“He who puts security before liberty deserves neither.” –Dennis Edney Q.C. quoting Benjamin Franklin Last week Dennis Edney Q.C. delivered the 2018 Milvain Lecture at the University of Calgary. His topic was The Rule of Law in an Age of Fear and his defence of Omar Khadr. Edney discussed the
Continue readingTag: Guantanamo Bay
Things Are Good: White House Planning to Close Guantanamo Bay’s Infamous Torture Centre
Guantanamo Bay on the beautiful island of Cuba sounds like a great place if you don’t know anything about it. We do know what happens there and it’s immoral and likely illegal (probably even worthy of investigation by the International Criminal Court which the USA hasn’t ratified). The USA has
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Why Denmark fears militarization of Arctic islands means Canada could soon control almost all of Hudson’s Bay, and other tall tales
If we just listened to Stephen Harper and the BBC, what a wonderful world this would be! Below: Catherine the Great, USAF Gen. Philip Breedlove. Last Wednesday, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported in shocked tones on its online news site that “NATO’s top military commander, Gen. Philip Breedlove, has warned
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Is Omar Khadr a pawn in a cynical political game by the Harper Government?
The scene a week ago in the chapel at the King’s University College in Edmonton during a forum on the fate of Omar Khadr. Below: Canadian lawyer Dennis Edney, U.S. Defense Department lawyer Samuel Morison. Is the continued imprisonment of Omar Khadr actually a question of principle for the Harper
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Guantánamo Bay: The Hunger Strikes
Shutdown this, markets crashing that. Hey, if the Americans want to self-destruct their country maybe they should start with Guantanamo Bay. Filed under: Politics Tagged: Force Feeding, Guantanamo Bay, Human Rights, Hunger Strikes, Institutional Evil., Torture
Continue readingLeDaro: Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas against closing Gitmo
When will Americans close Gitmo? To start with, there are a lot of detainees who have not been charged with anything and the Gitmo detention centre gives a tool to extremists like Al Qaeda for new recruits. Now Senator Ted Cruz, during a Senate hearing on Gitmo, says that Gitmo
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: America’s Shame – Guantanamo Bay
We have not written on America’s imperial adventures for awhile here at DWR. Constant examination of the antithesis of our civilization lays bare the soul, to touch the carefully crafted web we ensconce ourselves in and shake it till the dirty bitter truths rupture forth wearies the heart and
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Why Omar Khadr’s psychology does not matter
This post is a quick update to my previous post ‘Why Omar Khadr still matters‘ in response to a CBC article that contrasts the views of two psychologists who studied Khadr. As interesting as the article may be, everything I wrote previously about whether Canada should repatriate Khadr, whether his
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Why Omar Khadr still matters
A decade after a wounded Omar Khadr, a then fifteen year old Canadian citizen, decided to lob a fatal grenade in the middle of a firefight in Afghanistan, Ottawa is still dragging its feet on finally repatriating Khadr back to Canada from Guantanamo Bay where he is currently detained. Khadr’s
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