Why Do You Torture Us, Canada?

Oh Canada. Americans look up to you, both literally and figuratively. But your laid-back-ness and refusal to offend the powers that be in Washington can make us cringe--as it did last week when you redacted the United States from your torture manual.

You know that we Americans love lists, except, of course, when it's a list of countries that torture their inmates and the United States rubs elbows with the likes of Syria and Iran. Shame on you, Canada! It's impolite to lump us with such rogue regimes. (psst, ok, you're probably right, since you and I both know that the United States has at one time tortured its detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, or renditioned prisoners to countries and undisclosed "black sites" in Eastern Europe where they are tortured. Your PowerPoint was so spot-on, listing U.S. interrogation techniques, including "forced nudity, isolation, and sleep deprivation," as forms of torture--but again, let's keep it between ourselves).

Look at how low we as a country have sunk: Even our neighbors and closest allies cringe at having to include us on their list of rogue states that torture their prisoners. The awkwardness is palpable. Yet reversing course and scrubbing the U.S. from the list only makes the uneasiness more apparent. Americans can't seem to get the world's outrage over torture. Just look at the tortured discussion we've had over the use of waterboarding, something Vice President Dick Cheney once called a "no brainer for him" and our current attorney general refused to condemn. Americans remind me of Daniel Day Lewis' oil-baron character in There Will Be Blood--we want to be spiritually cleansed of all our sins but deep down we are not truly remorseful.

North of the border, Canadian attitudes toward torture are more admirable. Canada has come out strongly against the transfer of detainees over to the Afghan army, where they often face torture (The U.S. has been mostly silent on the issue). The government has been sued by Amnesty International to stop such handovers. Canadian human rights groups have also pressed their center-right government to ask the United States to return the sole Canadian held captive at Guantanamo Bay, something Ottawa has unfortunately refused to do.

Canada must stop sucking up the United States and for once, put us in our place. Pretending the U.S. does not torture because its name is not on a PowerPoint slide is small solace to a Canadian detainee staring into the eyes of a CIA operative standing next to a bucket of water in some undisclosed black site.

Comments

[GKJames]

Ya gotta love the rationale for the outraged howling from the U.S. The first line of defense wasn't, We don't do what you say we do. It was, How dare you put us in the same category as the other of the world's cretins. An indignation to which the response should have been but, alas, wasn't, The instant you stop behaving like those other cretins you'll come off the list. (I also would have added, Now get the f*ck out of my office you miserable, self-righteous, whiney, slack-jawed half-wit. But that's me...)

[PinkoAttic]

Whenever we have a Conservative government up here, they always suck up to your government no matter what heinous policies are being proposed.
The difference between us and other nations of the world is that WE GET the fact that most Americans are opposed to torture and that their government was elected by the few and for the interests of the few. I was over in Europe last summer and was struck by the vehemently hostile attitude of many europeans toward Americans these days. It's as if they could forgive the U.S.A. for having voted for Bush once, with all that followed after (Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, etc) but the fact that they returned him to office twice was the cardinal sin. Whomever it is that ultimately gets elected as your president (and I assume it will be McCain if Hillary wins the Dem nomination) will have to get out there post haste and tell the world that the America which reveres its constitution is back and back for good and that means zero tolerance of torture of ANY CITIZEN, ANWYWHERE, in the world. We're counting on you friends.

[Yappa]

Canada pays dearly when it doesn't dance to the American tune. The US is the mightiest country in the world and it throws its weight around to force everyone else to do its bidding. Canada's economy is linked closely to the US and we are very vulnerable. As Walt Kelly said, When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last.

When Canada refused to support Bush in the invasion of Iraq we got slammed by the government in all sorts of ways. We also got slammed by the American people. Petty, personal revenge was widespread - such as refusal to sell goods to Canadians over eBay.

Most of the time Canada is ignored by the US, and that is a very good thing.

[Plowboy]

Canada has also banned the use of DU, but not the Holy USA. We have used it liberally and polluted Iraq and a few other places inhabited perhaps by subhumans of some type disliked by our bosses. (Liberality like that shows what we mean by our idealistic blather.)

[Ratel]

I assure you, most of us up here in the North were pleasantly surprised when the report came out and quietly disappointed by the retraction by our conservative government. You call our government centre right, but for us they are actually quite right wing. (Remember in Canada your Democrats would be centre-right.) And they are always eager to suck up to Bush in some way, they had to take a lot of heat to stand with the US government in their criminal position in the recent environmental conference in Bali. So, in a way this report and its retraction was good for something, it really embarrassed the Conservatives.

Hopefully our opposition parties can use that against then in the next election. Just a comparison for Americans, our election hasn't even been called yet, may not be for a few months but it will likely be campaigned, completed and control handed over to the winners before you even hold your long anticipated election.

[straightshooter]

Israel does torture Palestinian prisoners:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3406484,00.html#n

EXTRACT:
Report: High Court permits torture of Palestinians.

Public Committee Against Torture in Israel says there is "no effective barrier " not legal and certainly not ethical " that stands in the way of using torture";
Aviram Zino Published: 05.30.07, 12:06 / Israel News

[patriotscholar]

Perhaps this administration wants to make torture legal so that they may avoid prosecution for past crimes. If so, it calls into question the very morals and ethics of the lawyers that promote such actions.

[TheIndependenceParty]

We, America, have and continue to commit torture. That is clear!

I will not pledge allegiance again to these States until we end these practices, and swear to the world that we will never practice them again!

Do we imagine ourselves such abused victims, with the losses of 9/11, that it can excuse away anything at all that we might do, to ourselves or others? Are our longstanding friends, the Canadians, the English, the French, and so many others so dependent upon us in some way that they would excuse any behaviors by us whatsoever? Do NOT! You must call us to account before the World for our crimes, every one! PLEASE! Otherwise, ... there is no order to the World whatsoever.

I am ashamed of what America has done and is doing in Guantanomo, and in many black hole prisons unknown around the world, but run by America, with the cooperation of our friends, ... allowing us to abuse Humans, without charges and trials, as our laws and treaties supposedly demand.

And to you trolls who will pile on my comment, bear in mind that History has a long memory! You disgust me in your complicity to these crimes. You will come someday to deny you ever followed George Bush, ... when his trials begin, and you must face your leader in shackles. We will remember you then.

[charlietuna11]

IF WATER BOARDING IS MENTAL ANGUISH AT BEST,WHY DID THE U.S. TAKE JAPAN TO COURT AND PROSECUTE THEM FOR WATER BOARDING OUR SERVICEMEN DURING WW 2 JAPAN WAS FOUND GUILTY OF WAR CRIMES,WATER BOARDING BEING ONE THE THE THREE TORTURES THEY APPLIED.WATER BOARDING HAS BEEN DECLARED ILLEGAL SINCE THE TIMES OF QUEEN ISABELLA AND KING FERDINAND.AS A CONSERVATIVE, IM SICKENED BY THE SILENCE ON THIS ISSUE FROM A ONCE RESPECTABLE GOP.THEY NEVER SPOKE OUT WHEN VALERIE PLAME WAS OUTED BY THE WHITE HOUSE.THEY DIDN'T SPEAK OUT ABOUT THE LIES THAT GOT US INTO IRAQ. IF GOD FORGIVE,WE END UP WITH A HILLARY OR SOME ONE LIKE HER,THAN YOU HAVE NO ONE TO BLAME BUT THAT MORON IN THE WHITE HOUSE AND HIS FEAR MONGERING SUPPORTERS

[greygambit]

The only reason the US and Israel were taken off the list is that a Conservative government is in power. If the Liberals (Jean Chretien was one) were in power the list would have stayed as it was...

But yes, there is no way to really be off the list - the initial judgement was made, and we all know it was the correct judgement.

[IronDragon]

It is decreed that to torture someone is an immoral act. IMHO George W. Bush is an immoral man, as is his VP, Richard B. Cheney. Is it any wonder that we are judged as a nation by what our immoral leaders do? We are being called a third class act, and so long as we have third class men and women in leadership positions, the appellation is correct.

[jrockbg]

Canada's position on waterboarding as "torture" is very brave. Its brave because they spearhead efforts to combat terrorists that want the destruction of western societies...wait...wrong country. I mean they're brave because their military is actively engaged in ensuring safe shipping lanes in almost all international waters around the world...wait...wrong military. Perhaps they're brave because their military policy has kept oil prices relatively stable for the last 40 years...wait... not Canada. No wait, their stance on waterboarding is brave because just half a dozen years ago their country suffered its greatest single homeland attack in over 190 years, and chose to fight back instead of "France" their way through life...wait...sorry,wrong again.

I'm not saying they're wrong, but the truth is other countries who comment on our human right's practices are shouting from the cheap seats. We shoulder the burden and recieve the privileges of the most noble, charitable and free society ever. Waterboarding is only mental anguish at best, and its most skewed category would be torture "light". Taking cues from Canada or any other country on our interrogation practices is almost pointless. It's like a person who has never done drugs lecturing an addict on how to kick their habit. Maybe they have some valuable input; but you know they've never walked a day in your shoes.

[Advocate123]

You liberals are hysterical!!

Name one instance where the United States government tortured American citizens.

Name one.

[DoninJoisey]

What has happened to us? The fear-mongers dupe us with a fiasco in Iraq that HAD nothing to do with terror (it does now) yet leave our borders wide open, erode our constitution,...
But the depth of immorality is torture.

I can't believe that torture was even debated, much less practiced and condoned in MY COUNTRY.

Illegal and despicable, torture doesn't even result in the truth. People confessed to being witches under torture - did that make them witches? What torture does do is produce "confessions" of "plots" that can then be fed to the Proles to show that Big Brother is protecting them.

Maybe if these chicken hawks had served their country in combat they'd see things differently.

I applaud Canada. It is recognition of fact. They aren't being hypocrites - as we are - preaching democracy while kissing the Saudis.

[rabun666]

Let's not forget that Teddy Roosevelt wanted to invade Canada in 1906. Canadians haven't forgotten. Canada has a lot of water. 'nuff said