Truth, its a crime

War Crimes

The Honourable Louise Arbour, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice, former war crimes prosecutor and current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warns leaders involved in the Israel-Lebanon conflict that they face the risk of ‘personal exposure’ to war crimes proscecution.

“I do believe that on the basis of evidence that is available in the public domain there are very serious concerns that the level of civilian casualties, the indiscriminate shelling of cities and so on, on their face raise sufficient questions that I think one must issue a sobering signal to those who are behind these initiatives to examine very closely their personal exposure,” she told the BBC. [BBC – UN warning on Mid-East war crimes]

If such principles are fairly applied on both sides of the border it can only be a good thing, but one has to wonder if fairness and justice really exist in geopolitics.

First casualty of war: truth

Balance in reporting—earlier today I caught a segment on CBC Newsworld as the Israeli Ambassador to Canada responded to charges of disproportionate force against Lebanon and defended the Israeli Defense Force attacks on suspected Hizbullah rocket launch positions and strongholds. The Ambassador laid all the blame for civilian casualties on Hizbullah, who he claims are positioning rocket launchers in civilian areas. Shades of Saddam Hussein, we cry in outrage.

Yet… the ambassador didn’t bother disclosing that in Northern Israel the Israeli defense establishment uses exactly the same tactic, with weapons factories and storage depots located near predominantely Arab communities surrounding Nazareth in northern Israel, in part for the protection of their human shields. Hizbullah apparently have no reservations about targetting their missiles there, either. These messy details do not fit the official government story quite so well and are therefore left out.

In this as with any conflict each side will butcher the truth as readily as they will each other. Safe and far removed from such dangers here in Canada, ought we not properly honour our freedom and safety by demanding the real truth of our government and press, while continually obliging ourselves to seek the same? If one wants to get the full picture, one can’t merely remain a passive consumer of the 6 o’clock news or morning paper, or accept as gospel anything which comes out of our political leadership. Properly informed, I’m confident Canadians would demand more of their political leaders than we typically see on the world stage.

Steve's grand photo op adventure

Steve rides Canadian Forces jet to his own rescue?

Suddenly, last night, they were told the Prime Minister would be visiting and that Canadians – any Canadians – would have to be brought to the port of Larnaca, Cyprus. They made an urgent request to the British government, which had been taking Britons on large naval vessels with military escorts to the western city of Limassol, to allow 120 Canadians to board one of the ships so that there would be some available to greet the Prime Minister and ride home on his Airbus jet.

One government official in Ottawa, who asked to remain unidentified, expressed concern that Mr. Harper’s decision to fly to Cyprus to offer up the services of the government jet might be perceived by Canadians as a publicity stunt. [ed.: which of course it is] The government could have sent one of its Challenger jets to Paris to pick up the Prime Minister and his staff, the source said, freeing up more room on the Airbus.

But, even if they had qualms, the Canadian officials quickly booked suites of rooms and offices at the Palm Beach resort hotel in Larnaca, and made the half-hour journey to the port. Joined by newly arrived officials from the PMO, they set up a war room in the hotel’s conference centre and were quickly struck by waves of bad news.

First, it turned out that 120 Canadians had not boarded the British vessel – at most, perhaps 20 were on board. The officials then scrambled to see whether the single Canadian-rented vessel that had reached Beirut, the Lebanese-licensed Blue Dawn, could sail more quickly to Larnaca to meet the Prime Minister.

It quickly became apparent this wasn’t going to happen. [Globe and Mail: PMO wanted crisis kept under wraps]

If the Prime Minister really wanted to help, he’d stay away from the area completely rather than have his presence pull scarce resources away from the already thin Canadian contingent in the area. He’d direct all departments of the federal government to work cooperatively with Foreign Affairs and make things happen. Instead of flying in for what amounts to an expensive photo-op, the time and his profile could be better spent on behind the scenes efforts aimed at at achieving a ceasefire, for the sake of all civilians in the area, not just ours.

Yet there he is, in the thick of things, micromanaging. Given that Steve saw fit to keep his official photographer in tow, he’s no doubt hoping for election-ready visuals from a Bush “mission accomplished” or Rudy Giuliani “leadership in crisis” moment. With any luck, the advance criticism will put a stop to that.