A Contrarian reader writes: If only it were true that they were back peddling. In tonight's news, MacKay is heard sinking to new depths of loathsomeness by accusing Colvin of impugning the integrity of Canadian troops. He obviously hoping Canadians will turn against Colvin if he can be made to look as if he's attacking the military. How much more cowardly and disgusting can you get than using the military as a red herring to draw attention away from your own behaviour. I'm beginning to feel slimy just being in the same country with...

23 November, 2009

Contrarian is relieved to report that whoever kidnapped Stephen Maher and published Saturday's bizarre column under his byline has released him. His column this morning offers a useful reminder of the circumstances under which Richard Colvin went to Kandahar in the first place. In January 2005, Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry, the political director of the provincial reconstruction team in Kandahar, was killed in a suicide bombing that wounded three Canadian soldiers. After Mr. Berry’s death, while the Foreign Affairs Department was struggling to find diplomats to serve in the dangerous and challenging country, Richard Colvin volunteered to go to Kandahar to do...

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

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

— Kady O'Malley live blogs the NDP response to the Colvin torture testimony and the Conservative's bucket defence. [Note to CBC: Horrible interface.] Moneyquote: [NDP MP Paul] Dewar...

19 November, 2009
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