Maher Arar still considered a threat to US!

[cbacon 0]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...215?hub=QPeriod

 

Arar considered threat to U.S., Wilkins says

 

Updated Fri. Dec. 15 2006 5:03 PM ET

 

CTV.ca News Staff

 

The American ambassador to Canada says Maher Arar is still considered a threat to the United States.

 

Despite the findings of a Canadian inquiry that concluded Arar was deported to Syria based on erroneous information provided to the U.S. from the RCMP, David Wilkins said the Syrian-born Canadian will remain on a security watch list.

 

"Mr. Arar's original removal from the United States in 2002 was based on information from a variety of sources, as is his current watch list status," Wilkins said in a statement.

 

Wilkins noted Friday that Justice Dennis O'Connor, the head of the Arar inquiry, acknowledged he did not know about everything in Arar's American file.

 

The ambassador said the decision to remove Arar from the United States in 2002 was made by American officials based on their own assessment.

 

"Due to a lawsuit in the United States initiated by Mr. Arar which was dismissed at the trial level and is now on appeal, I cannot go into any further detail," Wilkins concluded in his statement.

 

Wilkins' statement was the first official submission from American officials that Washington is suspicious of Arar, based on information culled from their own sources.

 

An inquiry by O'Connor cleared Arar and made recommendations to prevent similar errors that led to Arar's deportation and torture.

 

MacKay comments

 

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay repeated today that Arar's name has been removed from the Canadian security watch list and that Arar faces no travel restrictions in this country.

 

"He has been declared innocent. We certainly have relayed that finding and the (O'Connor) report itself and the decision we've taken to remove Mr. Arar from the watch list to the Americans," he told CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife in an interview.

 

"They're in possession of all that information; they have to make an informed decision themselves."

 

MacKay said Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has spoken to his American counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on the Arar issue.

 

MacKay added that similar to the court case pending in the U.S., "we have a court case here that impacts on our ability to interact with Mr. Arar.

 

"But we're determined to resolve, in a fair-minded way, that we'll respect Mr. Arar's rights, of course also keeping in mind the security environment we're working in. ..."

 

Layton puts pressure on PM

 

Earlier Friday, NDP Leader Jack Layton urged the Conservative government to make a direct appeal to U.S. officials to remove Arar's name from the list.

 

"To this day the United States government maintains a terror watch list and Maher Arar's name is on it," said Layton.

 

"This is simply not right and there is no evidence that Mr. Arar's name should be on such a list, we've held a full inquiry here in Canada."

 

Layton said the prime minister must do everything in his power to address the situation.

 

Layton called on the Conservatives to do two things:

 

The prime minister must make a direct appeal to the president of the United States to have Mr. Arar removed from the U.S. no fly list; and

 

The government must also make an official apology to Arar and his family.

 

"We have not yet seen the prime minister take real action to hold those responsible for the deportation of Mr. Arar to account," said Layton, referring to the resignation of RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli.

 

Zaccardelli stepped down from his position after contradicting himself on what he knew -- and when he knew -- about Arar's deportation by U.S. authorities.

 

Layton criticized the government for holding out on an apology until a settlement was reached. He also criticized CSIS for not apologizing.

 

"The apology should not be some kind of legal negotiation, it should be unconditional and a matter of course," said Layton.

 

While in Syria, Arar was tortured into a false confession that he was involved with al Qaeda.

 

Last week, Day said he didn't know whether Arar was still on the watch list.

 

The U.S. State Department said whatever evidence American authorities have against Arar, it didn't come from the department.

 

"The terror watch list is managed here by the U.S. government. There's a lot of different inputs to it," department spokesperson McCormack said in response to questions at the department's daily briefing.

 

"I can tell you, it's not a State Department input that has resulted in his still being on the list."

 

Meanwhile, the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit group dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, came to Arar's defence on Friday.

 

"That the United States would have the gall to keep Maher on a watch list, implying that he poses a threat to this country, is outrageous although not surprising since this administration is unwilling to admit its mistakes and still tries to conceal them,'' said the group's attorney, Maria LaHood.

 

"The real threat to the U.S. is our government's utter disregard for the rule of law and for the truth, which Maher has had the courage to stand up and expose."

 

This is just plain offensive.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Here's a return the CE folder didn't need.

 

Some guy most of us have never heard of. Where's my indignant intellectual emoticon?

[cbacon 0]

Cat Stevens and the Buena Vista Social Club are threats to America too, evidently.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Anybody who writes a vicious, anti-American tirade like "Father and Son" should be on the threat list.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

C-Bacon, this thread was custom made for you, my fellow hippie

 

Layton is half right. Canadian officials should apologise to him. While I don't agree that he should be barred from the States on the grounds of his clean stale via Canadian investigation, if it helps Americans sleep at night (since so many of them are afraid of their own shadows), that's their perogative.

[SuperJerk 0]

Everytime I see this thread title, I think it says "Bill Maher still considered a threat to US".

[Red Baron 0]

To most Canadians like myself.

 

Big fucking deal.

[cbacon 0]

He is a Canadian citizen who was deported from the United States to Syria, the country of his birth, whereupon he was imprisoned and tortured for a year. He was deported because the RCMP gave the US authorities wrong information. It's a big deal to Canada when the US deports innocent Canadians to be jailed and tortured.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Well, if the Canadians gave the wrong info, it's their own damn fault. Stupid canucks.

[Ginger Snaps 0]

Everytime I see this thread title, I think it says "Bill Maher still considered a threat to US".

 

So did I. But he is ugly and unfunny. Maybe that's good enough.

 

He is a Canadian citizen who was deported from the United States to Syria, the country of his birth, whereupon he was imprisoned and tortured for a year. He was deported because the RCMP gave the US authorities wrong information. It's a big deal to Canada when the US deports innocent Canadians to be jailed and tortured.

 

Ok. Sounds like you Canadians screwed up this one.

[2GOLD 0]

So Canada screws up the paperwork to the US immigration office and somehow it's all the fault of the US?

Sounds like the only ones who messed up this time was RCMP, not the US immigration office. They did their job based on the information which they assumed would be accurate given to them by the Canadian government. Not seeing how this is the US fault at all right now.

[cbacon 0]

Canada does not deport US citizens to foreign countries with the intention to torture. International law. And yes, it is the fault of Canada as well as the United States.

[Henry Spencer 0]

This thread is a perfect example of the callousness inherent in political mindsets on both sides.

[Gary Floyd 0]

This thread is a perfect example of the callousness inherent in political mindsets on both sides.

I agree.

 

It's like Free Republic vs. Democratic Underground sometimes.

[Red Baron 0]

No Bacon.

 

We fucked up. The Americans did nothing wrong. Admit it.

[cbacon 0]

Uh, no. Despite the RCMP fuck up, the US sent a Canadian citizen to be tortured in Syria. Violations of international law and human rights are a major concern here. And they still consider Arar a threat despite being innocent.

[cbacon 0]

I think what's most interesting about this is that the United States refuses to talk to Syria and Iran with regards to Iraq, because they're bad guys too, yet the CIA is apparently on such good terms with Syria that they can send people to their prisons to be tortured where, without question, the intelligence gathered is, at the very least, shared with the CIA. I wonder what's being given to Syria in return.

[Guest]

He was deported because the RCMP gave the US authorities wrong information.

Read that statement again.

 

It's a big deal to Canada when the US deports innocent Canadians to be jailed and tortured.

I'll say that he shouldn't be on any sort of watchlist, but I think it's safe to say that the US deported him only because of the information the Canadians gave, no?

[cbacon 0]

He was deported because the RCMP gave the US authorities wrong information.

Read that statement again.

 

And yes, it is the fault of Canada as well as the United States

[Guest]

I agree with the first part, but I doubt that anyone was deported with the intention of wanting Syria to torture.

 

But now that you edited I don't agree with any of it.

[Red Baron 0]

Uh, no. Despite the RCMP fuck up, the US sent a Canadian citizen to be tortured in Syria. Violations of international law and human rights are a major concern here. And they still consider Arar a threat despite being innocent.

 

No we fucked up. End of story.

[Gary Floyd 0]

C-Bacon: Do you ever not blame the U.S. for something bad that happens in the world?

[Guest CWMwasmurdered]

This was completely Canada's fault, and I love blaming the US.

[cbacon 0]

Uh, no. Despite the RCMP fuck up, the US sent a Canadian citizen to be tortured in Syria. Violations of international law and human rights are a major concern here. And they still consider Arar a threat despite being innocent.

 

No we fucked up. End of story.

 

k baron.

 

C-Bacon: Do you ever not blame the U.S. for something bad that happens in the world?

 

Do you ever not read like Colbert if he was actually being serious?

[Dobbs 3K 0]

C-Bacon, do you just have to dig and dig for any story with a hint of US imperialism? Why this obsession? Were you molested by an American politician as a child, or have you just been completely brainwashed by neo-hippie professors in your liberal arts classes?

[Gary Floyd 0]

I normally don't agree with Invader3k, but I agree with him here.

 

Seriously, everytime C-Bacon posts here, it's to let us know that he thinks America is responsible for every bad thing that happens, or that the U.S. is an imperialist nation and nothing more.

 

C-Bacon, you make me embarressed to have liberal viewpoints. I know you think I'm a conservative, but I'm not, I'm a moderate Liberal. I'm Pro-Choice, I hate the patriot act, I'm Pro Gay marriage and pro gay adoption, I support seperation of church and state, I hate the Bush administration, I hate the war in Iraq, I think the Bush administration could have done more to prevent 9/11...the list goes on. I don't however, pop a boner over Imperialsim because of Chomsky, because I never read the guy, and because I don't want to come off as over-reactionary. And I don't find ways to blame the U.S. over every bad thing that happens in the world. I at least manage to try to be level headed.

[Art Sandusky 0]

There are far worse than C-Bacon, despite this thread. Perspective, guys.

[Dobbs 3K 0]

There are far worse than C-Bacon, despite this thread. Perspective, guys.

 

How so? He's probably the most stubborn poster I can think of.

[Art Sandusky 0]

[Dobbs 3K 0]

Hmmmm...it's a tossup, IMO.