It isn't absurd, it's torture

The Canadian government has caved in (1) to pressure from Israel and the USA over a document that included them on a list of countries that use torture:

The Canadian foreign minister has apologised for including the US and Israel on a list of states where prisoners are at risk of torture.

Maxime Bernier said the list, which formed part of a manual on torture awareness given to diplomats, "wrongly includes some of our closest allies". (2)

Truth hurts, doesn't it? Rather than bullying and threatening another country for being so rude as to tell the truth, there is a far simpler way to avoid being included on lists like this - don't bloody well use torture.

The US response was particularly interesting:

"We find it to be offensive for us to be on the same list with countries like Iran and China. Quite frankly it's absurd," said the US ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins. (3)

It isn't absurd, Dave, it's the truth. And what your country does is torture. If you don't like it, rather than be part of the barbarity, why speak out against the savagery, rather than being an efficient little Eichmann (4) and doing your job?

Poor Dave. If being included on a list like this upsets him, imagine how cut up he'd be if he knew what was being done in his name, either by the USA, or by even less scrupulous entities acting on the USA's behalf. But notice the slip about China. It's not really on to say things like that about our esteemed Olympic hosts and valued trading partner.

The bastards of Beijing, if they have any sense, will immediately protest Mr Wilkins inclusion with Syria. After all, it appears that the truth isn't the criteria as to whether a nation should be on the list, merely how aggrevied they feel about it, and how much pressure they can bring to bear.

1 - 'Canada FM regrets 'torture list',' unattributed BBC article, 18th of January, 2008. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7198435.stm)
2 - ibid.
3 - ibid.
4 - A term coined by the John Zerzan, and also used by Ward Churchill to describe those killed in the Twin Towers on Spetember the 11th, 2001. Churchill's thesis was that they had permitted atrocities to be carried out by the US government and military when they were in a position to know about it and act accordingly, so they were not innocent victims. I don't agree with him, as the US government ceased to heed its citizens a long time ago, but the term is apt in the case of Mr Wilkins, who is an insider. Churchill's essay, "Some People Push Back: on the Justice of Roosting Chickens," published on the 12th of September, 2001, can be read here: http://www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/s11/churchill.html