Maher Arar's Settlement

The cycle: bureaucrats mess up, person suffers (torture in this case!), taxpayers pay.

I don't mind paying a little to Mr. Arar with my tax dollars (even though it's not my fault), but why don't the Syrians have to pay anything? They're the ones who tortured Mr. Arar for a year. Are we supposed to hold Syria to different, more "culturally sensitive" standards?

It must be amusing from the Syrian standpoint. They can mistreat foreign citizens and then watch that foreign country flagellate itself for it.

Jon N

Damian adds: I'd like to see the Syrians pay up as well - but the fact is, Mr. Arar would never have found himself stuck there in the first place if not for mistakes made by the Canadian government. (Taking this point to its logical extreme, the Americans would owe him compensation as well.)

Posted by Jon N at January 26, 2007 06:50 PM