Comments on: Maher Arar (Again)

By: Mr Ripley

Mr Ripley — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 12:22:24 +0000

Naw—I think he means it won’t play well in Peoria if the gov’t can point to guilt of some sort on the victim’s part. I’ve heard many people say “Sure, Mumia had a rotten trial, but why worry about it? He’s probably guilty anyway.” The idea that civil liberties have gotta be for everybody if they’re for anybody has become hard to sell in these times. Some rightniks seem now to be pushing the claim, disavowed by the Canadians, that Canada too was after Arar and just asked the U.S. gov’t for a friendly hand.

By: Jolyon

Jolyon — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 11:28:01 +0000

Andrew, “I’d bet that this kind of thing isn’t that rare, but that most victims are not Westerners, or not completely innocent (so therefore deal away their right to complain)”. Did I misunderstand? ‘If victim not=innocent[more/less], then torture=acceptable [more/less]’?

By: Moe Lane

Moe Lane — Thu, 15 Jan 2004 03:41:55 +0000

“But most right wing bloggers haven’t touched the story, as far as I can tell from googling the main sites.” In my case, it’s because my coblogger ~~owns~~ this particular story backwards and forwards, leaving nothing for the rest of us to do… oh, hi, Katherine. :)

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 14 Jan 2004 22:44:33 +0000

My thought is that if they’ve given the process of outsourcing their torture work a slick euphemism, that’s because it’s a subject they need to discuss frequently, and that’s because it’s a policy they implement frequently. (How often is “frequently”? I don’t know, but in a case like this one, “one time” constitutes a hundred percent too often.)

By: andrew

andrew — Wed, 14 Jan 2004 22:08:39 +0000

I’m kind of a news junkie, but this was the first time I read the details of Arar’s detention. I would just like to say, “holy crap” I’d bet that this kind of thing isn’t that rare, but that most victims are not Westerners, or not completely innocent (so therefore deal away their right to complain) or do not survive to tell the story.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Wed, 14 Jan 2004 19:00:12 +0000

Thanks so much. (blushing) As far as right wing response—I’ve had no problem with most conservative responses I’ve seen (one National Review piece is an exception). But most right wing bloggers haven’t touched the story, as far as I can tell from googling the main sites. That may be because they don’t want to dwell on something that makes the administration look bad, but it may well be because they’ve never heard of it. Anyway, you don’t have to think that Bush should be impeached (I don’t) or that not re-elected or that Ashcroft should step down (I do, but I’ve thought that since 2000), to object to this story. You only have to think that we shouldn’t send people to be tortured by the horrible governments we’re opposing; and that we should find out what happened and make sure it doesn’t happen again.