Free Republic

Keeping Khadr locked up in extremely strict prison conditions will not solve the problem regardless what you believe he is or is not. Arlette Zinck, an English professor at King’s University College in Edmonton, has devised a special educational program to help his rehabilitation. He has reportedly shown progress and we are told he’s been very keen to continue on that path. In my opinion, that would be the best outcome: a Canadian citizen who can reintegrate into society, go to school, and eventually become an active and, hopefully, a contributing Canadian citizen. This outcome is far from guaranteed, but...

I see that Maher Arar, the huckster who lied his way into $10.5 million of our tax dollars, has had less luck with the U.S. legal system than he had with ours. A U.S. appeals court threw out his nuisance claim against the U.S. government. Now, that's not quite fair of me, is it? I mean, it's not fair to Canada's legal system because, had Arar actually gone to trial here, his case would have been thrown out, too. Arar's testimony would have been torn to shreds; he would have wilted under cross-examination. He would have been proved the liar...

Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service U.S. NAVAL BASE GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - Accused terrorist Omar Khadr identified Maher Arar as someone he recognized who appeared at an al-Qaida-run "safe" house in Afghanistan, an FBI agent testified at a Guantanamo Bay military commission Monday. Robert Fuller said Khadr made the identification when he interrogated the Canadian-born terror suspect at Bagram in Afghanistan in October 2002.

OTTAWA — Embattled RCMP head Giuliano Zaccardelli has submitted his resignation, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today in question period. “Today Commissioner Zaccardelli submitted his resignation to me and I have accepted it,” Harper told the House of Commons. “The commissioner indicated to me that it would be in the best interest of the RCMP to have new leadership as this great organization faces the challenges of the future.” Harper made the announcement after Liberal Leader Stephane Dion asked the prime minister when he knew about the contradictory testimony Zaccardelli provided to a parliamentary committee about the Maher Arar case....

OTTAWA — When the prime minister unleashes his lap dogs to join a parliamentary pack attack, someone is about to die. Conservative MPs treated RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli with kid gloves during his first appearance before a parliamentary committee two months ago to explain his involvement in the Maher Arar affair. They dropped the gloves and savaged him during his second appearance on Tuesday, when he admitted to misleading MPs due to a severely flawed memory. It was an all-party Zach attack and when Stephen Harper stood in the Commons a few hours later, urging patience for ‘due process’ before...

Terrorism and Security: Major Canadian Media Organizations Possibly a Haven for Single-Issue Activists Government policy analyst lodges request for investigation of lop-sided media coverage of two terrorism related cases. Poor journalism widespread while watchdog bodies ineffective or biased. (I-Newswire) - Literally millions of Canadians have read the newspapers or seen coverage of the cases of Muhammed Mahjoub, a suspected terrorist being held indefinitely on a secret service security certificate, and Maher Arar, also suspected of having terrorist connections. While Canadian media such as the CBC and the Canadian Press have provided ample opportunities for Maher Arar and Muhammed Mahjoub and...

Fair use for education/discussion purposes: Yahoo! News News Home - Help AFP CIA renditions of terror suspects are 'out of control:' report Sun Feb 6, 5:57 PM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Central Intelligence Agency (news - web sites)'s 'rendition' of suspected terrorists has spiralled 'out of control' according to a former FBI (news - web sites) agent, cited in a report which examined how CIA (news - web sites) detainees are spirited to states suspected of using torture. Michael Scheuer a former CIA counterterrorism agent told The New Yorker magazine "all we've done is create a nightmare," with regard...

The Canadian edition of Time Magazine has chosen Syrian born Maher Arar as its Newsmaker of the Year. The Ottawa Ontario resident landed at JFK International Airport in New York in September 2002 after returning from Tunisia where his wife has family. The Canadian citizen was detained in New York and then shipped off to his native Syria where he was detained and tortured for over a year before being released. After returning to Canada, Arar chose not to blend into the woodwork but forced the Canadian government to hold an inquiry into his arrest and detention and to examine...

WASHINGTON - During the Iraq (news - web sites) war, Saudi Arabia secretly helped the United States far more than has been acknowledged, allowing operations from at least three air bases, permitting special forces to stage attacks from Saudi soil and providing cheap fuel, U.S. and Saudi officials say. The American air campaign against Iraq was essentially managed from inside Saudi borders, where military commanders operated an air command center and launched refueling tankers, F-16 fighter jets, and sophisticated intelligence gathering flights, according to the officials. Much of the assistance has been kept quiet for more than a year by...

If Canadians require further evidence why our allies in the war against terrorism no longer trust us, they need look no further than the Maher Arar case. This is the man U.S. authorities apprehended at Kennedy airport in New York last September, alleging he was an al-Qaeda operative. Mr. Arar is a Canadian citizen, but he also is a citizen of Syria and as such under U.S. immigration law -- Canadian law has a similar provision -- was subject to deportation to either Canada or Syria. U.S. authorities chose to send him to Syria. We can only guess why. At...

The Saudi Arabian opposition in London says there has been a major influx of US warplanes into Saudi airbases close to the Iraqi border.It says that large numbers of US planes have been arriving at the airbases of Tabuk and 'Arar, and that Saudi troops there had moved out to make room for them. Military ties with Washington are unpopular in Saudi Arabia There was no official comment from the Pentagon. But a spokesman for the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia said the US shows every appearance of mounting a new front in its expected conflict with Iraq. He...