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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Posted on 04/09/2003 8:24:55 AM PDT by thinking
Canada would not hand Iraqi leader to U.S. Orders from Ottawa in case of capture
Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief National Post
Wednesday, April 09, 2003 ADVERTISEMENT
OTTAWA - The Canadian in command of a multinational naval task force in the Persian Gulf said yesterday that the federal government has ordered him not to hand over any Iraqis he captures to the United States, including even Saddam Hussein and his two sons.
Commodore Roger Girouard, the head of the nine-nation Task Force 151, said Ottawa has said he is allowed to turn over any al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists to U.S. forces.
His task force's mission is to hunt al-Qaeda terrorists and escort U.S. supply ships en route to the war in Iraq.
But the Liberal government has expressly forbidden him to hand over suspected Iraqi terrorists, war criminals or members of Saddam's inner circle.
"There's no mandate at all and, in fact, I am told specifically not to turn Iraqi sailors or citizens back to the U.S. forces at this point in time," he told reporters during a conference call from aboard HMCS Iroquois, his flagship.
"If I knew I had a known member of the regime, I wouldn't knowingly let them go, I would ask for government guidance on that particular one. The key to me right now, I would also not automatically turn them over to the United States or any other country for that matter."
Commodore Girouard said the orders mean that if Saddam or his sons were found to be aboard a ship, he could not hand them over to the Americans unless Ottawa approved.
He said he believes the policy would allow him to arrest Saddam or members of the regime.
"There is no doubt in my mind that if Saddam Hussein himself or one of his doubles were found in a vessel that we stumbled upon for some reason, we would not knowingly let a member at that level go," he said.
"But what we have been told if there are risks associated with a vessel or risks associated with an individual that we would relate that back to National Defence headquarters for guidance and it would depend on the specifics on the situation."
John McCallum, the Defence Minister, later told reporters it may be a "moot point" since the Iraqi President may have been killed in an American bombing attack on Monday.
However, he said Canada will stick to its policy of not handing over Iraqi war criminals or members of Saddam's regime to U.S. forces until Ottawa makes a final determination.
"We have a policy that we turn over the al-Qaeda suspected terrorists but should it be a suspected member of the Iraq regime then they will contact us back here, but I think that the odds are extraordinarily low given where our ships are," he said.
John Reynolds, the Canadian Alliance House leader, said the Commodore's orders were an outrage, saying the Americans would board the Canadian ship and arrest Saddam if he was captured by the task force.
"It's just an absolute joke. Those are ships and our troops are there with our allies and I don't think there would be one Canadian who would accept the fact that if they happen to bump into Saddam Hussein that they shouldn't arrest him and turn him over to the Americans," he said.
"I'll tell you the Americans would get him off the boat if we didn't turn him over."
Although Task Force 151 reports to the U.S. Navy's 5th fleet at Central Command in Qatar -- coalition headquarters for the war in Iraq -- Commodore Girouard said his ships' role is to protect allied supply ships, search for fleeing al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters and enforce the UN embargo against Iraq.
"I have a very clear separation in terms of staying away from Iraqi flag vessels -- military vessels. There is also, of course, a certain concern about the issue of detainees so a vessel full of Iraqis needs to be considered in a very careful fashion," he said.
Commodore Girouard acknowledged that on at least one occasion he has refused a U.S. request for help that would have violated Canada's neutrality in the Iraqi conflict.
"On one occasion ... I was asked to do something and I discussed what the situation was and I told [the Americans] I could not do that; that I felt it fell in to Operation Iraqi Freedom," he said. "They agreed and, at that point, an American asset [ship] took on that particular job."
Some opposition critics have said Canada is participating in the war through the back door by escorting American and British ships into the region.
Fresh concerns surfaced last week when a U.S. military official said Canadian sailors are actively pursuing Iraqi military and government officials on behalf of American forces.
But Commodore Girouard disputed that, saying he is more interested in a suspect ship's history to determine if it has been implicated in previous smuggling operations.
The Canadian ships were deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led war on terrorism. Three Canadian frigates -- HMCS Iroquois, HMCS Regina and HMCS Fredericton -- are part of the 20-vessel task force.
The task force includes U.S., French, Italian, New Zealand, Dutch and Greek vessels. It has been sweeping across the Straits of Hormuz, the southern Persian Gulf and portions of the central Gulf.
bfife@nationalpost.com
© Copyright 2003 National Post
Sure was a long time ago when they helped get US personnel out of Tehran.
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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Why waste perfectly innocent snakes?
Canadastan will fall from within soon.
They are there fighting along side with you if you have been paying attention. And of course we would hand him over. You have to understand the politics going on here. This is a liberal government and its trying to protect its liberal/left base of voters. Notice how we are protecting your ships under the "terorist war" instead of the "Iraq war". Notice how we are in the ground theater with you guys but we say they are defending themselves if attacked. Notice how we are up in AWACS directing bombing runs on Iraq. Pay attention to the optics.
A lot of Canadians, like me, are with the Bush administration and support our troops that are in theater.
A lot of us Canadians are just disgusted with our federal liberal government "public comments on this" and I hope one day that this prime minster is out of here for what he has done in this case.
One final note. There is an unconfirmed report on CFRB radio in Toronto that one of our Canadian soldiers who was in the fight with the American has been killed. I am hoping it is not the case.
hawk
p.s. - sources - type AWACS in the search engines of the Toronto Star or National Post (www.thestar.com or www.nationalpost.com)
Canada was and is part of the coalition that is dealing with Bin Laden and Afghanistan. A Canadian light infantry battalion is being pointed up to go to Afghanistan next month on a rotation with a further battalion backing it up. A Canadian light infantry battalion together with a reconnaisance squadron was in Afghanistan on a 6 month rotation last year.
There is more than one iron in the fire. Our 'ti Jean thinks that he can distinguish between the Iraq job and the Afghanistan job.
He can't. Most of us knwo that he can't.
But 'ti Jeans and his cabinet come from a mind-set that thinks that war is so awful that most of his ilk never took time to learn the uses and limitations of military force.
I strongly disagee with 'ti Jean's attitude on the question of Iraq and the question of prisoners. If Iraq war criminals or criminals against humanity are intercepted at sea, they should be handed over either to the US or to Iraq depending on who is the complainant.
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