Comments on: Maher Arar

By: Stu

Stu — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 16:43:01 +0000

Hmm. Y’know, Canadians have always had this whole love/hate thing going with America, but things have soured recently. To illustrate, our largest TV network is running ad for a news piece on whether Martin (our new PM) will be able to make up with Bush. They show a map of North America, with Canada and the US slowly drift apart as text appears in the gap between them. It goes something like this: Soft-Wood Lumber Cheap Canadian Drugs Gay Marriage Marijuana Decrimilization Iraq War Moron That last one floored me. It refers, of course, to a comment made by a senior aide to the PM in reference to Bush, which caused a mini-scandal. The way they slip it in like this should give some insight into the feelings of most Canadian viewers.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 13:14:33 +0000

There’s a fairly despicable article about this in the current National Review. (Actually, just a fairly despicable paragraph or two, though calling Chretien’s departure “a victory in the war in terror” suggest the whole thing is as bad. article: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/stakelbeck200401120902.asp indignant post: http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2004/01/arar_interlude.html

By: andrew

andrew — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 07:24:01 +0000

Does he float?

By: dsquared

dsquared — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 06:55:26 +0000

“I do not know he was innocent” …. something has changed, and not for the better, if the burden of proof is on anyone who doesn’t want to be tortured …

By: James

James — Tue, 13 Jan 2004 06:53:48 +0000

Brian, in your earlier post, you expressed an interest in the responses of pro-War, pro-Bush bloggers in this case. Can I refer you to Iain Murray’s place? http://ism.politicos.ws/MT/ , of course. I would like to point out, though, that the reaction of other bloggers whose politics is not your own is scarcely the most urgent question here. Surely Crooked Timber is well established enough now to discuss this on its own terms without the constant finger-pointing at others?

By: Brian Weatherson

Brian Weatherson — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 23:39:51 +0000

I was feeling guilty for leaping to conclusions. I might have been leaping to correct conclusions, but that makes me lucky not smart.

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:59:31 +0000

Our media has been covering it on a regular basis. It looks as if you've already found a lot, but here's a few sources: CTV, CTV again, the Globe and Mail. Doing a news search from Google's Canadian news site is pretty reliable.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:35:31 +0000

Aha. I wanted to find a Canadian and ask what sources there had the best coverage. (I’m not exactly unbiased either, as is probably clear from my first post.)

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 21:22:24 +0000

Why on earth would you feel guilty about that post? You say “…we need to know a lot more about the case before leaping to conclusions.” The facts are in, and have been reported by our (Canadian) Media, your media, Amnesty International, and even some blogs back when the original “arrest” was made. This guy isn’t guilty of anything. If he was, why would he be moving heaven and earth to get an investigation? It’s to his credit that he’s doing so much in an attempt to prevent similar things from happening to others. As a Canadian, I’m glad this is getting more blog coulmn inches in the States. I’m really surprised that more people don’t know about it.