Taliban Capture Canadian Spy
February 27, 2011 - 12:54pm
'Canadian Spy Detained in Afghanistan'
http://www.presstv.com/detail/167307.html
"A Taliban spokesman said on Sunday that Rutherford Colin Mackenzie was arrested several days ago in Ghazni city while he was collecting secret information, a Press TV correspondant reported. According to the spokesperson, there are documents, photographs and footage that confirms his espionage activities..."
I hope the Taliban hold a proper trial of this spy as the NATO occupying forces could obviously use a lesson in jurisprudence. The Canadian and NATO storm troopers who have been handing prisoners over to be tortured, "rendered" and so on really need to learn a thing or two about the "rules of war".
He'll get a trial?
Why not? They've got evidence (so the story claims) and it would be great PR for their side. It certainly couldn't be any worse than the treatment of "enemy combatants" by the NATO forces.
I read the report in presstv, the Iranian government news website. Has it been reported elsewhere? I didn't see it in al Jazeera or anywhere else that I checked.
Canadian Tourist Missing in Afghanistan: Foreign Affairs
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Canadian+tourist+missing+Afghanistan+Fo...
"Canadian Foreign Affairs officials confirmed Sunday that a Canadian tourist has gone missing in Afghanistan, after the Taliban issued a statement claiming that it had captured a Canadian 'spy' in the eastern province of Ghazni. 'Canadian officials are working with Afghan authorities to assist the family in securing the safe release of their loved one,' she said.
'He has been involved in some clandestine activities to get some information, especially to learn about the whereabouts of the Mujahideen,' according to the admission of the suspect,' the statement said. 'Mujahideen got some documents out of the suspect..."
Big fat ransom to be paid most likely. He probably doesn't have to worry about being tortured to death in Bagram or Guantanamo by one of our 'democracies', unlike their POWs.
I'm thinkin' our right wing fundamentalists are hoping those right wing fundamentalist will give him a speedy execution and nail a video of it up on al jazeera or youtube for full effect.
The Afghan Taliban's Pashto-language communique quotes the group's spokesman Zahibullah that the group plans to release video of the captive and that contact has been made with 'an official delegation' from the Canadian government.
Here's a difficult prediction to make (Not!) ; the Canadian regime will pay an enormous sum of cash for the "tourist" but will plead "national security" as a reason not to indicate the amount paid. lol. Logic was never a strong suit for these neo-cons. "We don't negotiate with terrorists," Minister Peter McFuckUp will be quoted as saying, "and furthermore we were able to find out a great deal about their logistics." nuk nuk. Stupid is as stupid does.
He'll get a trial?
No.
The Taliban are far more practical and intelligent than that.
They will use him for propaganda purposes: Both "white" propaganda (to make them look good and increase their support) and "black" - to humiliate and make the U.S./NATO/ISAF look bad - as the North Vietnamese government did with U.S. PoWs.
To add further humiliation, they will hold him for ransom: To force "We don't negotiate with terrorists" Herr Harper to admit he was a spy (which will raise uncomfortable and embarrassing questions about when and how much the government knew and whether he was on the payroll) and pay the Taliban for his release (similar to Brenda Martin*) - money which will help fund the Taliban's fight against U.S./NATO/ISAF(!)
Or Herr Harper will refuse to negotiate and let him rot like Omar Khadr.
*Brenda Martin was the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) who was sprung from a Mexican jail by the Harpo administration.
I'll bet Taliban mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef and his friends in London won't even discuss the matter. This almost makes it seem like a real war with spies and everything. Meanwhile Hillary is talking tough against the Taliban. She's talking tough, and she's talking deal between the her own right wing extremist government and the right wing fundamentalist Taliban at some point. I think it's all tough talk to prepare Americans and Canadians to accept a power sharing deal in an all rightwing fundamentalist government in Kabul sans Afghan women's rights. Dealing away women's rights will effectively ensure that democracy is impossible in Afghanistan for a long time to come. That's been part of the game all along in the global war on democracy in general.
Yes, well women's rights was one of the things promised to Afghanistan, but the invaders' 'democratic' mass murdering psychos didn't produce anything but more violations of these - plus misery, death and destruction. They clearly have designs on the resources and are prepared to set up, protect and empower, a much hated puppet regime to facilitate this corrupt sellout. So the Afghan people, more and more choose the insurgency. Who can blame them. We continue to make nothing better and everything worse. It is more than past time for our forced occupation to end and for us to leave.
Even Western pro-occupation sources can't hide the obvious. This report is typical of many:
Justice, Politics and Insugency in Afghanistan - by Stephen Carter and Kate Clark
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/publications/papers/view/-/id/985/
"Government corruption and partisanship at provincial and district levels was consistently cited as a major reason for supporting the Taleban and Hizb-e-Islam in all field study areas..The government's record on corruption was deemed so extraordinarily unjust that the people even prefer bad Taliban when the alternative is government..."
Greame Smith reports that 'it is clear that civilian casualities inspire the insurgency. ' One Achakzai Talib told him ' the non-Muslims are unjust and have killed our people and children by bombing them, and that is why I started jihad against them.' The affront at having non-Muslim forces on Afghan soil is much cited as a significant concern for ordinary Afghans. Arbitrary detention, especially by foreign forces, also causes widespread anger..
House searches, (particularly at night) by Special Forces operations, sometimes pushes individuals towards outright support for insurgents. As one interviewee suggested, if someone is handcuffed in front of women, he would see no other way left but to head towards the mountains to fight with the insurgents. Each night raid that takes place reinforces these perceptions...
For many, staying at home became impossible after being harassed or arrested by their newly empowered US-allied, tribal or factional enemies or after threats of deportation to Guantanamo by Afghan government or Western forces.
As noted by the former Commander of ISAF General Stanley McChrystal, the Taliban 'consistently support weaker, disenfranchised, or threatened tribes or groups. This appears to be a factor in the growth of the insurgency in different provinces, especially Kandahar..
Ladbury found that the Taleban have held on to their reputation as better practitioners of justice than the state. Her respondents (who included 'ordinary people,' as well as some Taleban and Hizb-e-Islam combatants) tended to differentiate between 'good' or 'proper' (pious, non-corrupt) Taleban and 'bad' 'foreign' or 'American (criminal) Taleban: the latter were blamed for abuses while the former were considered the 'real' Taleban..
The general perception was that the Taleban were reasonably efficient and fair - at least when compared to the formal system which was neither. When women respondents in Kandahar mentioned the Taleban and justice it was to endorse the general message that ordinary people support the Taleban because they provided justice in contrast to the formal justice system and the courts...Under the current administration, it is controlled by foreigners and war criminals, only the rich and powerful have rights and there is insecurity and debauchery.."
The US, Saudis and Pakistan's army intelligence agency created the Taliban. They are no friends of the people.
Reports That Pentagon Funding of Taliban is "Unintentional" Are Wrong 2010
The USSA is funding the Taliban to the tune of millions of dollars every month. Unmarked helicopters continue dropping weapons to the Taliban and even spiriting them around the country as if NATO is a taxi service for right wing fundamentalists. They've admitted it. Taliban even have control of a power dam built by the Americanos. Afghans pay their utility bills to the Taliban. They are right wing extremists created by Uncle Sam for the purpose of destabilizing Central Asia. The Taliban are violent misogynists. The left should not be supporting the Taliban.
Spooks Galore
The US national was arrested by police on charges of over staying in Pakistan after his visa application had been refused. DeHven is part of the Contractor network built by the CIA and which supports the CIA.
The Town police produced DeHaven, charged under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act, in the court of Judicial Magistrate Qudratullah Marwat. Town Police Station personnel stated that the law enforcement agencies arrested the US national for his illegal stay in the country, saying his visa had expired on October 23, 2010.
To add further humiliation, they will hold him for ransom:
Or they could just find out where he is and bomb the location "accidently". He's Canadian, nobody cares about him, not even you guys.
The west has a notorious rep for disowning their spies captured in Asian countries during the cold war era. All those Hollywood movies about clandestine efforts to repatriate prisoners of cold war spying are bs for the most part. They've sacrificed a lot of lives in the name of freedom - freedom for the corporatocracy that is.
The west has a notorious rep for disowning their spies captured in Asian countries during the cold war era. All those Hollywood movies about clandestine efforts to repatriate prisoners of cold war spying are bs for the most part. They've sacrificed a lot of lives in the name of freedom - freedom for the corporatocracy that is.
It's called being expendable... everyone did it (and still do). What do you think homicide bombers are?
The west has a notorious rep for disowning their spies captured in Asian countries during the cold war era. All those Hollywood movies about clandestine efforts to repatriate prisoners of cold war spying are bs for the most part. They've sacrificed a lot of lives in the name of freedom - freedom for the corporatocracy that is.
It's called being expendable... everyone did it (and still do). What do you think homicide bombers are?
But the Sovs weren't demanding hundreds of their pilots returned to them at the end of the cold war though. Apparently Yeltsin informed the States that there were hundreds of USAF and other countries pilots shot down over Asia and were sitting in Soviet gulags waiting for someone to negotiate their return. It never happened.
And none of Germany nor a number of Eastern European countries ever demanded that thousands of war criminals be returned to them from Canada or the States, even though Israel and Sovs pointed out to our corrupt stooges the real identities of hundreds of vicious war criminals living in our midst. It wasn't by accident - they were given sanctuary after the war and employed in various criminal activities under the noses of the feds. Some of them were employed to run the spy ops out of West Germany and even attack civilian population from time to time as their method for maintaining a strategy of tension.
Yes, spies weren't the only expendable ones then through today. Our modern day gladios committed mass mass murder against 3000 human beings on 9/11 in order to justify a Nazi style humanitarian-defensive war complete with blitzkrieg and marching into sovereign countries. They ripped off Himmler's SS for the Gleiwitz incident. The difference is there are no Nuremberg trials today. Mass murder is more manageable and easier to pull the wool over everyone's eyes in an age of advanced communications and tens of billions of dollars spent on black budgets and high tech subterfuge. Hitler was the biggest liar of the last century. Today we have a number of Hitlers on the loose.
To add further humiliation, they will hold him for ransom:
Or they could just find out where he is and bomb the location "accidently". He's Canadian, nobody cares about him, not even you guys.
He was located near Ghazni.
What value to the Taliban would bombing where he was located be?
None I can think of.
I think Bec is alluding to the famous 'friendly fire' accidental bombing of Canadians by US forces... going by the online comments about this dude sightseeing in a warzone, the primary concern of canucklheads seems to be the tax-dollars mis-spent ransoming his dumbass back. If only their parsimony extended to the cost of the Canuck Crusaders as well..
amazing what google can do - here's a little souveneir vid he left behind:
http://wn.com/review_by_colin_rutherford__newcapegrace_guest_house_hotel...
I was curious about this poor Canadian tourist in Afghanistan, and wondered: What do the travel agencies say about tourism there?
Turns out there's tonnes of good info about some great vacations, at the World Travel Guide site.
For example, here are some handy tips about scenic spots:
NOTE: the "..." is in the original text.
Need health care while on your excursion? No problemo!
One of my favourite sections is entitled "Holidays to Afghanistan":
I wonder which package Mr. Rutherford had selected?
I think Bec is alluding to the famous 'friendly fire' accidental bombing of Canadians by US forces...
Nope, sorry, you're incorrect.
Don't you think we should at least see the evidence before we pronounce him guilty?
Maybe he is, maybe he is a thrill seeker, maybe he is trying to make money, maybe he is a nutbar-- who knows but at least we can refrain from calling him a spy on an open website when there has been no proof of that.
Don't you think we should at least see the evidence before we pronounce him guilty?
Maybe he is, maybe he is a thrill seeker, maybe he is trying to make money, maybe he is a nutbar-- who knows but at least we can refrain from calling him a spy on an open website when there has been no proof of that.
Your logic proves that you're an Americanized CIA plant. Of course he is a spy, so sayeth the hive mind.
Don't you think we should at least see the evidence before we pronounce him guilty?
Maybe he is, maybe he is a thrill seeker, maybe he is trying to make money, maybe he is a nutbar-- who knows but at least we can refrain from calling him a spy on an open website when there has been no proof of that.
Personally I'm surprised the media blithely called him a "tourist" without ironclad proof. Did you see some of the packages I linked to above? They're brutal. And high-speed internet isn't included in the room rates.
I travelled to West Virgina when I was very young. Ostensibly it was to see a very old graveyard which has some very early remains of a variety of my ancestors. But no, the only reason we could've travelled there is that we're American gladio coal-lobbyists. But hey, there is no proof either way, so let's assume what will sell the most newspapers.
I wouldn't call him a tourist either -- that assumes he is innocent. Why do we have to assume anything?
He was there-- he was caught and the Taliban are charging him with spying.
There are a few reasons he could be there -- idiocy being one of them--
And yes there are tourists there-- from the same site Unionist linked to:
http://www.worldtravelguide.net/afghanistan/sightseeing
I think a person who goes sight-seeing in a war zone is foolish but there are people who like to see them. Sick yes, but not necessarily spying.
These people are stupid, just like the asses that travelled to Nepal during the civil war there - those moronic conservationists and scientists.
I think a person who goes sight-seeing in a war zone is foolish but there are people who like to see them. Sick yes, but not necessarily spying.
Well, it has a lot to do with whose permission he sought before going there. The invading murderers' permission? The puppet regime which will be liquidated five minutes after the invading murderers leave? Or the people who live there?
When you go sightseeing in an insurgency, and you haven't checked in with the insurgents, and you're carrying (say) travel documents issued by the enemy, and you're not in uniform... well, espionage doesn't sound like too harebrained of a charge to bring. Innocent until proven guilty, of course...
Let's see: The insurgents fighting to rid Afghanistan of foreign invaders and occupiers stand to gain a ransom to assist in their efforts.
Herr Harper stands to gain some embarrassment out of this.
What's not to like?
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
Let's see: The insurgents fighting to rid Afghanistan of foreign invaders and occupiers stand to gain a ransom to assist in their efforts.
Herr Harper stands to gain some embarrassment out of this.
What's not to like?
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
You're slipping... You forgot the cool beheading video in the end
Just this weekend CNN had a great documentary made by Norwegian journalist Paul Refsdal called "Taliban". This guy negotiated a deal where he was imbedded with a group of Taliban for a few weeks. It was a really reveling documentary. If you can download it please watch it. This is a trailer for it...
Taliban
In the end one of the Taliban leaders named Omar (Omar in the trailer) invites him to his village after the group was attacked and had to break up to continue his documentary. He gets to the village and Omar ends up accusing Refsdal of being a spy as a pretext for kidnapping him and demanding ransom. It would seem making accusations of spying is standard operating procedure for justifying holding someone for random or whatever for the Taliban. That could be what's happened to this guy.
If he is a "tourist" of sorts and he dies I say we put him in for a Darwin Award.
I wonder if he's a missionary? They seem to like wrapping themselves in the Holy Ghost and sticking their necks out anywhere the unconverted are fighting.
Or maybe travelling to a conflict zone is the new macho, like running with the bulls.
"According to the spokesperson, there are documents, photographs and footage that confirms his espionage "
Dumb excuses when caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Really those nice shots of your bunker emplacements were just for scenic value. The reason I have lists of people I think are Taliban is for research purposes only." Ranks right up there with, "we were just hiking in the Kurdish mountains and wandered into Iran." Or maybe; "is that river I waded really the American border?"
"According to the spokesperson,
Yeah, the Taliban spokesperson...
Haven't you learned yet, Northern Shoveler, that only NATO spokespersons can be trusted?
Think what you want but spokespersons only say what is in the interest to the group they represent. It's up to you to believe them or not and that will be based on your own agenda and perception of that group.
Gee Bec no sense of humour. Did I say I believed the report? I thought it was obvious I was having a little fun. Since you seem so cynical tell me what you thought of the American "tourists" who "wandered" into Iran? Was that really just a murderous regime picking on some nice young people?
"According to the spokesperson,
Yeah, the Taliban spokesperson...
Oh, you mean like, the guy who lives there, as opposed to the guys who invaded there? Yeah, those natives, can't be trusted, they don't come from an honest truthful advanced culture like us.
Victory to the Afghan insurgency! Total defeat to the invaders and their puppets! Canada get out before you're driven out!
"Ex-Taliban" spy raking in aid money
He drives around Kabul in the Taliban's favourite vehicle, the Toyota Corolla -- but his car is customised with 1,000-watt speakers, bright red aluminium rims and seat cushions displaying the arms of Arsenal football club.
No surprise then, that this former Taliban turned his back on his rebel brothers, and now manages contracts -- some worth more than a million dollars -- for US-funded developers rebuilding the war-torn nation.
Lots of "aid money" being pumped into Afghanistan and very little of it for poverty relief or social democracy. The creme of the Taliban are becoming wealthy, too.
You're slipping... You forgot the cool beheading video in the end
Just this weekend CNN had a great documentary made by Norwegian journalist Paul Refsdal called "Taliban". This guy negotiated a deal where he was imbedded with a group of Taliban for a few weeks. It was a really reveling documentary. If you can download it please watch it. This is a trailer for it...
Taliban
In the end one of the Taliban leaders named Omar (Omar in the trailer) invites him to his village after the group was attacked and had to break up to continue his documentary. He gets to the village and Omar ends up accusing Refsdal of being a spy as a pretext for kidnapping him and demanding ransom. It would seem making accusations of spying is standard operating procedure for justifying holding someone for random or whatever for the Taliban. That could be what's happened to this guy.
If he is a "tourist" of sorts and he dies I say we put him in for a Darwin Award.
They aren't going to kill him just yet.
They are going to try to get the money first.
What the Harper administration decides will be the fate of this person will be instructive of this administration's policy towards Canadians who find themselves in difficult situations abroad.
So far the track record is not good.
Omar Khadr
Maher Arrar
Abousfian Abdelrazik (and many others)
Versus
Brenda Martin.
So far the track record's not good.
Think what you want but spokespersons only say what is in the interest to the group they represent. It's up to you to believe them or not and that will be based on your own agenda and perception of that group.
We know where you're coming from. Huh, buddy?
Gee Bec no sense of humour. Did I say I believed the report? I thought it was obvious I was having a little fun. Since you seem so cynical tell me what you thought of the American "tourists" who "wandered" into Iran? Was that really just a murderous regime picking on some nice young people?
Sorry if I missed the humor, I'm usually the one poking fun and getting everyone riled up... Nice one you got me.
As for your question my first impression was they were pretty stupid... for spies or tourists...
Anyways: life choices, we all make them. Some are better at it than others I guess. Rich white kids: nobody cares about them.
Think what you want but spokespersons only say what is in the interest to the group they represent. It's up to you to believe them or not and that will be based on your own agenda and perception of that group.
We know where you're coming from. Huh, buddy?
Is there something in that statement you think is false? (You lefties are getting all snippy lately... must be Libya; you're stuck between a rock and a hard place)
Bec, Taliban ideology is not really their Islam in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Millions of people were deliberately and strategically placed between a rock and hard place and not by choice. What do you think of that?
Think what you want but spokespersons only say what is in the interest to the group they represent. It's up to you to believe them or not and that will be based on your own agenda and perception of that group.
We know where you're coming from. Huh, buddy?
Is there something in that statement you think is false?
No.
On the contrary,
I find your honesty and the way you wear your political views on your sleeve quite refreshing.
this EX taliban is precisely the kind of corrupt, mafia sellout hustler the Western powers cultivate. His value system wouldn't be at all out of place in downtown Toronto or the ranks of some Canadian political parties.
Have no fear, the 'graveyard of empires' makes many more lions, who fight poor and honourably to rid their lands of just such rank corruption as this, and chase the Crusaders away.
'and the times they are a changin..'
US Invaders Airstrikes Martyr 12 Children in Kunar
http://www.shahamat.info/english/
"In Kunar's Nanglain district, as many as 12 innocent children of the villagers were brutally martyred, and two more seriously injured, in the US invading force's deadly airstrikes. Heinous terrorism. The children are said to have been collecting firewood for their family use when the barbarous America forces started bombing the area, martyring the small, innocent children who were expected to be the future of the nation and to care for their parents in their old age.."
Mar 1, IEA: American Salutes Kunar: The Proud Land of Our Mujahid Forefathers
http://www.shahamat.info/english/
..."The deep American economic woes and the Americans hate for this war is exactly what compelled the American Defense Minister to plainly tell the Karzai regime that they should look for other countries to train and fund its police and army and that they should no longer depend on American alone to fund such projects...
It looks like the Americans have understood that they can no longer sleep well in their bases as the populace has decided to avenge their blood. Therefore they decided to put an end to their illegitimate outpost in Paich. The American invading forces have saluted and decided to withdraw from the proud land of our Mujahid forefathers..."
Taliban? Imagine a carbon copy of imperial Saudi Arabia except with Afghan women, children and minorities without many of the same basic rights. Always be suspicious of ISI/CIA/Saudi-backed proxies who ban dancing and rejoicing. They are faux revolutionaries.
Afghanistan and Pakistan not very lucky according to London based Pakistani news journalist. Violent misogyny and extreme intolerance was never indigenous to either country. Introduction of Taliban religious extremism was introduced to Pakistan and Afghanistan by General Zia, Saudi princes and the CIA in the latter half of the 20th century.
LOL NDPP you're posting for Jihadie/Taliban websites now?
That's golden...
US Invaders Airstrikes Martyr 12 Children in Kunar
http://www.shahamat.info/english/
"In Kunar's Nanglain district, as many as 12 innocent children of the villagers were brutally martyred, and two more seriously injured, in the US invading force's deadly airstrikes. Heinous terrorism. The children are said to have been collecting firewood for their family use when the barbarous America forces started bombing the area, martyring the small, innocent children who were expected to be the future of the nation and to care for their parents in their old age.."
LOL NDPP you're posting for Jihadie/Taliban websites now?
Maybe that's because the US media don't report stories like that until someone decides to apologize for the mass murders.
US Invaders Airstrikes Martyr 12 Children in Kunar
http://www.shahamat.info/english/
"In Kunar's Nanglain district, as many as 12 innocent children of the villagers were brutally martyred, and two more seriously injured, in the US invading force's deadly airstrikes. Heinous terrorism. The children are said to have been collecting firewood for their family use when the barbarous America forces started bombing the area, martyring the small, innocent children who were expected to be the future of the nation and to care for their parents in their old age.."
LOL NDPP you're posting for Jihadie/Taliban websites now?
Maybe that's because the US media don't report stories like that until someone decides to apologize for the mass murders.
the fact is maybe it didn't take place or maybe it did but you have no idea - your distrust of NATO sources is understandable but your trust in Taliban source is foolish at best.
the tone of certainty by some posters as to what is the truth and what isn't makes this whole thread feel like a sick joke
It took place, Petraeus had to apologize to Karzai. I make no claim everything I post is 'truth', unlike the lapdog corporate MSM. I post from all sides, of which this is one. I leave you to decide what the 'truth' is.
Yeah it's pretty difficult to know who is reporting the truth. I tend to like lefty sources, but that's not to say that Fox or CNN are 100% lies all of the time either. Sometimes the truth can be hidden in plain view by a bodyguard of lies, or something like that. Most MSM sources, though, will write about the Taliban and al-CIA'da like they are totally new enemies of the US and civilized world. The truth is that those groups and more have been on the US taxpayer's payroll for a long time. This is not a real war on terror. They lie to us and sometimes qualify the lies with just enough truth to make it believable. But the official lies and deception are constant and pervasive as a general rule.
When the CIA and Brits produced reports years ago that they expected an increase in conspiracy theorism as a result of proliferation of internet communications, they knew why. They knew then that certain large percentages of people would figure out that their version of truth and the other version of truth are two different things.
It took place, Petraeus had to apologize to Karzai. I make no claim everything I post is 'truth', unlike the lapdog corporate MSM. I post from all sides, of which this is one. I leave you to decide what the 'truth' is.
I agree that you do that.
the fact is maybe it didn't take place or maybe it did but you have no idea - your distrust of NATO sources is understandable but your trust in Taliban source is foolish at best.
the tone of certainty by some posters as to what is the truth and what isn't makes this whole thread feel like a sick joke
Do you really think Obama would apologize for killing 9 children who were out gathering firewood if he wasn't pretty damn sure it had actually happened?
The ignorance of some posters makes this thread feel like a sick joke.
Here is the Al Jazeera report. Appended to the end of the video curiously, is a completely unrelated story/footage, clearly identified as being from a bank robbery in Jalallabad, Pakistan. Presumably it is necessary to alleviate the outrage over NATO with this clumsy propganda of 'equivalency'
Apology For Afghan Child Deaths (and vid)
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/asia/2011/03/2011339502683263.html
"Locals angered by deadly air raid in Kunar province'
LOL NDPP you're posting for Jihadie/Taliban websites now?
That's golden...
Putting a smiley face next to a nasty personal jab doesn't make it less nasty. Think you could argue your position without it? Thanks.
LOL NDPP you're posting for Jihadie/Taliban websites now?
That's golden...
Putting a smiley face next to a nasty personal jab doesn't make it less nasty. Think you could argue your position without it? Thanks.
Actually that wasn't a personnel jab; it was a friendly nudge... no nastiness was intended at all. NDPP, a few others here and I go a long way back in this thread, well Afghanistan ones anyways. We know each other's positions on this, we know nobody is going to change but we can still respect each other's positions (at least I can). That's not to say we don't spar with each other here, I get my fair share of doinks here as well, but I don't think anybody here takes things too personnel. I guess we sometimes forget the rest of the world's watching us in here. I actually read NDPP's web links and even explore around on the sites... On the web site I commented on for example, while the reference to the air strike was based on fact, they also claim to have destroyed about 20 or so "tanks" in the last few weeks... NATO doesn't even have 20 tanks in Afghanistan... not to mention the amount of US killed they claim, it's just crazy. (That's what I really was teasing NDPP over) I guess I should have elaborated a bit more, dam my laziness.
Anyways, offending smiley removed.
Thanks for the time you spent keeping me/us straight.
Thanks Rebecca, but I'm quite up to handling any and all here especially that one
@ Bec: CAW CAW!
PS - Of course it's propaganda, but so is most of this stuff, for somebody or other - actually I think when they say 'tanks' they may actually mean APCs..
I've not a whit of sympathy for the purported spy. It signifies that DFAIT have clammed up tight on this one. I hope his captors squeeze every last drop of intelligence out of him then use him as a hostage - say, to trade against Predator strikes on wedding parties or something.
It's 'Great Game' fantasists like this criminal who foul the pitch for all who follow. As an obviously western white male of about the age and build of the American murderer/spy recently captured in Pakistan I'll be an obvious suspect for some of the unfriendlier civil agencies when I head into Syria in a couple of days. Thanks MUCH, asshole.
Not to mention it shows such towering contempt for the peoples and cultures they do their dirty business in.
It's a region that's certainly 'jumpin'. Have a good one Merowe, stay safe and send us news..
Heh...so far so good. Thought it would be warmer. People super nice and the streets full of the smell of roasting coffee and baking cinnamon. Working up some notes. Aleikum salaam.
As an obviously western white male of about the age and build of the American murderer/spy recently captured in Pakistan I'll be an obvious suspect for some of the unfriendlier civil agencies when I head into Syria in a couple of days. Thanks MUCH, asshole.
Who is to say the same thing didn't happen to Mackenzie? Seeing how no one knows much about this alleged spy, what makes you - a tourist in Syria - so much different than him?
But have a safe trip - I'd tell you to take lots of pictures, but that might get you arrested as a spy.
Well, if I disappeared and someone asked DFAIT about it, they'd go 'Who the fuck is he?' instead of 'no comment', for a start, see my comment above. I've not registered with the Canadian consulate here, I'm told they're useless in a pinch.
Three days in, I've shot an hour of video and sixty or so stills with a big clunky Nikon SLR. A nice policeman helped me catch my first bus this morning and two soldiers sat beside me on the dolmush ride back from Al Bara and peered curiously over my shoulder as I reviewed video. Then they showed me clips they'd shot on their cell phones of recent flooding, and pictures of motorbikes and girlfriends. So far people here regard me with a/ total indifference b/ discreet curiosity c/effusive welcome welcome, a/ being the dominant.
Sounds like a great trip Merowe. Enjoy and write again soon!
Wow, Merowe, sounds great! Take care of yourself. And thanks for your perespective on the Canadian spy, which I share fully.
Ok, I'll stop clogging this thread. If anyone's interested I'll be blogging the trip a bit, at this address: http://blog.owenford.org/
I must be missing something here. How is touring around Syria the same as going to a war zone? Is there an active extra governmental group likely to capture you for potentially spying or are you equating the Syrian authorities with the Taliban?
I don't think anyone said it is the same as going into a war zone - this place is safe as houses, I feel more insecure standing in front of 52 Division in downtown Toronto. That said, the more people stay away because of misplaced anxiety, the better for travellers like myself ha ha.
Seriously though, widely aired reports on active Canadian spies in the region - in a country with over a million Iraqi refugees, half a million Palestinians - don't IMPROVE our reputation abroad, that must be a no-brainer surely?
Yes be very afraid of those nasty Iraqi's and Palestinians, "they are all the same and I hear they are blood thirsty so you better be very careful."
That is what you sound like to me. Have a great cultural exchange I hope someone there teaches you tolerance of others.
I must be missing something here.
You got that right.
The internet is a difficult place to communicate. If you don't understand what Merowe is saying, just ask him for clarification. Assuming the worst sometimes has a way of backfiring.
hehe, thanks U.,
er, yes N.S., I humbly submit you have missed the mark. I had tea this morning with a pair of Palestinians, tea this afternoon with a Syrian Kurd and yesterday exchanged pleasantries - and sympathies - with a young Iraqi. It would be a bit silly to come to such a place if I didn't actually like the people I'd be bumping into wouldn't it? Indeed, my advance information is amply confirmed, the people here are warm and welcoming to a fault.
Great that is what i would have expected. Please reread your post. I am sorry but it still reads to me like an indictment of either the refugees in Syria or the government that has allowed them in.
"unfriendlier civil agencies' Nice term. How would you compare them to Homeland Security or CSIS. Part of the Great Game is seeing "their" agencies as evil and ours as bad but necessary because we know they are fighting evil. I also note you said nothing when AJ congratulated you and compared your trip to the alleged spy's activities. So when I read the posts the tone was set by you and picked up on by AJ at post #60. He asked whose is to say it is not the same. I chose to say.
I also think that your post implies that the people in Syria both citizens and refugees would be naive enough to think Canada is a benevolent player and this spy would totally change their world view. The great games are a foot and I doubt if the Syrians or anyone else doesn't understand.
Thanks for the elaboration NS, i'll tell you what, i didn't want to mention any agency by name but Id chuck 'em all in the same dark and fetid pit ok, CSIS an'all. So you maybe jumped the gun on me there.
After 4 visits to a net cafe in Dam where i surfed to my hearts content on a fifth an older fella sat beside the normal guy who for the first time asked for my passport and wrote down details. My next visit some but not ALL my links were blocked. Hotmail not blocked Facebook blockd, rabble blocked, etc. i changed cafes and all was back to normal. Not jumping to conclusions, but not going to spill my guts here ok? Err on the side of caution and all that, I like it here.
Certainly don't imply people here naive for fucksakes, as I say its a no-brainer. There was a time when the word 'Canada' if it evoked any response at all in nonwesten locations conjured perhaps Mounties and invariably positive sentiment, i don't think I'm mistaken there, at least that was my experience; that time has passed and it is thanks to our chickenhawk POS 'Prime Minister'. And now this twerp Mackenzie whatever he is. Thats ALL I'm saying, hardly contentious surely. but hats off to your sensitivity.
Sorry I had only your words and the follow up by AJ to guide me. Its not like you are a long lost friend I know well, which is apparently the case for others. Hope you have a nice trip and just remember that NATO is actively engaged in spying in Syria and the Syrians know it.
So has it been confirmed that this guy is a CSIS or TUNDRA spy or is he just in the wrong place at the wrong time- missing some common sense.
I hope Merowe is ok, given the reports of shootings of protesters in Syria
I hope Merowe is ok, given the reports of shootings of protesters in Syria
I thought he went to Syria not Bahrain.
hey Bacchus thanks for the heads-up, I'm in the east for a few days, Deir ez-Zur, all quiet here; I'll see what I can learn about Deraa, that's a ways away from here. My assessment before I came was that the regime here is stable with a lot of support and that remains my opinion. No doubt tremors from afar may echo here but I don't think any 'old order' is about to be swept away. But frankly I can claim no special insight, I've only a few words of Arabic and am pretty much in the dark but for the intertubes.
I hope Merowe is ok, given the reports of shootings of protesters in Syria
I thought he went to Syria not Bahrain.
Syrian forces kill two protesters in southern city
Syrian forces kill two protesters in southern city
Time for another no-fly zone, methinks! After all, we have a "moral imperative".
Taliban Releases Video of Captured Toronto Man
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/05/08/afghanistan-video-captured...
"In an email accompanying the release of the video, the Taliban threatened to put Rutherford on trail for espionage if Canada does not meet its demands. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid did not list the demands, saying the Canadian government was aware of what the Taliban want..."
get out of Afghanistan now.
I wonder how a tourist from Scotland would have been treated if found by the Patriots during the first American civli war. Who would think they could be a tourist in a war zone? Especially in a country being occupied by Canadian troops. He may be just incredibly stupid not a spy but I would find it hard to believe he was that divorced from reality. Where does he get his travel money? Who does he owe his keep too?
I wonder how a tourist from Scotland would have been treated if found by the Patriots during the first American civli war.
"Tourism" didn't exist back then.
At best, he would have described himself as a journalist or "pamphleteer" or man of letters who was "self-employed" to inform the folks, well-wishers, back home of events in America.
This guy wasn't a tourist because tourism does not exist in a war zone anymore than it existed in 18th century America. He was either a spy or a journalist if he was writing about his travels in war torn areas. If he was a tourist as claimed by his family then I find the idea of a Canadian going to the NATO killing fields for a little purile entertainmment disgusting. Talk about a false sense of entitlement if he really thought being a tourist in an area of active warfare was something no one fighting the occupation by NATO would object too.
Talk about a false sense of entitlement if he really thought being a tourist in an area of active warfare was something no one fighting the occupation by NATO would object too.
The tourist story is crap.
If he was a tourist, NATO wouldn't have allowed him into combat areas.