TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | US, Canada Clash over Former Detainee

US, Canada Clash over Former Detainee

By Paul Kiel - January 22, 2007, 6:03PM

The plight of former terror detainee Maher Arar led Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Pat Leahy (D-VT) to erupt at Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at a hearing last week, calling it a "black mark on us."

But despite the fact that a Canadian investigation cleared Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian whom U.S. officials deported to Syria, four months ago, the administration says he should stay on a U.S. terrorism watch list. And they say they have the information to prove it. Trouble is, the Canadians, even after a senior official was briefed again last week, aren't convinced.

In a letter written last Tuesday (and released today), Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff assured the Canadian Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day that the U.S. had "reexamined" Arar's case, and he really does belong on that watch list. To prove it, they offered to brief Canadian officials on their findings.

Well, they did. And here's what Minister Day had to say about what he was told late last week: ""He should not be on the watch list... We have seen some recent information that has not altered our opinion at all."

So does the administration have still more information up its sleeve? It's not clear. After getting raked over the coals by a furious Leahy during a hearing last week, Gonzales promised to provide the committee with more information about Arar. In a statement today, Leahy said that he remained "hopeful" that Gonzales would follow through with that promise.

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Part of Mr. Cheney's view that ruling a country means never having to say you're sorry. Alberto Gonzales is behaving less like a Texas real estate lawyer than a medical malpractice defense attorney. Never apologize, or you move the decimal point on the settlement amount a couple of notches to the right. Just like Cardinal Law.

It's untrue, of course; if legitimate, proper apologies achieve the opposite effect. But a "proper" apology requires taking credible steps not to repeat the behavior. That will never happen while Mr. Cheney remains in office.

Canada should confer a settlement on Mr. Arar for abuse of process and for having been foreseeably and unlawfully tortured. It should then file suit against the US to seek reimbursement. Odds are many would follow suit.

Posted by Anonymous
January 22, 2007 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink

Posted by mbbsdphil
January 22, 2007 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink

Michael Chertoff - when will he see his day before ANY Senate Committee? We need to get rid of the Dept. of Homeland Security yesterday.

Posted by Shawn
January 22, 2007 8:49 PM | Reply | Permalink

From a Canadian perspective, this is a long-running story. And as disinclined as I am to trust anything Minister Stockwell Day says (he's a legendary right-wing lunatic, known for believing that men walked with dinosaurs and for running the most incompetent Prime Ministerial campaign in decades -- you thought Dukakis in the tank helmet was bad, picture him in a dorky SkiDoo wetsuit, in one of HIS OWN COMMERCIALS), this development fits the pattern. Canada says something, the Bush administration laughs and ignores it, Canada gets heated in that amusing politely-indignant way of ours ("I say! You're being awfully rude--"), we're still ignored, the cycle continues.

Canadian security interests are often neglected or ignored by the United States, even with a government like the current one that's very sympathetic to President Bush and highly pro-American. Maher Arar was tossed around like a piece of meat, it's not much of a stretch for them to give the same bureaucratic sleight-of-hand to our public safety ministry. "We'd be happy to meet with you sometime soon to share this information... about one of YOUR CITIZENS..." the gall. Make no mistake, this is a rude putdown of Canada. As a dual citizen, I'm both irritated (my Canadian side) and embarrassed (my American side).

Good on Senator Leahy for sticking up for us, as he always does -- a longtime friend of Canada. (Senator Leahy's wife, as I understand it, is a Quebec native, and he has spent a great deal of time across the border from his Vermont.)

Posted by Markus Kolic
January 22, 2007 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink

There's a certain logic to the US position -- if you send someone to Syria to be tortured, you would expect them to hold a bit of a grudge against you.

Posted by Ethan
January 22, 2007 10:43 PM | Reply | Permalink

Did anyone actually see Leahy's grilling?

It was spectacular. Good enough to keep me from turning back to the Bears game during the CSPAN replay on Sunday afternoon.

Leahy was in on the kill from the second he brought the issue up and I cannot recall seeing a Senator anymore angry in a session. He was passionate as hell when AG so lamely dismissed the writ of habeas corpus, demanding answers and telling Bert ".. you know DAMN well...". It was beautiful, like a movie, I thought the video would be up a lot more, has anyone seen it posted?

Posted by smithersjones
January 22, 2007 10:51 PM | Reply | Permalink

of course, C&L... i should've known.

well, worth the look if you have yer to see... scroll down to the "Leahy Slams Gonzo"

Posted by sj
January 22, 2007 10:56 PM | Reply | Permalink

On the one hand, Stockwell Day is still a laughing-stock of Canadian politics.

On the other hand, this is atrocious. I think it's time for some arbitrary exclusions of Homeland Security officials from Canadian soil. They obviously represent a threat to public safety. And it'll be fun to see them stamp their little feet.

Posted by ahem
January 22, 2007 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink

Sen. Leahy and colleagues need to follow it up with subpoenas and hearings, and inevitably, contempt citations.

This administration's stonewalling is likely to make Mr. Nixon look cooperative. After all, Mr. Cheney's raison d'etre is to be the Viagra he thinks Mr. Nixon should have taken - instead of the pardon. Pity that he mistakes ruling for governing, and that he's long ago forgotten that he's just another public employee.

Congress needs to remind him of that, and of the long list of tasks the White House should be tending to. Not that it will tend to them. But Congress should at least make a note before Mr. Rove tries so hard to erase it. We are well into the 2008 election, whether we like it or not.

Posted by mbbsdphil
January 23, 2007 7:45 AM | Reply | Permalink

Government is so parinoid it no longer is capable of any constructive decision

Posted by Roy
January 23, 2007 10:22 AM | Reply | Permalink

In the "sad but true" category, it is entirely possible that subjecting an innocent man to torture may convert him from an entirely good person to an enemy.

Maybe the theory that Gonzales is working on, is that once we torture you, you are a potential terrorist, and therefor you deserve whatever you got.

Posted by Matt Rose
January 23, 2007 12:52 PM | Reply | Permalink

Canada should confer a settlement on Mr. Arar for abuse of process and for having been foreseeably and unlawfully tortured.

They have. From the Globe and Mail on the 27th:

Arar given $11.5-million in compensation

Canadian engineer tortured in Syria laments life he lost four long years ago

JEFF SALLOT

OTTAWA -- Maher Arar asked for the impossible: "I wish I could buy my life back."

Yesterday he received an official apology from the Prime Minister and an $11.5-million compensation package from the federal government -- the largest legal settlement of its kind in Canadian history...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070127.ARAR27/TPStory/National

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