Canada’s Solicitor General Wayne Easter delivered a stern warning to the U.S. through the press that Maher Arar’s arrest and deportation experience was not to be repeated or it could harm U.S.-Canadian relations, according to a report I saw today on Newsworld International.
The reporter then explained that his attitude changed after meeting with U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and he adopted a more conciliatory tone, stating this ‘incident’ which he claimed was legal, or others like it, shouldn’t be allowed to interfere with cooperation between the two countries. He had nothing to say about Maher never being charged with a crime but did implicate other countries in the alleged intelligence sharing that led to his arrest, though he didn’t name them specifically.
Ashcroft refused to answer questions from the press.
Maher’s attorney called those allegations a fraud. A hoax. You know, what we hear all the time. A damn lie. He actually said it was “the absurd trying to defend the indefensible”, I believe.
This gentleman is furious with the ‘joke’ of an investigation that Canada will claim to conduct.
And this article reminds readers of the political climate that led to the shredding of civil rights and this tragedy.
If you didn’t think things could get more nauseating, the WP is reporting:
U.S. officials said yesterday that they decided to send a Syrian-born Canadian citizen to Syria last year only after the CIA received assurances from Syria that it would not torture the man.
Apparently Syria can be trusted. I’m sure they’re repealing the Syrian Accountability Act at this very moment.