Though the Manley Report is now questionable as a legitimate and unbiased document, to justify our continued role in the "mission"; it did raise some legitimate issues.In particular, the fact that Harper and the PMO kept a tight control on messaging, something that many others have raised the alarm about.
But another revelation came about, that is pretty compelling:
In November, the Canadian military stopped transferring detainees to the Afghan military after diplomats found clear evidence of torture.So in 2008 the media was reporting that "... diplomats found clear evidence of torture." And yet MacKay and the rest of them are saying there was no evidence, clear or unclear.
But the Harper government stayed silent on the subject until the facts came to light last week in government documents filed in a lawsuit by human rights groups opposing the handling of detainees.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon emphatically stated Thursday that disaffected diplomat Richard Colvin's claims that all detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops weresubsequently tortured were unproven.
"There were a lot of allegations, but there is no proof to what Mr. Colvin had to say," in testimony to a parliamentary committee Wednesday, Cannon said during a telephone interview from Kabul where he was attending the inauguration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
"We have always taken our responsibilities regarding the treatment of Afghan prisoners very seriously. We expect the Afghans to do the same."
Cannon then fell back on the old line that once they assumed power they cleaned up the Detainee mess. But we know that isn't true, because they sat on reports for more than a year, doing nothing; afraid that the revelations would turn Canadians against the war. They had to continue with their claims that we were only there to "help".
However, now that the International Court may be involved, they've gone into panic mode, going to exorbitant lengths to cover up what they knew and when.
I'm trying to archive my posts so they are easier to access, so will use this page to link stories related to the Afghan Detainee issue from 2008. By laying everything out chronologically, we can see that this government has been spinning a yarn since 2006. They lied to us then and they're lying to us now.
Afghan Detainee Stories From 2008
Peter MacKay Knew in 2008 That Afghan Detainees Were Being Tortured
Related Postings on Afghanistan 2008
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