Harper's Cunning Plan

I may have underestimated Psycho Steve. I now suspect he has a plan to fire every civil servant in his path, without cause, in a effort to bankrupt the government in an avalanche of wrongful dismissal lawsuits. H/T to the Jurist.

Instant Update: Given the Harperistas track record over the past little while, how many of you out there believe the following sentence?

A spokesman for Mr. Ritz said he was unaware of Ms. Allen's departure, and said Mr. Ritz would have no comment.

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Convenient Shield Of Sovereignty

From today's Globe, Rick Hiller speaks out on torture:

Canada's top soldier says the governor of Kandahar province is doing "phenomenal work," and that allegations of torture against him are up to Afghans to investigate.

Leave aside the fact that he thinks that someone accused of torture is doing "phenomenal work" and let's look at the idea of the Afghan government investigating the allegations. First of all, the gentleman in question is President Karzai's personal choice for the post. Second, Amnesty International reports this about the Afghan government:

Weak government

The reach of the central government was restricted. Parallel systems of governance and dispute resolution prevailed.

Insecurity undermined the rule of law and created a climate of impunity. Governors in some provinces acted independently of central government and violated human rights with impunity. Despite the appointment of Supreme Court judges and other high-ranking officials, reform and rebuilding of the judicial sector remained sluggish. The Afghan security forces, particularly the police and representatives of the National Security Directorate (NSD), were accused of illegal detentions and torture and other ill-treatment.

So, it seems unlikely that the governor is in much danger from the central government. It also seems that our options of dealing with torture are as limited as our options for other actions in Afghanistan. Canadians are being asked to turn a blind eye to torture until (if at all?) the Karzai government gets its act together on the issue. Thanks general. Please keep on talking. You are doing your country a great service.

Update: The general is showing all of us how corruption happens. I am not talking about monetary corruption, but corruption of the soul. The longer our military stays in an environment where they have to make common cause with war lords, the more they have to betray the very ideals they are trying to instill in Afghanistan. The ethical situation in Afghanistan, is much worse than I feared. I was a fence sitter on "the mission". I am no longer one. Layton is right. Before we destroy our military, it's time to withdraw them from that moral snake pit.

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General Hillier Makes It All Clear

If the one and only option for us in Afghanistan, should we decide to stay, is to stay in Kandahar and fight a counter insurgency war forever; then that should make it easier for the Liberals to decide where they should land in this debate.

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The Circle Of Life

The Richard Nixonization of Psycho Steve is almost complete. We have a paranoid, and in my opinion, psychotic group running the government, who are bound and determined to root out and destroy their enemies, both foreign and more importantly, domestic. Now that their domestic enemies have started to strike back through the only means available to them, i.e. by leaking like crazy, can the plumbers be far behind?

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Torture Schmorture

Shorter Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission: It isn't important that our security services torture people. It is only important to deny the Taliban a propaganda victory.

I am starting to understand what Americans must feel like. Their government makes compromises like this all the time, with regimes that are so retarded in their understanding of basic human rights. With each compromise, with each decision, we move further and further into the heart of darkness.

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Passive Aggressive General

Shorter Rick Hillier: I don't want to insert myself into politics but, if the Liberals don't pass the Manley Report they will dishonour the glorious dead.

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Shhh, Hear That? It's A Cover Up Unraveling

The Tories are, as we say, toast. To cover up the knowledge of torture, for almost a year is pretty shocking. To hide it from a federal judge will almost certainly make that judge cranky. To hide it from the Canadian people, on the correct assumption that it would make an extension of the mission virtually impossible, will make their re-election prospects murky at best. This news should free Dion from the Iggy/Rae, however. How can Dion negotiate with Harper, knowing that Harper will lie and conceal vital information from him? Harper is a swine who deserves unemployment. To Mr. Dion and the Liberal Party I say bring this parliament to an end. Bring on an election. We need a purging.

Update: To any Tories out there who might be tempted to snark. Remember, these are the "good guys", in whose name we fight. If the "good guys" are just "bad guys" with better suits, then we have no business fighting for them.

Update 2: The flying damage control squad that is the Harper government, quickly assessed its position and realized it needed something special. So, it uncrated the Chief of Defence Staff and sent him out to meet reporters this morning. I don't know what they promised Rick, but he was all charm and smiles and claimed to have been so drunk (I believe he said he was on a beach and on his third rum and coke) that he didn't care what Sandra Buckler had to say. He also was at his emotionally blackmailing best when he framed Afghanistan as coming down to having to look at the mums and dads who have lost their soldier-children and tell them that their babies did not die in vain. That we might have to look them in the eye and tell them that they died for a regime that tortures people, did not come up.

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