Rice to Canada: 'Thank you'

[CHIMO]

HALIFAX — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on the fifth anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks, travelled to Halifax on Monday to thank Canadians for providing stranded American travellers with “a place for them to be safe in a time of great danger.”

Rice, whose visit reflects the close relationship between the U.S. administration and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s fledgling government, took part in two ceremonies, including one at Halifax International Airport.

“It’s a day to know and remember that there is indeed evil in the world, and that we saw its awful face on that horrible day,” Rice said as she stood in front of a massive photo showing dozens of diverted aircraft cramming the airport’s runways.

“But it’s also a day to recognize when the worst in human behaviour and in human nature exhibits itself, so does the best in human nature and human behaviour. And that is what we saw here.”

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1157969828361&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home



She didn't need to bring gold today. Her serfs will be giving her the gold tomorrow.

The gods first...

[tanyev]

1. Only 4 years and 363 days late. About time.

Thank you, Canada.

[Lost-in-FL]

2. Yup!

5 years too late.

[daleo]

3. Rice/Bush had to wait for a Conservative Canadian government

She/he didn't want to say thanks to a bunch of Liberals.

[Posteritatis]

13. To be fair

Bush actually did show up in Halifax in late '04, and Nova Scotia tends to be a fairly middle-of-the-road province. They were only three years too late. ;)

The police had a blast with the "free speech zone" when Bush was in town though, which pleased me greatly:

Bush spoke at Pier 21, an old immigration shed and roughly the Canadian equivalent to Ellis Island - and also about as far out of the way as one can get from the downtown core, which was probably a deliberate decision. They also choppered him in and out instead of driving him, landing on the piers behind the building.

So what'd the cops do? They set the cordon for the protest area to be right snug up against the front doors of the building, rather than two blocks away or something as is the standard for when Bush is speaking someplace in the States. I've worked in that building; it's an eighty-someodd-year-old concrete box with negligible insulation, a few very large, open rooms (think a warehouse-ish interior), and no soundproofing at all.

If he didn't hear every syllable, I'll eat my hat.

[daleo]

14. I have been to Pier 21 as well

In fact, both parents landed there when they immigrated. I think you are correct - there's not much to muffle sound there.

[Lautremont]

4. Canada to Rice: Pthththththt!

Stick that one in an empty Horton's cup and take it back to yer boss.

[bumblebee1]

7. Does she get an empty box of Horton donuts with the empty coffee cup?

Her "husband" would be quite impressed. I was under the impression the planes from overseas landed in Gander, Newfoundland. That is a plane refueling stop for international flights.

[Lisa]

11. she can tell him it's full of "donut holes"

And he could spend an entertaining few hours looking for them all!

[Canuckistanian]

12. Not many planes refuel at Gander any more

But it's still important as the facility that monitors and controls transatlantic air traffic.

[tuvor]

5. Any description of the crowd?

Size? Reaction?

[bamacrat]

6. Great, maybe now we can adopt some of their policies.

HA:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[K8-EEE]

8. How Can Canada Be Safe With No Torture??

What a dangerous place, they have civil rights and universal health care! No secret prisons....no waterboarding or sexual humilation or ANYTHING?? it must be a horribly dangerous place thank God they survived that Canadian layover! :sarcasm:

[JohnyCanuck]

15. No problem, our neocon bootlicking security services outsource

our torture work as directed by their Uncle Sam.

Public inquiry needed for Arar: Is Canada subcontracting torture?
By: Riad Saloojee

SNIP

It has now been 13 months since Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen born in Syria but traveling on his Canadian passport, was detained and arrested at New York's Kennedy Airport on September 26, 2002, and then deported, first to Jordan and then to Syria.

SNIP

And, regarding the issue of torture, Arar spoke of being locked up in what was literally a "grave" for ten months in Syria - a room with no sunlight, three feet wide, six feet deep and seven feet high - frequented by rats and sprinkled by animal urine through ceiling vents. He was beaten repeatedly over his body with a shredded electrical cable; threatened with electrocution and with being stuffed into a tire and beaten on the soles of his feet; and frequently punched, kicked and slapped. And, in what he describes as perhaps the most painful punishment, he was deliberately locked for days in a waiting room, where he heard the screaming and wailing of other prisoners being tortured.

SNIP

But who would have thought that Canada's own security agencies played a central role in Arar's nightmare.

It is now appears to be beyond question that the RCMP passed on detailed information about Arar to American authorities. At one point, US authorities presented Arar with an apartment lease from 1997 and Arar was questioned in detail about people he knew or met in Canada.

Moreover, Arar's testimony reveals extremely disturbing information about the involvement of CSIS. It appears that there was an open communication channel between CSIS and the Syrians. CSIS agents made two visits to Syria during Arar's imprisonment. And, shockingly, the Syrians gave CSIS the interrogation transcripts and Arar's torture extracted confessions.

http://www.ottawamuslim.net/Ottawa_News/feature_cair-can_arar.htm

[Javaman]

9. she wants something. nt

[Eurobabe]

10. Now direct me to the nearest shoe store

Time is a'wastin and that loonie is still low.