Also in the Star, a former EU diplomat backs Colvin's testimony on torture: Richard Colvin's repeated warnings to the Canadian government about detainee torture in Afghanistan were an expression of the common concerns of like-minded Western nations, not the baseless ramblings of a rogue diplomat, a European colleague says. Michael Semple, former deputy head of the European Union's mission in Afghanistan when Colvin was second-in-command of the Canadian embassy, said his own records from his time in Kabul are littered with the same findings that the senior Canadian envoy shared with a House of Commons committee this week....

23 November, 2009

Today's must-read: A former NATO official tells the Toronto Star how Prime Minister Harper's office micromanaged the story of Canada's complicity in Afghan torture when it first erupted in 2007. The former official, speaking on condition his name not be used, told the Toronto Star that Harper's office in Ottawa "scripted and fed" the precise wording NATO officials in Kabul used to repudiate allegations of abuse "at a time when it was privately and generally acknowledged in our office that the chances of good treatment at the hands of Afghan security forces were almost zero." "It was highly unusual. I was told...

23 November, 2009

In his Saturday column, Jeffrey Simpson pointed out something others have overlooked: For all the fire and brimstone Conservative spinmeisters hurled at Richard Colvin, they didn't actually contradict a single word of his testimony. Significantly, for those who paid careful attention to substance rather than bombast, in all the sound and fury from the government and former military personnel, no one actually contradicted a single thing in Mr. Colvin's testimony...

23 November, 2009

Sonia Verma profiles diplomat Richard Colvin in the Globe: “Richard is a beta, not an alpha. He doesn't seek out the spotlight. He's never the guy you would notice in the room,” said one long-time associate, who requested anonymity to speak frankly...

21 November, 2009

CONTRARIAN INDEX — Number of newspaper columnists who think politician Peter MacKay's character assassination of diplomat Richard Colvin was a virtuoso performance: 1. The Chronicle-Herald's normally astute Stephen Maher took a flying leap off the deep end Saturday with a column slathering praise on Peter MacKay for his reckless attacks on diplomat Richard Colvin. Maher said MacKay "showed what he is made of, ...

21 November, 2009

The Star's Tonda McCharles reports that the Conservatives are changing tack in the torture scandal. "It is our understanding that other current and former DFAIT employees will be testifying before the Parliamentary Committee. Their testimony will provide important context and information about this issue." ...

20 November, 2009

Former top Steven Harper strategist Tom Flannigan tells Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail he's unimpressed with Conservative character assassination of career diplomat and whistle-blower Richard Colvin. He thinks it's happening...

20 November, 2009

Writing in Maclean's, Andrew Coyne expresses "some bafflement" at the Conservatives' reaction to Richard Colvin's testimony. Don't worry, Coyne hasn't gone socialist. He's sure Canada is no longer turning over detainees without adequate safeguards. He thinks the Harperites fixed the problem, and ought to take credit for it. He doesn't think we are at the point of needing a public inquiry—yet. He thinks Colvin's testimony is "less than bullet-proof." But it’s another thing altogether to imply that Colvin is some sort of whack job or stooge of the Taliban. As others have pointed out, his sterling career track — he’s now a...

20 November, 2009

Chantal Hébert makes a good point. Canadians only got to hear Richard Colvin's testimony because we have a minority Parliament. The Conservatives had previously used a national security clause in the Canada Evidence Act to prevent Colvin from testifying to a Military Police Complaints Tribunal hearing. But not having a Parliamentary majority, they were powerless to prevent him from testifying to the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. Hébert is skeptical of claims the government was out of the loop: [T]the government could not have been in the dark about the potential prevalence of torture unless the country's top civil...

20 November, 2009

Here is a roundup of clips and comments on the Harper Conservatives' slagging of Richard Colvin, who was a respected career diplomat until his tried to warn the Harper administration about Canadian complicity in Afghan torture. First, a scrum in which Defense Minister Peter MacKay calls Colvin a patsy for the Taliban before running away under tough questions from Parliament Hill reporters: MacKay's predecessor as Defense minister, Gordon O'Connor, "was never briefed on any of this." Diplomat turned blogger Norman Specter, writing in the Globe and Mail: [I]t’s important to remember that this is not the first time serious allegations have been made against...

20 November, 2009
Show more
Loading...