Helping America unshit the bed

Lindsay Stewart and Impolitical are duking it out over puffy Steve's refusal to permit Guantanamo detainees to resettle in Canada.

Following the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate refusing to allow the prisoners onto US soil, Obama appealed to the world to help put an end to Bush's gulag :

"Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," Obama said.
"Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

... while at the same time defending the Obama gulag at Bagram :

AP Sept 14, 2009 : "The Obama administration argued late Monday that allowing terrorism detainees in Afghanistan to file lawsuits in U.S. courts challenging their detention would endanger the military mission in that country.

Obama's Justice Department has sided with the congressional Republicans and put forward the same argument as the Bush administration."

And so it goes.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la fucking meme enabling chose ...
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Child detainee on his way home after 7 years in Gitmo

A child detained in Guantanamo Bay for seven years for allegedly throwing a hand grenade at US soldiers in Afghanistan when he was 14 years old is on his way home after a Federal Court ruled the U.S. government was holding him illegally. His initial confession, obtained under duress, was thrown out by the judge.

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"We are so pleased that this nightmare of abuse and injustice has finally come to an end," said his attorney. "While he can never get back the nearly seven years he was illegally detained and tortured, now he can finally return home to his family, friends and country, and begin to build a normal life."

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The child detainee in question is Mohammed Jawad, now returned to his native Afghanistan thanks to a US Federal Court decision this month. [Yeah, mean trick, I know]

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Gosh, another kid accused of throwing a grenade. Is US military generally in the habit of accusing the survivors of their raids of throwing grenades, or only when there are US casualties and the possibility of friendly fire?

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Meanwhile back in Canada, our child soldier detained in Guantanamo for seven years for allegedly throwing a grenade at US soldiers in Afghanistan when he was 15 - that's Omar Khadr pictured above in the middle the year before his father dumped him in Afghanistan - has not been so lucky because Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the last leader on the planet Earth to support the detaining and abuse of children in Gitmo.

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On August 14, our Federal Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that Ottawa is required to press the US for Khadr's repatriation because CSIS and Department of Foreign Affairs officials had violated his Charter rights by being complicit in his mistreatment at Gitmo.

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Yesterday Harper's federal government disgraced itself by announcing it will go to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn that ruling.

They do not want to risk asking the US for Khadr's return, perhaps because the Obama Administration urged a federal judge to order the release of Mohammed Jawad, and even George W. Bush granted requests by other countries for the repatriation of their citizens from Gitmo.

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Harper is going to the wall in hopes that a sufficient number of Canadians believe in tiered citizenship and a four-tiered passport system and will applaud his stand against so-called 'activist' judges. He's wrong about that.

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Canadian Project for a New American Century

In July 2005, Canada's Chief of Defence Rick Hillier explained our new relationship to the people of Afghanistan :

"These are detestable murderers and scumbags. They want to break our society. If Canada is attacked, it will be only because it is a free country.
They detest our freedoms. They detest our society. They detest our liberties."
By sending troops to Afghanistan, he argued, Canada is actually protecting itself : "We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people."

Our job is also, he might as well have added, to placate the US for having foolishly avoided public advocacy for its adventure in Iraq.

Four years and many platitudes about little girls going to school later, the Canadian military manual of counterinsurgency (COIN) operations doctrine begun in 2005 and spanning the Bush and Obama presidencies is now complete.
Authorized by the head of the Canadian army Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie, it is, Anthony Fenton writes at The Dominion, "a synthesis of two recent US Army Field Manuals" and a model of US-Canada "synergy":

Obama's administration has sent clear signals, through political appointments and holdovers (such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates), that the US military and national security apparatus' transformation toward fighting smaller, "irregular wars" begun under Bush will continue apace.

Only a week before Bush left office, Gates, together with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Director of USAID, Henrietta Fore, co-signed the US Government Counterinsurgency Guide.

Neo-conservative historian Eliot Cohen, who oversaw the Guide's creation, wrote in its introduction:
"Insurgency will be a large and growing element of the security challenges faced by the United States in the 21st century...Whether the United States should engage in any particular counterinsurgency is a matter of political choice, but that it will engage in such conflicts during the decades to come is a near certainty. This Guide will help prepare decision-makers of many kinds for the tasks that result from this fact."

Thank you, Eliot Cohen, charter member of the Project for the New American Century, signatory to the 1998 white paper on "regime change" in Iraq, and all-round advocate of US military imperialism.

Although PNAC was disbanded in 2006 when its founding members decamped to the Foreign Policy Initiative, both its membership and its objectives of an imperial US COIN agenda continue through Obama and into a Canadian manual on military doctrine.

Suddenly this picture becomes less amusing.

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Fenton :

"According to Lt. Gen. Leslie, the Canadian Army is "at the cutting edge" of Western armies readying themselves to fight 21st-century wars.

Since General Leslie signed off on the COIN manual last December, the COIN Center and Canada have collaborated on more than 20 exchanges, including "COIN Leader Workshops" and "COIN Integration" meetings.
Members of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Command (CEFCOM) met with the [US]COIN Center for discussions about "US-Canada COIN synergy" five days after Leslie wrote in his issuing order for the new COIN doctrine that it is "complementary to our allies."
In April, the US COIN Center "visited military installations and think-tanks in Canada to inculcate the Canadian military establishment with COIN doctrine and best practices."

Recent meetings have concentrated on how best to sell this idea to the Canadian public.

Maybe they could brand it as the Canadian Project for a New American Century.

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Anthony Fenton at The Dominion. Go.

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Edited to fix link - thanks, Chris

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The selling of the prime minister

Via Impolitical comes the news that Harper has hired former White House spokesmen Ari Fleischer and Mike McCurry to help him get more facetime on US network TV.
Yeah, I know, just go read her post.

Just wanted to add here that the longer version of the vid clip provided by Impolitical showing Ari defending Bush's record just one month ago contains this extraordinary claim from Ari at the end :

"After September 11, having been hit once, how could we take a chance that Saddam might not strike again?"

By comparison, selling Harper should be a piece of yellow cake for Ari.
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Harper and Uribe shake hands on free trade deal

The handshake that represents Harper's decision to help Uribe in his war against his own people.

The handshake that would allow Colombia "to pay a token monetary amount into a ‘cooperation fund’ when a Colombian trade unionist is murdered".

The handshake that would "destroy the livelihoods of many small Colombian farmers by flooding the market with subsidized agricultural imports", thereby paving the way for large agro-businesses in Colombia to buy up the land of destitute farmers for the production of biodiesel, palm oil and beef for export.

The handshake that supports the use of paramilitary organizations who have forced 4 million people off their land for the benefit of Canadian transnational mining and natural gas companies.

Some of these companies have even supplied the necessary military equipment.

The handshake that ignores involvement of Uribe's top aides in the killing of more than 800 union workers, teachers and journalists over the past six years.

In July 2007, Harper was in Colombia subbing for Bush.

There, with President Uribe at his side, he explained his position :

"When we see a country like Colombia that has decided to address its social, political and economic problems in an integrated way, that wants to embrace democracy and human rights, then we say, 'We're in,' he said."

"We are not going to say fix all your social, political and human rights problems and only then will we engage in trade relations with you. That's a ridiculous position," Harper said.

G&M, last night : [nice to see the Cons still adhering to late friday news dumps!]

"A Canada-Colombia free-trade agreement was announced Friday shortly after Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Peru.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said the deal “builds greater trust among investors.”
The agreement lifts tariffs on 98 per cent of Canada's exports to Colombia, including wheat, barley, lentils, peas, beef, paper products and machinery and equipment.

In their free-trade deal, Canada and Colombia agreed their laws must adhere to principles set out by the International Labour Organization. If Canada or Colombia violates the labour organization's principles, they will have to pay into a fund aimed at strengthening workers' rights."

This is known as the "kill a trade unionist, pay a fine" clause.

Not even Bush could get this one past Congress.

Canadian parliament will have their chance to reject it sometime in January.

Toronto 18/Paintball 11/Tim Hortons 10 video footage

Footage of the Toronto 18/Paintball 11/Tim Horton's 10 has shown up on a US anti-terrorism website. It is presumably the same footage the Canadian judge declined to release to the media.
Now admittedly I haven't seen many terrorist promotional videos before - ok, none actually - but it's difficult to imagine that recruitment numbers sky-rocketed after watching this jolly bunch perform wheelies in a Canadian Tire parking lot and fall down in the snow.

"The NEFA Foundation has obtained exclusive footage of a would-be "terrorist training camp" that took place in a rural section of Canada in 2006. The camp, directed by CSIS confidential informant Mubin Shaikh, included members of the alleged “Toronto 18” terror cell, who are accused of conspiring to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack in southern Ontario, including plans for truck bombings and storming local buildings such as the Canadian Parliament and the headquarters of the CSIS. The video features footage of the men receiving instruction on the use of handguns, sniper tactics, and basic calisthenics. Crudely edited by its creators to include nasheed music, the video also shows the men practicing evasive driving maneuvers at night in an abandoned parking lot."

In reporting on the footage, the CBC at least notes that the weapons are paintball guns but neither CanWest nor CBC bothered to include the information that the lone handgun was provided by the first RCMP mole

who was paid $77,000 to set the group up for arrest, and who went public on July 13th to declare that he was owed a further $300,000.
Nor do they mention the role of the second RCMP mole, a former CSIS informant, who was paid $4.1M to arrange the purchase of ammonium nitrate on his credit card to be delivered to a warehouse he had rented conveniently located a hundred yards from the RCMP station. $4.1M seems like a lot of money, I know, but at least the RCMP whittled him down from the $16M he had originally asked for.

At the time of the arrests, Parliament was in the process of reviewing the new powers granted the police and security forces under the Anti-Terrorism Act which would allow prosecutors to conceal evidence from the accused and their lawyers on the grounds of protecting national security. Prime Minister Harper personally thanked Bush in a telephone conversation the following Monday for the help provided by US authorities.

A verdict in the trial is expected next week.

US to take over Afghan mission, Taliban threatens Canadian aid workers

Times Online : "The United States is planning to take control of all military operations in Afghanistan next year with an Iraq-style troop surge after becoming frustrated at Nato’s failure to defeat the Taliban.

Plans are being drawn up to send as many as 15,000 extra troops to Afghanistan with a single US general always in command, as in Iraq, defence sources said. The Pentagon is also pushing for a permanent “unified command” in the south of the country that would sideline the Dutch and the Canadians.

The surge will also see US and other coalition special forces, which operate separately from the Nato command, absorbed into a single US command for the whole of Afghanistan."

Bush to Harper and Nato : I'm in charge here.

So can we go back to calling it Operation Enduring Freedom again now?

CBC : Canadians face more attacks, Taliban warns

"Just days after insurgents shot and killed two Canadian aid workers in eastern Afghanistan, the Taliban is warning similar attacks will occur.
The extremist group issued the warning in a letter posted on the internet, and the CBC confirmed its authenticity on Sunday after talking to Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in Kandahar province:

"The Afghans did not go to Canada to kill Canadians. Rather it is the Canadians who came to Afghanistan to kill and torture the Afghans to please the fascist regime of America," the letter said."

Meanwhile, the Canadian International Development Agency CIDA has quietly revised its grant agreements to further shield the government from responsibility when aid workers are killed even as they told some organizations that they are more likely to receive funding for projects based in Kandahar, one of the most dangerous provinces in the country :

"Canada "shall not be liable for any losses, claims, damages, or expenses relating to any injury, disease, illness, disability or death of the employees or subcontractors of the organization alleged to be caused as a result of performing the agreement."

Nice. Stay tuned for Steve to nonetheless proclaim that Canada supports the troops, will not cut and run...

Bush, Harper : "Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic"

Some criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic: U.S.
By RON KAMPEAS, JTA
Thursday, 17 April 2008

"WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has taken the ground-breaking step of identifying some virulent criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism, as it warns that anti-Jewish attitudes and incidents are on the rise worldwide.

“Anti-Semitism has proven to be an adaptive phenomenon,” the report said. “New forms of anti-Semitism have evolved. They often incorporate elements of traditional anti-Semitism. However, the distinguishing feature of the new anti-Semitism is criticism of Zionism or Israeli policy that – whether intentionally or unintentionally – has the effect of promoting prejudice against all Jews by demonizing Israel and Israelis and attributing Israel’s perceived faults to its Jewish character.”

U.S. diplomats and other officials will be expected to take their cues from this forceful language in how they deal with political groups and individuals overseas.

“I hope this keeps it on the radar screen and lets other governments know that the U.S. sees this as an important issue that needs to be taken seriously,” LeGendre said."

And right on cue.....

Criticism of Israel is anti-Semitic, Harper says
MIKE DE SOUZA, Canwest News Service
May 9, 2008

"Some of the criticism brewing in Canada against the state of Israel, including from some members of Parliament, is similar to the attitude of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned yesterday.
"I guess my fear is what I see happening in some circles is (an) anti-Israeli sentiment, really just as a thinly disguised veil for good old-fashioned anti-Semitism, which I think is completely unacceptable," Harper said in an interview with CJAD radio."

Steve takes the Bush message of "some criticism of Israel" and uses it to bash "some members of Parliament".
I suppose we can expect rather more of this since we signed that "Homeland Security Pact" with Israel in March.

H/T Lagatta at Bread 'n Roses for the CannedWest link.
Lagatta says : "I wonder if people who criticise Canada's mistreatment of its Aboriginal population are "anti-Canadian"? "

The Three Amigos shovel some PR for Uribe

in advance of news of his cousin's arrest.
Seems my question on Tuesday night about why each of the three amigos mounted such a stirring and seemingly completely off-topic defence of Colombia's President Uribe in their joint press conference was answered in the following day's news :

WaPo : Cousin of Colombian President Arrested in Death Squad Probe

"Authorities on Tuesday arrested former senator Mario Uribe, a cousin and close ally of President Alvaro Uribe, for alleged ties to death squads in a widening inquiry that has implicated nearly a quarter of Colombia's Congress.
The arrest of the former senator, who built a formidable political movement that helped his cousin win the presidency in 2002, comes during an institutional crisis that has tarnished a country closely allied with the United States."

AFP : Colombia's Uribe under probe over 1997 massacre

"Colombian President Alvaro Uribe denied Wednesday charges he helped plan a 1997 massacre by right-wing paramilitaries, while confirming that his role was being examined in an official investigation."

At their Summit presser, Bush, echoed by Harper, proclaimed : "we got no better friend in South America than President Uribe."

So The Three Amigos presumably already knew about the arrest and thought they'd shovel a little PR manure for the Uribe government before the rest of us heard about it.

Linda Carlsen of the Americas Program, Center for International Policy, also writing before news of the Uribe arrests broke, dissects "the prominence of this issue in the official statements" here:

"Again the summit is being used to advance the failing Bush administration domestic agenda.
Considering again that the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is not an issue in Mexico, the geopolitical strategy of building alliances among rightwing governments in the hemisphere to confront the growing number of leftwing governments becomes clear. This ideological taking sides has no place in a trilateral summit dedicated to North American integration issues and panders to the Bush agenda."

The whole article is an excellent read :
Dissecting the North American Summit Joint Statement: Bush's Last Stand

CTV : "Harper praised outing Bush"

LuLu at Canadian Cynic posted this photo from the Three Amigos Summit and commented:

"It looks like Big Daddy just doesn't know how to quit Dubya.Eewwwwwwwww"

Bad LuLu.
That comment is exactly the kind of gratuitous scurrilous hyperbole the main scream media is always slagging the blogosphere for. Furthermore....

Hang about. What's this from CTV?

Latest : Three amigos summit :
CTV News: Robert Fife with more from the summit
" Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised outing US President George Bush Monday to start the "Three Amigos Summit"

Harper praised outing Bush?

Sorry, LuLu, I didn't realize you already had Harper's endorsement on that "outing" thing. Please carry on.

(And everyone else go look quick before they fix it)

Cross-posted to The Galloping Beaver