Posted on 05/09/2007 2:52:12 PM PDT by Clive
Protect the Taliban?
Critics want prisoners' Charter rights protected. They'd like us to send lawyers too
FROM THE EDITORS | May 7, 2007 |
The relentless search for failure in Canada's mission to Afghanistan continues. In on-going court proceedings, the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and Amnesty International are arguing that Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to Taliban fighters captured by Canadian troops in Afghanistan and that those rights have been violated. It is an argument that seems more suited to satire than common sense.
In seeking an injunction against Canada's troops, the human rights groups argue that detainees may face torture if handed over to the Afghan government. Now the courts are being asked to decide whether Canada's Charter protects foreigners who have not only never stepped foot on Canadian soil, but may be trying to kill our own soldiers.
Well. Let's play along and assume that every Taliban fighter detained by Canadian troops does instantly assume Charter rights and privileges. How could such a thing be practically implemented?
If the courts deem it wrong to hand over Afghan nationals to Afghan authorities, the only way to satisfy the Charter would be to create a fully-fledged Canadian prison system within Afghanistan, which would require a massive enlargement of our responsibilities. The human rights advocates are also demanding that prisoners captured on the battlefield by Canadian troops have the right "to retain and instruct legal counsel without delay," as the Charter also specifies. So in addition to a corps of wardens and guards and jailhouse cooks, our mission in Kandahar would require a platoon or two of defence attorneys. That, in turn, would demand a company of prosecutors. Next thing you know, we've opened a whole other front in the war. And of course they'd all need somewhere decent to lunch.
While it is legitimate to expect that Canada meet its obligations under the Third Geneva Convention, importing Charter rights for Afghan prisoners makes no sense at all. It needs to be remembered that the Canadian Forces are not occupying forces in Afghanistan. Our goal is not to colonize the country but rather to provide security and infrastructure assistance to the duly elected national government such that the benighted country might eventually become a functioning member of world society. It is still their country.
One doubts if the human rights groups really care if their demands are impractical. The goal of most critics of the Afghan mission is not to provide more Canadian assistance, but to remove our presence altogether. The more alleged problems and logical impossibilities that can be heaped at the feet of our military, the easier it becomes to argue for the abandonment of Afghan citizens to Taliban thugs. Staying and winning is much tougher than cutting and running.
Small successes are easier to overlook in Afghanistan than the challenges, but success stories do exist. In the World Bank's most recent report on global poverty, for instance, Afghanistan was singled out as the country with the best record at improving access to potable water. Given that has been a key focus of Canadian reconstruction efforts, improving the lives of Afghans in this way is the kind of achievement all Canadians can take pride in. As we should with the rest of our efforts to restore peace to that battered country.
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They started this, now they dictate terms?
We’ll need a lawyer in every platoon if this keeps up.
A moral conundrum for liberal idiots: can we tolerate even a mild violation of of human rights against those persons whose sole, driving purpose is the gross & violent violation of human rights of literally everyone who might fall underneath their political/military power? This makes me angry just reading this.
The old USSR used to call them “political officers”. Yep sounds just like a Leftist plan!
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