New Strategy: They won't have to bomb us to kingdom come; they'll sue us into economic oblivion.
1. Maher Arar demanded and is now getting an expensive inquiry. The fact that he was being watched by US and Canadian intelligence while he lived in Canada, before being picked up by the Americans, and seemed to have some very suspect friends or acquaintances strikes me as, shall I say, somewhat significant. He may be innocent but I would bet this is the first salvo in an investigation that will lead -- not only to his suing the US government, which he is doing now -- but to his suing Canadian taxpayers, as well. Will that payout be listed as a Multicultural Department grant or should it come under the Immigration and Refugee Department's budget? How much will PM budget for more of our refugees to get redress for all the wrongs we cause them? And they keep coming! Why?
2. Three Iranian sisters are suing Canadian taxpayers for not acting quickly enough in bringing them into Canada. They are trying to bring their brother here so a little official guilt on our part might help. You will notice, they are not suing the Iranian government because they were ill-treated when it was found they had boyfriends. That's their story and they're sticking to it, I suppose. Will there be taxpayer money found for this lawsuit which will undoubtedly be seen as setting a precedent? The court challenges program must have good taxpayers' money available for this. For more on their suit, see the previous post: Three Iranian sisters sue Ottawa for $4M over torture in Iran Feb. 5, 04.
3. Suing the Canadian government--that's Canadian taxpayers--to "clear their reputations" are the Pakistanis who were deported because of various suspicious activities, such as:
***These students knew each other, used a fraudulent school to get their visas knowingly, didn't study, but worked illegally.
***Thirty of thirty-one students charged were central Pakistanis--Sunni extremist territory.
***They lived in clusters, alarming neighbours with their behavior including a shotgun blast, had unexplained fires which could have come from "mixing chemicals for an explosive device" and generally behaved suspiciously.
***Two were apprehended in the middle of the night in a nuclear plant area and a stolen nuclear gauge figures into the story -- apprehended after being discovered innocently on the nuclear site at 4:15 am -- a walk to clear the mind and help one through a sleepless night, I suppose.
***not attending school after getting admitted to Canada under false pretenses to study -- on the basis of false documents provided by a fake business school, the now-defunct Ottawa Business College --
***Mohammad Khalid Jahangir applied to come to Canada from Mexico -- the sight-seeing student's route to study in Canada, I would guess.
My Commentary:
I believe it was V. S. Naipaul who wrote a book on Islam, in which he suggested a somewhat litigious bent -- a bit of an understatement, I would say. Note an earlier article on how an Iranian tried to stay in Canada using our misguided refugee policy and the helping groups who make their mark--and probably their money--supporting poor failed refugee claimants in their efforts to hoodwink Canadians. By the way, he claimed he would be harmed if returned to Tehran, Iran so the National Post hired an Iranian journalist to look into what happened to him. He was living safely--possibly even comfortably--at home in Tehran. He lied! Like so many of these bogus refugees. Give me a cotton pickin' break!
It is time to stop our importing of these troublesome characters / students /liars and assorted Muslim shysters until we find a way to separate the decent from the lying fraudsters / scam artists / terrorists and their ilk. Too extreme? Wait until they act as they did in New York on 9/11 and talk to me then. Of course, they may just sue us to death before they blow us to smithereens!
Read on for the latest and last -- one hopes; then link to the whole sorry tale. I assume Canadian human rights groups (funded by taxpayers) will soon be involved -- as they were in the Iranian deportee's lies, of course. But these Pakistani guys, they're sure to be telling the truth; anyone who has been to Pakistan would vouch for that. Why their top nuclear scientist just apologized for selling nuclear secrets--all that is necessary to be accepted into the Pakistani bosom again--and President Musharraf accepted it with alacrity. Now, everything is okay. I don't think he'll sue the West for mentioning his faux pas -- but . . . . NJC
LAHORE, Pakistan - [. . . .] The deportees have become minor celebrities in Pakistan since local human rights groups took on their case and began citing it as an example of what they portray as Western mistreatment of Muslims following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11.
Now they are claiming that as well as being wrongly deported, they were also physically, verbally and emotionally abused. Lawyers in Lahore and Toronto are currently translating their tale of woe into a lawsuit against the government of Canada.
[. . . .] The deportees consider their planned lawsuit against Canada their last hope. "What we are looking for is, there must be exoneration. They have to clear our names," Mr. Waheed said. He also wants an apology and he wants his computer back. [I suppose he needs his computer to jog his memory. NJC]
[. . . .] "They must be held accountable for that. Every one of us is feeling so injured and disgraced." He admits he worked under the table and that his student visa was a fraud, but he said the government's reaction was too severe. [Why would Canadians want him and the rest of the fraudsters back? Or pay them anything? ]
"It's like stealing chocolate from the market and you are accused of murder."[an interesting way of putting it, don't you think?]
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's military has released new details about Canadian citizen Ahmed Said Khadr, claiming he was close to Osama bin Laden's deputy and used money collected in Canada to finance a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.
A military official who spoke on condition on anonymity said Mr. Khadr was a member of the Egyptian Al Jihad, which is part of the al-Qaeda terror network. Mr. Khadr was particularly close to the Al Jihad leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the number two man in al-Qaeda, he said.
"He was a member of the Al Jihad organization, which was Egyptian-based, and he was also a member of bin Laden's inner circle, and he also had close relations with his [bin Laden's] deputy al-Zawahiri," the senior official told the National Post.
Money Mr. Khadr solicited in Canada for widows and orphans was diverted to underwrite terrorism, the official said.
"Khadr misused the money to fund a terrorist camp and assist al-Qaeda operatives." He later described the camp as a "terrorist training camp."
[. . . .] The military here has some of the most credible intelligence about al-Qaeda because of the close relationship that existed before 9/11 between Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency and armed factions in Afghanistan, including the Taliban.
[. . . .] Now, an official familiar with Pakistan's military intelligence dossier on Mr. Khadr has provided more details, linking the Canadian to bin Laden's right-hand man, the physician who founded the Egyptian Al Jihad, al-Zawahiri -- also known as The Doctor.
[. . . .] But Canadian intelligence reports allege that Abdullah Khadr was the commander of an al-Qaeda training camp near Logar, in eastern Afghanistan, an al-Qaeda stronghold where many such camps were located. Ahmed Said Khadr claimed to run a school for orphans in Logar.
And Canadian government fools believed that Khadr was another one of those souls of probity, just like the innocent boys mentioned above, and allowed his organization charitable status; that's Canadian tax-free status for his funds. What pea-patch do these trusting government officials arise from? NJC
OTTAWA - [. . . .] "There's certainly no early exit strategies out of Afghanistan," Mr. Pratt said yesterday, after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Munich. "I think we're committed to the war on terrorism. How quickly Afghanistan is going to be stabilized in anybody's guess. I don't think you can sort of say in three, four, five years Canada's going to be out."
Canada's one-year commitment of 2,000 soldiers to NATO's International Security Assistance Force ends in August, but Mr. Pratt said Canada has proposed deploying several hundred troops after August to provide extra security for proposed Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs.)
[. . . .] In Kabul, the departing Canadian commander went even further.
"How long is NATO willing to stay?" Major General Andrew Leslie, the deputy NATO commander, said at a press conference. "Somewhere between five to 10 years, or as long as it takes."
Maj.-Gen. Leslie also predicted ISAF would have to expand to 8,000 to 12,000 troops from its current 6,000 if the alliance is to be successful in extending its operations outside the capital of Kabul by deploying the reconstruction teams, a combined civilian-military force of specialists, such as engineers. The PRTs represent NATO's next step in extending its sphere of control beyond Kabul into the rest of Afghanistan, much of which is under the control of warlords.
Why did Paul Martin not just answer honestly the wife of the Canadian military fellow who was asking about future military commitments on the CBC Townhall this week? Instead he blathered on about our "military heroes" in the most blatantly "I want you to vote for me" way. NJC.
Chechen separatists were blamed yesterday for a bomb explosion that tore through a packed rush-hour carriage on Moscow's underground metro, killing at least 39 people.
Rescuers last night were still sifting through the carnage that blew bodies and limbs hundreds of yards down a tunnel when the 12lb bomb exploded within a minute of the train leaving Avtozavodskaya station.
[. . . . ] Policing on Moscow railway and underground stations has been noticeably heavier since the Dubrovka theatre siege of October 2002, when heavily armed Chechens took more than 800 people hostage, and posters have recently appeared warning passengers to be vigilant and report suspicious packages.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the head of the reactionary nationalist party the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, called for a crackdown on unregistered Chechens and other Caucasians living in Moscow.
A chief constable provoked outrage yesterday by suggesting that heroin should be sold on street corners or in pharmacies.
Richard Brunstrom, who is in charge of North Wales police, said he believed that the drug laws were doing "more harm than good." They left vulnerable people in danger, while enabling criminals to make massive profits.
"Heroin is very addictive, but it is not very, very dangerous," he told the Dragon's Eye programme on BBC Wales. "It is perfectly possible to lead a normal life for a full life span and hold down a job while being addicted to the drug.
"I don't advocate anybody abusing their bodies with drugs, but clearly some want to. What would be wrong with making heroin available on the state for people who want to abuse their bodies?"
[. . . .]Mr Brunstrom has recently been heavily criticised over his campaign against speeding motorists.
He first outlined his views on drugs three years ago, when he told his police authority that the battle against the suppliers could be won only if drugs were legalised.
Despite the outlay of billions of pounds and thousands of hours in police time, the number of addicts had multiplied at an alarming rate.
He likened the laws on drugs to those on alcohol prohibition in the United States during the 1920s. The latter, he pointed out, had been "an unmitigated disaster".
