Pentagon Appeals Ruling on Khadr - Mackay Does Nothing

I cannot even begin to tell you how furious I am about Peter Mackay's continual, pathetic pandering to the Bush administration.

Once again, he's thrown Canadian citizen Omar Khadr to the lions.

Via the National Post:

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon on Friday formally appealed a military judge's decision last month to throw out terror charges against Canadian Omar Khadr, a legal move that came as Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay signaled Ottawa's plans to take a hands-off approach to the case.

Plans to? He's been "hands-off" since day one.

MacKay, who was in Washington for meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said he raised questions about Khadr's treatment with his American counterpart, but he also made it clear the Canadian government has no plans to protest U.S. plans to put the 20-year-old terror detainee on trial.

"I don't want to jeopardize any legal proceedings that may take place with respect to Mr. Khadr," MacKay said following meetings with Rice at the State Department.

"This is a process that, because of the nature of these allegations, that hasn't run its course."
[...]
He declined to say whether the Canadian government believed Khadr could receive a fair trial, but said Ottawa has "been given assurances that he will have due process."

But, if you were actually paying attention, Mackay, you'd already know that a judge has ruled that there is no due process to be found in these sham military tribunals. The fact that you accept "assurances" from the criminals in the Bush administration shows how utterly and overwhelmingly incompetent you are at doing your duty to ensure the rights of Canadian citizens are upheld worldwide.

Did your Australian counterparts buy the same types of "assurances" about David Hicks' fate? Absolutely not. And how about the Brits? Have they let their citizens rot in Gitmo while taking Bushco's word that everything was just fine? No. Do I even have to mention the citizens of numerous other countries who have been repatriated to their home countries since Gitmo was established? Perhaps I do since you seem to have a complete lack of knowledge about what your job as foreign affairs minister actually entails. Here's a clue for you: it doesn't include laying down and surrendering just because Condi Rice tells you to.

You need to do Canadian citizens everywhere a favour and resign. You have absolutely no concern about the human rights of our citizens. You make a mockery of our country's values and sense of justice. You are the worst kind of ideological sycophant: an accomplice to another country's criminal actions.

Omar Khadr deserves real justice and he will never see that as long as this Conservative government looks the other way while he continues to suffer in the Gitmo gulag. You're complicit in that abomination, Mackay.