 1 on the eight-point plan for officials was to "Prepare standard key messages (ie. importance of adhering to obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law regarding the treatment of detainees.)"

Even when the conservatives took action, it was only to protect harper's image.

In March 2007, the federal government did ask the Afghan human-rights commission to check on the welfare of prisoners, but the chronically underfunded agency had trouble getting into detention centres.

The Harper government eventually decided on full-blown Canadian monitoring, but only after being rocked by published allegations that prisoners handed over to Afghan intelligence may have been abused..

Canada's former high commissioner to Pakistan, Louis Delvoie and Errol Mendes, human rights law expert, sum it up.

A respected former diplomat was aghast that "developing the spin" would take priority over dealing with an issue as urgent as possible torture. "This is one of those situations where – once again – presentation has taken the place of substance,"...."It's a rather sad commentary on what is taking place. You (should) deal with the substance of an issue and then you develop the communications plan as a separate and subsequent item to explain how you're doing it and what you're doing." He said this is not the kind of conduct Canadians should expect from their government in wartime.

Mendes:

said the paper trail demonstrates that the Harper government viewed the war as a political exercise, where image-branding trumped policy.

"Throughout all of this the military has been used as a political prop and that is dangerous," he said.

"Governments come and go but the military as an institution remains and the damage this kind of approach can leave is severe."

all emphasis mine

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Globe editorial: The record and the falsehoods

It seems as though the paper who praised stephen harper with an endorsement before the last election, has finally realized what his government is all about. From the Globe & Mail

The record speaks for itself on what the Canadian government knows, or should have known, about the torture of Afghan detainees. It speaks far louder than the falsehoods from the government that have by now become routine. If these falsehoods are offered unintentionally, one wonders how senior government ministers can be so ignorant of the contents of such an important file.

Mr. MacKay should read the newspaper files if he can't be bothered reading the government files (no doubt he will deny reading either). Last January, The Globe reported that Justice Department lawyers announced Canada had found a credible case of torture, and therefore stopped transferring detainees. Canadian diplomats even found the instruments of torture (an electrical cable and rubber hose) under a chair in a secret Kandahar jail. “Canadian authorities were informed on November 5, 2007, by Canada's monitoring team, of a credible allegation of mistreatment pertaining to one Canadian-transferred detainee held in an Afghan detention facility,” the lawyers said in a letter to Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

At every breach of the walls of secrecy that the diplomat Richard Colvin has alleged existed within government and the military, the government fires off untruths (the above list is by no means complete). But they are laughably weak armaments against the truth. As each one is knocked aside, the government's insistence it knew nothing about the torture of detainees becomes more and more tenuous.

Congratulations, G&M. It's about time.

Oh, p.s. Did you by chance leak a copy of this to Christie Blatchford?

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bye bye, peter macKay! And take that rat stephen harper with you

The harpercons are finally being exposed as the frauds they are. I actually thought they'd get away with the torture cover~up a little longer. Then again, I suppose a group this depraved shouldn't really be all that surprised.

Here is mackay in his own words denying, denying, denying, that there had ever been a single, solitary, proven allegation of abuse of a detainee or a Taliban prisoner, transferred by Canadian Forces.

"There has never been a single, solitary, proven allegation of abuse of a detainee, a Taliban prisoner, transferred by Canadian Forces.” Dec. 2 in the House of Commons

“Mr. Speaker, there has not been a single, solitary, proven allegation of a prisoner being abused that was transferred from the Canadian Forces.”
Nov. 23 in the House of Commons

“We do want to hear from individuals who can bring forward credible, proven allegations, not just recitations of what was heard, what was passed on, what was read in reports, or what was disclosed by Taliban prisoners themselves. That is what the evidence is so far. We have not seen a single scintilla of proof.”
Nov. 23 in the House of Commons

“There has never been a single proven allegation of abuse involving a prisoner transferred by the Canadian Forces, not one.” Nov. 23 in the House of Commons

“Not a single Taliban soldier turned over by Canadian forces can be proved to have been abused. That is the crux of the issue.” Nov. 22 in a press conference

“There has not been a single, solitary proven allegation of abuse involving a transferred Taliban prisoner by Canadian forces.” Nov. 19, in a press conference

Okay technically, that's just not....um, true..

In one well-documented case in the summer of 2006, Canadian soldiers captured and handed over a detainee who was so severely beaten by Afghan police that the Canadians intervened and took the detainee back.

Canadian medics then treated the man's injuries. The incident is documented in the field notes of Canadian troops, recounted in a sworn affidavit by a senior officer and confirmed in cross-examination by a general.

Our soldiers performed admirably and with honour, which is something this regime could not possibly fathom the meaning of. Our soldiers knew their responsibilities and fulfilled them.

Col. Noonan's affidavit also refers to instances of Canadian soldiers refusing to transfer prisoners threatened with death by Afghan security forces.

“The Afghan National Army wished to take custody of a detainee captured by the Canadian Forces and were overheard, by an interpreter, to be contemplating the execution of the detainee,” Col. Noonan said in his affidavit, adding that the chain of command was advised and the detainee wasn't transferred.

Former Lieutenant~General Walt Natynczyk ~ who has since been promoted to chief of defence staff ~ denied the beaten detainee had passed through Canadian custody however, that has been convincingly contradicted by Col. Noonan and then Brigadier~General Joseph Deschamps.

However, the soldier's contemporaneous field notes – written on the day of the incident but not released until months after the DND's media statement – offer a version that matches the sworn affidavit and provides compelling detail of a sequence of capture, transfer, rescue and medical treatment. “Local ANP [Afghan National Police] elements were in possession of a PUC [person in custody] detained by CDA troops and subsequently transferred to ANP custody,” the detailed written notes say.

They also refer by name and unit to the Canadian platoon that originally captured the individual and took pictures of him (showing no injuries) before they handed him over. Those photos, both showing the detainee unharmed before being handed over and after being beaten, have been withheld by the government.

I must say, macKay's denial in light of this new evidence is flimsy, at best.

The minister's spokesman said Sunday that Mr. MacKay was standing by his repeated denials.

“He has said what he has said based on the advice of generals and senior officials in the department,” said Dan Dugas, spokesman for the minister.

What type of advice? Is it of the legal variety? Where it allows you to parse words, redact documents and conceal evidence which counters your propaganda? And how far up the chain of command does this spread? I don't believe the harper government was oblivious to any of this.

I say bring on the inquiry and let the harpercons fall where they may.

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Breaking: new document clears harper government of Afghan torture cover-up

I checked my e-mail and some organization calling itself the "10 percenter society", sent me this. If you're still not convinced, click on the image for the undeniable truth!

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Cpl. Benjamin Monty Robinson trying to get away with killing 21 year old boy

Stay alert, Vancouverites, because folks running into R.C.M.P darling Benjamin Monty Robinson, have a strange way of dying. I don't have the time expand on this at the moment.

But shit like this makes my blood boil. Here is a pretty good recap of this liar's latest legal troubles.

Mountie escapes impaired driving charge in B.C. death

Overruling recommendations by a local police force, B.C.'s Ministry of the Attorney-General won't lay impaired-driving charges after a fatal crash last year involving an RCMP officer who was also at the centre of the Robert Dziekanski case.

The charge stems from an Oct. 25, 2008, crash in Tsawwassen, B.C., in which motorcyclist Orion Hutchinson was struck by a Jeep driven by Cpl. Robinson, who was off duty at the time, the ministry said.

After the crash, Cpl. Robinson gave his driver's licence to a witness and left the scene to carry his two children, who were in the Jeep, to the family's nearby home, defence lawyer Reg Harris said in an interview Tuesday. Cpl. Robinson has said he'd consumed two beers earlier that night and, once leaving the crash scene, drank two shots of vodka at his home.

I covered this story in one of my initial postings. For more info, see here. I remember Dr.Dawg and Buckdog providing some great coverage. I hope one of them have the time to spread the story.

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new documents dispute both David Mulroney and general Rick Hillier's testimony

But don't tell Christie Blatchford! She might question your patriotism. H/T Contrarian

From Contrarian's link comes this. Con clown Christie:

E-mail trail only adds to Afghan questions

And they took a lot of prisoners – many more than either the British, who were at the time in Helmand Province where things were then relatively quiet, or the Dutch, who were later moving into Uruzgan.

From the start, Canadian soldiers were using gunshot residue tests (this was mentioned by the former chief of defence staff Rick Hillier in his testimony to the committee this week, but the significance of the remark went unnoticed) to sift the wheat from the chaff.

In condemning with the same brush highly professional Canadian soldiers, and to complain that they were complicit in breaches of the law of armed conflict and knowingly buried his reports, it is Mr. Colvin who has some explaining left to do.

Is it really Mr.Colvin who has some splainin to do, Christie? Or is it you and the control freak, stephen harper and his yes men? I know Christie, being handed talking points is so much easier than doing your job, and perhaps you are just angling for a SenaToryal appointment, but really, try and be discreet.

Mulroney, Hillier have some explaining to do

Look Here, Christie!

Little evidence detainees linked to Taliban: report

The Canadian government documents detail how agents from the National Directorate of Security, a key Afghan organization involved in the fight against insurgents, raised concerns in spring 2007 that Canadian and NATO soldiers were taking people into custody, but could not provide proof of how they were involved in insurgent activities. As a result, the NDS had been releasing most of those captured.

So Christie's claims that 1 "And they took a lot of prisoners – many more than either the British, who were at the time in Helmand Province where things were then relatively quiet, or the Dutch, who were later moving into Uruzgan."

And two ~ (this was mentioned by the former chief of defence staff Rick Hillier in his testimony to the committee this week, but the significance of the remark went unnoticed) seem pretty irrelevant. Unless of course, one only tows the party line. Why is Mulroney more credible than Colvin? Why is Hillier, for that matter?

Members of a Commons committee recently heard testimony from Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin who said that many of the Afghans detained by Canadian troops were innocent farmers, peasants or people in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

His view, however, was challenged last week by diplomat David Mulroney, who had been a key player in the Afghan mission. He testified there was "no doubt that the detainees captured by the Canadian Forces posed a real threat to Afghans, and more than that, in some cases, had Canadian blood on their hands."

No doubt? Perhaps in the black and white, good vs evil world view of the neo-con. Hillier was just as confident.

Retired general Rick Hillier also disputed Colvin's allegations and said that Afghans taken into custody were indeed working for the enemy.

He told the Commons committee that those detained had actually been caught in the act of trying to kill Canadian troops and had explosive or gunpowder residue on their hands.

Really? How many of them, sir? 25%-50-75? Why were so many being released? More.

During a May 7, 2007, meeting at the NDS prison in Kandahar, the Afghan intelligence officials complained to a Canadian Forces legal advisor, as well as Foreign Affairs and Correctional Services Canada representatives. "(Names of NDS agents censored from document) complained that they need more detailed charge information when detainees are transferred by Canadian Forces," the Canadian government report from Kandahar noted. "In the cases the only evidence is (details censored from document) which in the Afghan context is insufficient grounds to hold someone in detention."

The report was sent to various Canadian officials including Mulroney, Foreign Affairs, Defence Department and Privy Council Office representatives. Colvin was not included on the list.

The NDS officials asked that their concerns be passed on to Canadian and NATO troops, according to the report.

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