Votes that condone torture

Linda McQuaig

Later this week, our two leading political parties are expected to join forces and commit Canada to another three years of military intervention in support of the Afghan government – which we know practises torture.

This is a curious development, since most Canadians – like civilized people around the world – find torture abhorrent and utterly at odds with their values.

Yet the barbaric practice has achieved post-9/11 acceptability in some circles in the so-called advanced world, in the guise of being a necessary tool to fight terror. It's been a prominent feature of the Afghan war, which has spawned Guantanamo Bay, among other horrific prisons. MORE