Maher Arrar, falsely accused of terrorism and deported to Syria to face torture, is still waiting for Stevie, our Dear Leader, to apologize for the actions of the Canadian government. Arar has a very good point, that if the government does not apologize to him, it means that the government does not believe that anything that was done was wrong, and it means that what happened to him is just as likely to happen to some other innocent person.
But, of course, "Canada's New Government" (I will have to have a good rant about that particular piece of bullcrap another time) is refusing to apologize. "We weren't in power then," they cry. "It wasn't our fault," they moan. All that is true, but it doesn't mean that the government is any less bound to apologize. The government of the day, no matter what political stripe, must apologize when it emerges that the government has done something for which an apology is warranted, like assisting the sending of an innocent man to the torture chambers of Syria!!
In fact, if the Conservatives had been in power then, things would have been even worse. The Conservatives, while in opposition, accused the Liberals of "siding" with an al-Qaida terrorist (by whom they meant Mr. Arrar). The Conservatives would have done even less than the Liberals to have him brought home, seeing as they appear to have tried, convicted and condemned him in their closed little minds.
The claims that the Conservative government should not be apologizing to Mr. Arrar because it was a different party in power at the time is utter nonsense. Stevie apologized earlier this year for the Chinese Head Tax, and if I recall correctly, it was the Liberals that instituted the Tax. Yet the Conservatives had no trouble apologizing and taking the credit for the apology that they were due.
Stevie must pull his head out of his ass and apologize to Maher Arrar now. It is a matter of what is right, and what Mr. Arar deserves. Canada provided the inaccurate information that saw Mr. Arrar tortured, and Ottawa stood back and didn't protest as he was shipped to Syria. The Canadian government owes Mr. Arrar an apology, and Stevie as PM of the day is the one who should be giving it.
Cheers,
Days Remaining in Bush Presidency: 859
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I think it is the height of hypocrisy for Liberals to demand an appology for Mr. Arrar, since they were the ones that allowed him to be rendered to Syria in the first place. But you may have noticed, I am a New Democrat, not a dirty Liberal. My point was that the Government of Canada, no matter which party forms the government of the day, ought to apologize to Mr. Arrar for what was done to him.
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