Lies, damn lies and Afghan Detainees

There's really only two key questions on this issue. First, at what point did soldiers, officers and government officials working in Kandahar know or suspect that detainees could be or were being tortured after being transferred to Afghan authority?

Second, at what point was the PMO, Prime Minister and Cabinet informed and what actions were taken to alleviate the problem? This issue is much more murky, as all things are when touched by politicians.

Richard Colvin's reports are key to the timing as they signal a clear demarcation between an unrecognized problem (or willful blindness) and a high-ranking Canadian official issuing reports through military and bureaucratic channels. The substance of Colvin's reports are not as important as when and to whom he sent them, and in my mind, if anyone replied (I've yet to see anyone ask Colvin about this).

The Canadian government, and by extension its soldiers, officers and officials in Afghanisan, were not actively complicit in the torture of Afghan citizens. The core issue is when did they suspect or know that torture was occurring and what they did afterward. At best, from the government's perspective, the issue concerns any prisoner transfer from February 2006 until December 2007 when the government announced changes to how detainees would be treated and follow up protocols. At worst, it involves he transfer of prisoners from 2001 until the day we leave Afghanistan, we won't be too soon.

I stand by my earlier comment that the bureaucracy and the DND have as much, if not more, to lose than Harper and his leeches.