http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/11/19/don-martin-tory-attacks-only-boost-diplomat-s-credibility.aspx
Don Martin, Canadian politics, afghanistan
OTTAWA — In an organized smackdown rarely seen in Ottawa, the government turned inward on Thursday to attack a new enemy in its Afghanistan conflict — senior Washington embassy intelligence officer Richard Colvin.
After 15 years of steadily rising through the foreign service ranks, Mr. Colvin now stands accused of being a Taliban stooge, someone so easily duped by torture complaints that he shredded his diplomatic reputation by passing along their accusations.
Mr. Colvin became fodder for such accusations the minute he told MPs that a full year of warnings about detainee torture had been ignored at the highest levels of the military and public service.
He even hinted at tentative, but unproven, connections to the government itself. That made his testimony very, very dangerous — and that's why the Conservatives have launched a campaign to discredit Mr. Colvin.
But it faces a big problem. Every action by this government to date has only enhanced the diplomat's credibility
James Morton
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1 comment:
This is another one of those cases where the Liberals have to tread carefully, because the Conservatives haven't been in power that long.
Were the Liberals similarly complicit in sending prisoners to the Afghan government to be tortured? It seems likely. Which means their criticism of the Tories will be muted.
Either way, it's a sad statement about what this country has come to.
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