The War on Terror

My cynicism sometimes gets me into a great deal of trouble with others. In the immediate hours following the September 11th attacks, I was very skeptical of George W. Bush's "guiding hand". I recognized that in a time of utterly unbelievable devastation, people need to look to their leaders for some sign that life will continue in a recognizable manner, or that someone will seek retribution on their behalf, but I doubted that this man, whom everyone ridiculed as a buffoon, was the right person to lead this campaign.

In the immediate days following, when the "War on Terror" entered everyday vocabulary, I silently wept for the world. The 1970's War on Poverty was a joke. The 1980's War on Drugs was badly prosecuted. And now the War on Terror was becoming a paranoic, slightly Autocratic exercise in rolling back rights around the world. And the worst part was that people were in such a hurry to approve of and assist in the War on Terror that some people got rundown without even a chance to save themselves.

I'm talking about Maher Arar, the Canadian Poster Boy for bad investigating done in a hurry. There are others, but Mr. Arar stands out because of the blatant actions of all the governments involved. Mr. Arar knew a guy who knew a guy who was suspected of cooperation with a terrorist group. I probably know a guy who knows a guy...but I don't know this because I don't run background checks on my six degrees of separation.

The RCMP were in such a hurry to prove that they were more relevant than everyone else in helping American counterparts that they forgot that their first duty was to Canada. They fucked up so badly, and I was briefly ashamed of Canada. But to this day, I don't know what political authority in what part of this planet gave the Americans the right to ship this man off to Syria of all places, where torture is a standard practice.

But I save my most irate confusion for the American officials who scream denial, denial, denial. There are still some who believe that Maher Arar is connected to terrorism. He's connected all right...he's a victim of it.