Kerry Nation — Close spy ties not a surprise

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/09/2011 (5524 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Would it surprise you to discover the U.S. and British governments sent terrorism suspects to Libya, of all places, for enhanced interrogation? Given the complicated and ugly nature of the global war on terror, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by any odd relationship.

This closer-than-advertised relationship of convenience is the cornerstone of an all-hell’s-breaking-loose situation unfolding in Britain. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary at the time of this rendition, told The New York Times that “…we were opposed to unlawful rendition, we were opposed to any form of torture or similar methods. Not only did we not agree with it, we were not complicit in it and nor did we turn a blind eye to it.”

Except, it appears, that they were complicit, did not oppose, and did turn a blind eye to it. Other than that, Straw’s comments are accurate.

In a global sense, all of this might have gone unnoticed if not for the revolution in Libya. Thanks to this civil war, we now know Abdel Hakim Belhaj, now a military commander of the rebel group, was one of the persons who experienced rendition and torture thanks to co-operation between Libya, the U.S. and Britain.

Something tells me the American and British authorities didn’t foresee this event unfolding the way it did.

“In politics, you have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.”

So said a former political science professor of mine, many years ago when I was studying at Brandon University. His point, if I can paraphrase, is that alliances and friendships constantly shift and evolve. Even though western governments worked with Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi up to this year, now NATO opposes him. Although western powers shipped Belhaj to Libya for torture and imprisonment, now it appears they will have to work with him.

I hope he’s the forgiving type.

Maybe we don’t care about the deals we make to stay safe. I understand that. Perhaps our biggest goal is to live in the here and now without regard to future potentialities. If so, then a foreign policy of which the operating theme is simply “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is perfectly appropriate.

I’m confident that western powers don’t want to view their seeming moral superiority as illusory. Unfortunately, our fast-and-loose relationship with the truth and the convenient disregard for the failings of our friends doesn’t auger well if we sincerely desire to be seen as a moral leader.

I fear all we’ve learned this week is that the world is a much dirtier and complicated place than we had ever imagined. More importantly, if we want to take a good look at the bad guys, we may find them a lot closer to home than we had ever expected.

In election analysis, I was somewhat surprised by Brandon East NDP incumbent Drew Caldwell’s decision to go after Tory challenger Mike Waddell’s residency so early in the campaign.

Waddell, as we heard in the last election, lives on Veterans Way, literally 500 feet from Brandon East. When I previously questioned Waddell about this issue, he reiterated the fact he and his family work in Brandon; his kids have gone to school here, and more. He is, to borrow the phrase, a Brandon guy like Caldwell.

I haven’t heard similar protests about city councillors who don’t live in their wards. I also wonder aloud if NDP deity Gary Doer lived in Winnipeg’s Concordia constituency all of his political life. Insiders tell me he lived in River East for some period while serving as Concordia MLA.

Manitoba’s Attorney General, Andrew Swan, represents the Minto constituency but according to Canada411.ca, he lives in Wolseley. A street literally divides the two, just as in Waddell’s case.

According to Canada411.ca, Jim Rondeau, the member for Assiniboia, lives in Minto.

Does anyone really care who lives where? This non-issue distracts us from substantive matters, including selecting the right person for the job.

There are better lines of attack, and I look forward to hearing debates about government debt, spending, finances, education, Hydro and Bipole. These are the meaty issues that all Manitobans need to understand.