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EDITORIAL

September 21, 2005

Original Article (English)

Be warned. Canadian snowbirds who arouse suspicion in the United States may be bundled off to places like Syria, for torture and worse. And don't expect U.S. officials to lose sleep, apologize or compensate, if they goof.

The Unfortunate Bluntness of U.S. Ambassador Wilkins

That's a "travel advisory" Ottawa may want to post on federal Web sites, next to warnings about malaria and dengue fever. The U.S. border can be injurious to one's health.

Certainly, U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins, makes no bones about it.

He sees no need to regret the unjust arrest of a dual Canadian-Syrian citizen, Maher Arar, in New York, and his deportation to Syria where he was held for 10 months in a grave-like cell and abused by police who wanted information on al-Qaeda.

'Renditioned' By Mistake, Maher Arar

"You talking about regrets by the United States?" Wilkins said in an interview with the Canadian Press. "The United States made that decision based on the facts it had, in the best interests of the people of the United States, and we stand behind it." He also said: "Will there be other deportations in the future? I'd be surprised if there's not."

Beware. The Big Apple bites back.

Wilkins' bluntness is refreshing. His indifference is appalling.

This case is complicated by the fact that the Mounties may have aroused U.S. suspicions about Arar in the first place. But the judicial probe of this mess has offered no evidence in public that he is a terrorist.

The Americans refuse to participate. Arar was never brought before a judge in New York who might have weighed the allegations against him, and the risk of torture if he were deported to Syria instead of Canada, where he now lives.

Given what we know, officials on both sides of the border should hang their heads in shame.

But there was no shame in Ambassador Wilkins' retort. No regret.

Just the hard message that U.S. officials are doing a fine job making the "tough decisions" that 9/11 has thrust upon them. Including deporting a Canadian into torturers' hands. And a blunt warning that more fine decisions are bound to follow.