Tories attack credibility of diplomat

[CHIMO]

In its first response to explosive testimony from a government whistleblower about Ottawa's complicity in the torture of Afghan prisoners, the Harper government tried to undermine the credibility of revelations made by one of its own officials.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay led the charge during Question Period today, saying the testimony from Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin can't be believed.

The awkward fact for the Conservatives however, is Mr. Colvin is otherwise trusted by the Canadian government on sensitive matters. He is currently a senior intelligence officer for Canada in this country's embassy in the United States.

In a damning indictment of how Canada handled prisoners early in its southern Afghan mission, Mr. Colvin told a Parliamentary committee on Wednesday that all captives Canadian soldiers transferred to local authorities ended up being tortured – even though many were likely innocent. He also described a startling pattern of indifference and obstruction to his attempts to warn higher-ups of what was happening in 2006 and 2007.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/tories-attack-credibility-of-diplomat-who-blew-whistle-on-torture/article1369993/


My oh my. The pompus indigenation!


FTR AFGHAN TORTURE QP Duration: 00:04:09
They say you shouldn't shoot the messenger. But you could hear ricochets all over Parliament Hill today.

Yesterday, a senior Canadian diplomat testified at a House of Commons committee looking into the torture of Afghan detainees. Richard Colvin worked for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs in Afghanistan from 2006 to 2007. In his testimony yesterday, he said that he warned Canadian government and military officials on several occasions that Afghan detainees being turned over by Canadian soldiers were being tortured. However, according to Mr. Colvin, his warnings were repeatedly ignored.

Today, the Conservative government is distancing itself from Mr. Colvin and his comments, by questioning the credibility of his testimony. Here is an exchange between Peter MacKay, the Minister of Defence, and Bob Rae, the Liberal Foreign Affairs critic, that took place earlier today in Question Period, for the record.
http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20091119.shtml

AFGHAN TORTURE: COLVIN PROFILE Duration: 00:07:47

So just who exactly is the man at the centre of this storm? To learn more about Richard Colvin, we turned to Michael Semple, who worked in Afghanistan during the same period. Michael Semple was Richard Colvin's European Union counterpart -- serving as the Deputy to the E-U's Special Representative for Afghanistan.

Michael Semple is currently at Harvard University's Carr Center, and that is where we reached him.
http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20091119.shtml

FTR ABDULLAH ABDULLAH Duration: 00:03:17
Well, we did try again to get that comment from a member of the government. Here is the list of Conservative Members of Parliament whom we requested interviews with today:

Peter MacKay, the Minister of Defence;

Laurie Hawn, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence, and member of the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan;

Jim Abbott, the Parliamentary Secretary for the Minister of International Co-operation, and another member of the Committee on Afghanistan;

Cheryl Gallant, a Conservative M-P who also was at yesterday's Special Committee meeting;

And finally, Peter Kent, the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs.

http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20091119.shtml

http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/asithappens/20091119-aih-1.wmv
First item after the intro.

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1. Disgraceful. And that applies to the torture and shooting of the messenger. For a party that is all

"rah-rah military" they don't seem too concerned over how allowing this to happen for so long has placed our soldiers in harm's way.