Khadr interrogation footage (in Guantanamo) puts spotlight on CSIS

[Newsjock]

Source: Globe and Mail

... But this week, CSIS, which has always operated in the shadows, will find itself in an uncomfortable spotlight. After a series of stunning legal decisions, footage of the CSIS interrogation of Mr. (Omar) Khadr is about to be revealed.

Four DVDs – originally marked “Secret/No Foreign” by U.S. agencies that created them – show the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at work, something that has never happened before. This is being done over the objections of CSIS, which is far better known for destroying its own tapes than showing them, and U.S. agencies who will likely be irritated that Canadians courts have ordered up the DVDs that will provide a rare glimpse inside the secret prison camp operating on leased land in Cuba.

A CSIS agent, who travelled to Guantanamo Bay in February, 2003, will be shown grilling Mr. Khadr about six months after his capture, for seven hours over three days. His face obscured to preserve his secret identity, the agent will be seen asking Mr. Khadr questions about the al-Qaeda figures he met while he was raised in Afghanistan by his fundamentalist parents, before being captured as a 15-year-old alleged “enemy combatant.”

... Federal government lawyers had argued that the disclosures of U.S. information could cause rifts with American intelligence. Judge Mosley did not dispute this. “It may cause some harm to Canada-U.S. relations,” he ruled, but added he expects the damage will be “minimal.”

“In any event,” he said, “I am satisfied that the public interest in disclosure of this information outweighs the public interest in non-disclosure.”

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.2008...

[dipsydoodle]

1. Three cheers

for the public interest.

[Caradoc]

2. Hmmmm....

Can we charge Harper with complicity in the International Criminal Court if he continues to do nothing?

[dipsydoodle]

4. Ought to

.

[Solly Mack]

3. K&R

[JohnyCanuck]

5. Good. n/t

[xchrom]

6. recommend

[Dystopian]

7. k&r Thank you. eom.

peace~

[gratuitous]

8. Nice to see civilization survive somewhere

Figures it would be Canada.

I wonder what kind of "agent" it takes to put the screws to a 15-year-old?

[Crowman1979]

9. Makes americans think twice about immigrating to Canada.

Because the same right wing paranoia is spreading there. I see no sense in running away from political problems in the states, when Canada has Harper in charge. Plus I live in the reddest state in the country and I'm not giving up my progressive beliefs without a fight!

[madeline_con]

10. Is spreading?

This happenewd in February, 2003. Been there, done that.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. North America is North America

Get over the notion that Canada is different or special, Canada went neocon the same time the US and UK did. Trudeau, Diefenbaker and the draft dodgers are ancient history.

The latest civic nonsense up here is over an honor given to some doctor for working on womens rights who also happened to be a gynecologist... and guesses where this story is going?

[FourScore]

13. I think it's more that "folks is folks".

Humans are capable of inhuman behavior. It doesn't matter the nationality. Sad but true.

This is the right decision, but I doubt these DVD's will ever really see the light of day. I'll believe it when I se it. They will most likely go the same path as the Abu Graib tapes.

[HEyHEY]

16. Right or left wing has nothing to do with it

The Liberals were in power when all of this started.

[sui generis]

12. so to be a child of fundie parents is a war crime. Hmmmm.

naaawwww, we don't create people with a single minded focus on revenge against the U.S., that's not our fault.

d'oh.

Good thing we only ever get into wars we can finish for perfectly valid reasons, well, except for Iraq. And Korea. And Vietnam. Other than that, oh wait, I forgot about how well we're doing in Afghanistan, why the taliban is nowhere near as weak as it used to be there.

We have GOT to get these morons out of office and out of national security before they ruin the economy. Oh wait. I am SUCH an idiot. At least they're doing everything they can to keep the price of gas down. And to keep the environment from going straight to hell do not pass go.

oy.

[Lasher]

14. US - Canada relations will be enhanced.

US - Cheney relations will be harmed.

[HEyHEY]

15. CSIS is mad with power - this is nice

In fact all law enforcement in Canada is mad with power. The RCMP and CSIS won't tell the media ANYTHING. they control the information with weak excuses as to why they can't reveal any info, all under the guise of "The integrity of the investigation."

[The Stranger]

17. We need to know who the interrogators are.

[lala_rawraw]

18. harm to US-Canada relations?

um, it is not like the US did not know what CSIS was doing, since we had the tapes... argh