Because the evidence is inadmissible (unless you run a kangaroo court in Gitmo- then it is kosher!) in civilized societies:
The Canadian government is no longer using evidence gained from CIA interrogations of a top Al Qaeda detainee who was waterboarded.
According to documents obtained by NEWSWEEK, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the country’s national-security agency, last month quietly withdrew statements by alleged Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah from public papers outlining the case against two alleged terror “sleeper” operatives in Ottawa and Montreal.
The move, which so far has received no public attention, is the latest sign of potential international fallout from the CIA’s recent confirmation that it waterboarded a handful of high-profile Al Qaeda suspects in 2002 and 2003. The use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques were approved by the Bush White House and Justice Department. Waterboarding, which critics charge is a form of torture, involves strapping a suspect to an inclined board and forcing water into his lungs, typically by pouring water through a cloth placed over his nose and mouth.
I really don’t know how long it will take to repair the damage these bedwetting jackasses in the Bush White House have done to our international standing, our intelligence agencies, our military, and our political culture. On the upside of things, though, the Bush Presidency will end earlier than most, as they will have to suspend operations from November on to focus on writing pardons.
Wilfred
Early candidate for 2008 Mixed Metaphor of the Year Award.
Zifnab25
So I guess we only get two real questions out of this? Why is Canada siding with known, admitted terrorists against the US in the glorious WoT? And when do we invade Montreal and Ottowa to break up the terrorist cells that have been so emboldened to set up shop there?
Xenos
Why pardon when they can just shred, delete, and burn everything. I would not be surprised if they burned down the White House itself before letting a Democrat assume office.
Raka
There is going to be some epic, presumably pre-emptive pardoning, isn’t there? Maybe Bush will recall his supposed love for the Bible and declare a Jubilee, forgiving all debts and anulling all crimes. Every loan and credit card bill gone, every prison emptied… it wouldn’t really screw the country over any worse than he’s done up to this point.
Geez, Wilfred– “kangaroo court” isn’t a metaphor, and using “kosher” to mean “acceptable” in a general sense is so common that it’s almost an official meaning by now. So no, this won’t even make it past regional semi-finals for the “2008 Mixed Metaphor of the Year Award”.
Davebo
Well at least we can be sure they won’t break off the “O” keys on all the keyboards.
Ugh
If they pardon people there’s no taknig the 5th before, say, a congressional committee. Anyone know if executive privilege can only be claimed by the current occupant of the white house?
SGEW
Reason Number One* to elect Barack Obama: strongest anti-torture policy of any of the (current**) contenders.
The first thing I learned about Sen. Obama that really solidified my support for him was his rock-solid human rights profile. And that’s probably the one thing I would never forgive him for selling out on if he became POTUS (I could probably forgive him for compromising on most other things – he is, after all, a politician).
*For me, anyway. The whole torture thing strikes a nerve in me.
**Oh, except for Mike Gravel, maybe. Is he still running? I can’t tell.
Rick Taylor
I’m thinking a generation.
SGEW
You win a gold star in my book. Best laugh so far today.
Seanly
Why do Canadians hate America?
Oh, right…
Jake
Depends on the pResident.
Sasha
From a man who is almost infamous for his parsimony when it comes to clemency, I’m expecting Bush to issue a slew of preemptory pardons, mostly to people I’ve never heard of.
Come later summer/early autumn, we should really set up a pool of who will receive pardons from Bush and what for.
Joey Maloney
More and more, I suspect this is the plan.
We’ll call it “Mariel 2: The Pennsylvania Avenue Boatlift”.
Tim
You know, I wet my bed well into 6th Grade. Just a semi-common issue some boys have until puberty. I really hate being compared to the Bush white house. Could you come up with a better pejorative.
;)
David Hunt
Unfortunately, I doubt it. Just about the only thing that the Bush Maladministration is good at is covering their tracks. Expect a form letter and Bush initialing a spot next to where one of a dozen guys used a signature stamp.
Heh. Seriously, I’d expect anyone willing to go that far would just step up the schedule and do it in late October. Then they could declare an emergency and “temporarily” suspend elections. As much as I despise the President Bush and his band of outlaws, I’m not yet willing to believe that they’re capable of that.
Zifnab25
We won’t get our “emergency” for a while, at least until its clear McCain is going to get steamrolled in the Fall. But I’m confident that we’ll see a great many FOX News alerts, CNN Breaking Stories, ABC Terrorist Exposes, and Drudge-style Developing… straight up through November 8th.
Remember how “Path to 9/11” was released – coincidentally – in the week of the ’06 election? Yeah, there will be a lot of that.
Perry Como
You know who can fix this? That’s right, MUP.
Dennis - SGMM
Naw, he’ll just get Harry Reid to pass legislation providing retroactive immunity to Bushco.
SGEW
Love it. But he needs the cowboy hat too. And a heavenly choir around him.
Also: the photo needs more ninjas. Many, many more ninjas. For accuracy.
Dennis - SGMM
A Fox miniseries of an updated-for-islamofacism version of “The Manchurian Candidate,” starring a black actor, will premier in October.
The Easter Bunny
I’ve been warning you bitches about the Canuckistani threat for years. Maybe you filthy hippies should have put down the bong and listened to me.
Jen
I’m kind of a technology idiot, so maybe someone else can answer this O/T question…I just failed, twice, at one of those spam-foiling “enter the weirdo text in this box” tests. Sometimes they’re genuinely hard to read. Why can’t everyone use the one that — is it Kevin Drum uses? Right now I can’t remember — that says “What color is an orange?” Isn’t that easier than deciphering 8 mangled characters and trying to decide whether the program wants you to include or not include the space?
Punchy
We call it Code Browning. And if you relate to that issue, too, well….then you have a lot of probs.
Tim
Nope, never had that issue, cleaned up a few when I worked at a summer camp though……
demimondian
Hey, Punchy…you’ve never met someone who’s recently had a colonectomy, have you?
demimondian
And, John, there is NO WAY kangaroo would be kosher.
Sirkowski
We could use a regime change.
Kirby
While we’re on Canada, I’d like to bring up Canada’s double standard on the death penalty. Some time ago the government decided they will no longer advocate for Canadians facing the death penalty in foreign, democratic nations. Ronald Allen Smith is sitting on death row in Montana, no help for him. However, Canada will not extradite American citizens back to the States if they face the death penalty. I guess it’s more important to protect Americans than Canadians.
Adding to this, Canada is advocating for a Montreal man facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia. I guess Canada recognizes one system as legitimate but not the other.
The Conservatives need to get their shit straight and stand up for their citizens regardless of where they are in the world.
Kirby
On a lighter note. Don’t bother invading Montreal or Ottawa. All the oil is in Alberta and also all the conservatives. They’ll welcome American troops with sweets and flowers.
Real candy, not the exploding variety.
Dug Jay
Speaking of crime syndicates, The Chicago Sun Times has a new piece out detailing another entry in the growing list of, at beat, questionable activities by Barack “Sleazeball” Obama:
GSD
It looks like it is time to start fomenting the Quebec Separtist movement in the Great White North.
We can start with a Voice of America style broadcast in French and then we can begin smuggling missiles disguised as logs on truck shipments from NH. We can put shells in wheels of cheddar from Vermont.
Then once the Quebec National Congress in Exile in Aroostook County in Maine has been armed and readied.
Operation Canadian Freedom will commence.
-GSD
Tsulagi
Got that right. The MUPs presence was mightily felt during the recent Intelligence Authorization Act addressing torture that squeaked through the Senate 51-45. Though he wasn’t there in corporeal form to vote, his transcendence carried the day.
Bubblegum Tate
You’re calling Canada a civilized society? Don’t you know that Canadians are all total pansies who long for the comforting embrace of sharia? Hell, just look at their healthcare system–it is pure, unmitigated evil!
jenniebee
Waterboarding, which
critics charge isTorquemada used as a form of torture…Fixed
reid
But… I’m watching Ann Coulter on MSNBC right now, and she says waterboarding is just dribbling water down a terrorist’s nose. It sounds a little uncomfortable and would maybe make them sneeze, but is it so bad…?
Listening to her is almost enough to make me feel sympathetic to John McCain. She also waved off referring to “B. Hussein Obama” as just being funny. Ha ha, that’s a good one! Who eats up her idiocy? And what is wrong with MSNBC to have her as a guest?
Philadelphia Steve
Re: “And what is wrong with MSNBC to have her as a guest?”
MSNBC is trying to take the place of FoxNews, including sucking up to the Radical Right. That is why Chris Mathews still has a job.
As to the torture: Of course Conservatives love torture. It worked on “24” didn’t it?
tballou
Regarding pardons, I do expect there to be a whole flood of them, esp if Clinton and/or Obama win. If the House doesnt capitulate on PAA, the telecoms will be high on that list.
I was wondering what would be the ramifications of pardons on any scale proportional to the wrongdoing. Any thoughts out there?
jonolan
So the Canadians once again show their allegiance to Islam and it’s terrorist fringe – all under the blanket of supposed progressiveness. So what?
dadanarchist
“On the upside of things, though, the Bush Presidency will end earlier than most, as they will have to suspend operations from November on to focus on writing pardons.”
I don’t know why this isn’t QOTD on Sullivan… Hilarious…
Goseph Gerbils
SGEW Says:
It has ninjas; you just can’t see them.
They’re that good.
TenguPhule
Corrected.