Iran denies the Holocaust

[Lise]

I can't believe someone would deny the very existence of the Holocaust. There is so much evidence supporting this tragic event that you can't ignore it.... yet to denial it speaks much on his part. Bleh. The world needs more lovers, not haters.

    Iranian's Holocaust denial advances another agenda

 Evidence that the Holocaust occurred is overwhelming and incontrovertible. The Nazis kept meticulous records. Films and photographs from the death camps, combined with survivors' testimonials, prove beyond any doubt that Adolf Hitler's Germany exterminated 6 million European Jews during World War II.



So it's tempting to dismiss this week's conference in [SPAN class=yqlink][A class=yqimgins title="Related information on Iran" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Iran"][FONT color=#003399]Iran[/FONT][/A][/SPAN], where "scholars" denied or minimized the Holocaust, as unworthy of rebuttal or of being taken seriously. Certainly, the presence of haters such as former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke told Americans everything they needed to know about the quality of the scholarship and integrity of the participants.

   But to ignore the proceedings, sponsored by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would repeat a tragic mistake. Many in Germany had considered Hitler to be a kook with little support before he came to power.

 

 When the leader of a nation - particularly an oil-rich state with an active nuclear program - denies history and embraces racism, attention must be paid. When hatred takes hold in a nation's psyche - be it in Germany and Japan before WWII or in Taliban-led [SPAN class=yqlink] [FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post][INPUT type=hidden value='"Afghanistan"' name=p] [INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder] [INPUT type=hidden value='[p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px;padding:0;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:.5em;"]Afghanistan[/p]' name=c1] [INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
[a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22Afghanistan%22&fr=yqovly1"]News[/a] | [a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22Afghanistan%22&c=news_photos&fr=yqovly2"]News Photos[/a] | [a href="http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=%22Afghanistan%22&fr=yqovly3"]Images[/a] | [a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22Afghanistan%22&fr=yqovly4"]Web[/a][/p]' name=c3] [INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL] [INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr] [INPUT type=hidden value="When the leader of a nation - particularly an oil-rich state with an active nuclear program - denies history and embraces racism, attention must be paid. When hatred takes hold in a nation's psyche - be it in Germany and Japan before WWII or in Taliban-led Afghanistan before 9/11 - the consequences can be calamitous. " name=context] [/FORM][A class=yqimgins title="Related information on Afghanistan" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Afghanistan"][FONT color=#003399]Afghanistan[/FONT][/A][/SPAN] before 9/11 - the consequences can be calamitous.

 

 Holocaust denial has long been a tactic of those eager to destroy [SPAN class=yqlink] [FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post][INPUT type=hidden value='"Israel"' name=p] [INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder] [INPUT type=hidden value='[p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px;padding:0;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:.5em;"]Israel[/p]' name=c1] [INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
[a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22Israel%22&fr=yqovly1"]News[/a] | [a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22Israel%22&c=news_photos&fr=yqovly2"]News Photos[/a] | [a href="http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=%22Israel%22&fr=yqovly3"]Images[/a] | [a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22Israel%22&fr=yqovly4"]Web[/a][/p]' name=c3] [INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL] [INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr] [INPUT type=hidden value='Holocaust denial has long been a tactic of those eager to destroy Israel, created by the United Nations after WWII. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was candid about the motivation: "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt," he said. ' name=context] [/FORM][A class=yqimgins title="Related information on Israel" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Israel"][FONT color=#003399]Israel[/FONT][/A][/SPAN], created by the [SPAN class=yqlink] [FORM class=yqin action=http://yq.search.yahoo.com/search method=post][INPUT type=hidden value='"United Nations"' name=p] [INPUT type=hidden value=c1,i,yn,c3 name=sourceOrder] [INPUT type=hidden value='[p style="font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px;padding:0;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:.5em;"]United Nations[/p]' name=c1] [INPUT type=hidden value='SEARCH
[a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22United+Nations%22&fr=yqovly1"]News[/a] | [a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22United+Nations%22&c=news_photos&fr=yqovly2"]News Photos[/a] | [a href="http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=%22United+Nations%22&fr=yqovly3"]Images[/a] | [a href="http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=%22United+Nations%22&fr=yqovly4"]Web[/a][/p]' name=c3] [INPUT type=hidden name=sourceURL] [INPUT type=hidden value=yq-news name=fr] [INPUT type=hidden value='Holocaust denial has long been a tactic of those eager to destroy Israel, created by the United Nations after WWII. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was candid about the motivation: "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt," he said. ' name=context] [/FORM][A class=yqimgins title="Related information on United Nations" onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;" href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=United+Nations"][FONT color=#003399]United Nations[/FONT][/A][/SPAN] after WWII. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was candid about the motivation: "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt," he said.

 

 Ahmadinejad took it a step further in a meeting in his offices Tuesday with participants in the two-day conference. "The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying, to the approval of his audience.

 

 Is Ahmadinejad questioning the Holocaust for cynical political gain, or is he laying the groundwork to resume Hitler's mission?

 

 That's still not clear. But the thought of nuclear weapons in the hands of a man with so little grasp of reality - or such determination to deny it in a genocidal quest - ought to give pause to nations that have been reluctant to impose sanctions through the U.N. on Iran's nuclear program.

 

 Whatever Ahmadinejad's motives, the White House was correct to call his warped conference "an affront to the entire civilized world." And the response from the civilized world must be clear: Never again.

 [FONT size=1]Source: [/FONT][A href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061213/cm_usatoday/iraniansholocaustdenialadvancesanotheragenda"][FONT size=1]http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20061213/cm_usatoday/iraniansholocaustdenialadvancesanotheragenda[/FONT][/A]

 Related news:

 [A href="http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Holocaust_Denial.html"][FONT size=1]http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1103AP_Holocaust_Denial.html[/FONT][/A] (For PM Blair's reaction)

[Russ]

I was reading about this today in the Sun and Post as well as the new investigation into three more Arar like cases. To me? Thats BS. Its national security, sure it might be wrong, but you always lose a few to save many. IF theres a problem, yes investigate and make it right, but not in the open public making our security forces look like idiots <like they need any help> and making it easier for malcontents and foreign questionables to get what they want.

    The iran guy also said that the Jewish state would fall like the Roman empire did due to its own internal problems.

[weird al]

Russ wrote:
 I was reading about this today in the Sun and Post as well as the new investigation into three more Arar like cases. To me? Thats BS. Its national security, sure it might be wrong, but you always lose a few to save many. IF theres a problem, yes investigate and make it right, but not in the open public making our security forces look like idiots <like they need any help> and making it easier for malcontents and foreign questionables to get what they want.

    I didn't see the article. Is this about three more Canadian citizens being sent to Syria in circumstances similar to Arar's?  

[Russ]

Not to Syria.

       [DIV class=feed_details] [H4] [H2][A href="http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=acdeaf7d-9125-484d-ba8d-b65f105b7500&k=27590"]http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=acdeaf7d-9125-484d-ba8d-b65f105b7500&k=27590[/A][/H2] [H2]New inquiry looks at other Canadians tortured in foreign jails[/H2]Andrew Mayeda, CanWest News Service; Ottawa Citizen[/H4]Published: Wednesday, December 13, 2006

[DIV class=para12 id=article] OTTAWA - The Conservative government seized on a growing thirst for national-security accountability on Tuesday, promising to consider recommendations for two bulked-up review bodies while launching a fresh inquiry into the case of three men who allege that, like Maher Arar, they were tortured in Middle East jails.

 The inquiry announcement came just hours after Justice Dennis O'Connor released his second report into the Arar affair.

 The report stopped short of recommending a review "super agency," as some experts expected, instead, opting for a pair of bodies that will together monitor the RCMP, CSIS and five other agencies involved with national security.

 Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the government was pleased with the recommendations.

 "I like the fact that there will be more review,'' said Day. "I like the fact that he's suggesting a co-ordinated approach to the review."

 But Day wouldn't commit to implementing the recommendations, noting the government is still studying the report.

 Arar called on the government to implement the recommendations "as soon as possible."

 "Had there been proper and efficient oversight of these various departments and agencies, I might not have had to struggle so long, so hard for answers,'' Arar said. "Some of what happened to me might even have been prevented."

 The first O'Connor report found that the RCMP mislabeled Arar as an Islamic extremist with suspected links to al-Qaida. It also concluded that the sharing of that misinformation with U.S. authorities likely led the Americans to deport him to Syria.

 Arar was arrested in New York in 2002 and deported to Syria where he was tortured for almost a year before being released, and returning to Canada.

 The new inquiry will examine the cases of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou El Maati and Muayyed Nurredin, who, like Arar, are Canadian citizens.

 Almalki and El Maati were suspects in the same RCMP investigation that identified Arar as a "person of interest." Neither Almalki or El Maati have been charged.

 Nurredin was also questioned by Canadian security officials but hasn't been charged.

 All three were detained in Syria around the same time as Arar. El Maati was also imprisoned in Egypt. A fact finder who verified Arar's claims of torture also found that the three men had been tortured.

 The new inquiry will examine three questions:

 Whether the detention of the three men resulted from the actions of Canadian officials, especially in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries;

 Whether the actions of Canadian officials were deficient; and

 Whether any mistreatment resulted from deficiencies in the actions of Canadian officials.

 It will be led by former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci. Like O'Connor, he will have the power to hold public and in-camera hearings, subpoena witnesses and gather evidence.

 However, the terms of reference of the new inquiry suggest it could have less latitude than the O'Connor inquiry. For example, the terms note that Iacobucci must take "all steps necessary to ensure that the inquiry is conducted in private."

 The inquiry is expected to report to the government by Jan. 31, 2008.

 Arar welcomed the development, but cautioned the three men to have "patience" while the inquiry combs over their lives.

 "It's really tough. People are talking about you and you have no way to defend yourself or give your input."

 The second O'Connor report recommends two arm's length bodies to review national-security activities.

 The first would be called the Independent Complaints and National Security Review Agency (ICRA) for the RCMP. Essentially, it will be a restructured version of RCMP public-complaints commission. The new agency will have the power to investigate all RCMP activities, not just national security.

 O'Connor determined that existing accountability and review of the RCMP was "not adequate," partly because of the "inability of a complaints-based process" to ensure that secretive national-security operations respect individual rights and freedoms.

 Unlike the complaints commission, the new agency will have the authority to conduct self-initiated reviews.

 It will also have the power to subpoena documents and compel testimony from any federal, provincial, municipal or private-sector individual or entity.

 The Canada Border Services Agency would also fall under its oversight.

 O'Connor said he put the two law-enforcement agencies under one body because reviewing such agencies "requires special expertise and experience" in the field.

 Meanwhile, he recommends substantially expanding the mandate of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which currently reviews the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

 The expanded SIRC would also monitor the national-security activities of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Transport Canada, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

 If the recommendations are implemented, Canada would have three main national-security review bodies: ICRA, SIRC and the commissioner of the Communications Security Establishment, which tracks foreign intelligence.

 O'Connor suggests the heads of those three offices, as well as another individual, form a committee to keep tabs on the review process and serve as a centralized "intake" for complaints.

 He also recommends the appointment of an independent individual who will determine if the review objectives are being met in five years.

 But some MPs questioned the report's lukewarm opinion on a parliamentary-oversight committee that would also monitor national-security activities.

 "He seems to have placed a great deal of emphasis on police independence, and has downplayed to some degree accountability," said New Democrat MP Joe Comartin, who supports such a committee.

 Ottawa Citizen

[/DIV]

[weird al]

   Thanks for the link Russ.

   [DIV class=feed_details]Published: Wednesday, December 13, 2006

[DIV class=para12 id=article] Arar :

 "Had there been proper and efficient oversight of these various departments and agencies, I might not have had to struggle so long, so hard for answers,'' Arar said. "Some of what happened to me might even have been prevented."

 The first O'Connor report found that the RCMP mislabeled Arar as an Islamic extremist with suspected links to al-Qaida. It also concluded that the sharing of that misinformation with U.S. authorities likely led the Americans to deport him to Syria.

 It seems to be generally accepted that ,  through either incompetence or malice, "the RCMP gave the U.S. false information connecting Arar to Al Qaeda and then misled the government about the Mounties' role in the case."

 If this is how the RCMP takes care of national security, could the Keystone Kops be much worse?

 

 The new inquiry will examine the cases of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad Abou El Maati and Muayyed Nurredin, who, like Arar, are Canadian citizens.

 All three were detained in Syria around the same time as Arar. El Maati was also imprisoned in Egypt. A fact finder who verified Arar's claims of torture also found that the three men had been tortured.

 The new inquiry will examine three questions:

 Whether the detention of the three men resulted from the actions of Canadian officials, especially in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries;

 Whether the actions of Canadian officials were deficient; and

 Whether any mistreatment resulted from deficiencies in the actions of Canadian officials.

 Does anybody blame Arar for seeking redress for the gross injustice inflicted upon him? I hope he cleans up big time and laughs all the way to the bank. It'll hurt us in the pocketbook, but hopefully the public embarrassment over their misconduct will cause the RCMP to think twice before turning their backs on the basic rights of Canadian citizens, selling them down the river and then laboring so mightily to serve and protect - what? - their reputations.

 I wonder whether anybody believes our national security has been served by the RCMP maligning a Canadian citizen, and then abandoning him to his fate.

 O'Connor determined that existing accountability and review of the RCMP was "not adequate," partly because of the "inability of a complaints-based process" to ensure that secretive national-security operations respect individual rights and freedoms.

 The Canada Border Services Agency would also fall under its oversight.

 Definitely let's bring any malfeasance by law enforcement to light. Corruption flourishes in the dark:

 [FONT face=Arial size=2]All lawyers will recognise the oft cited aphorism of Lord Hewart from Rex v Sussex Justices; Ex parte McCarthy:[/FONT]

[FONT face=Arial size=2]"... it is not merely of some importance but is of fundamental importance, that justice should not only be done, but should manifestly and undoubtedly be seen to be done." [/FONT]^{[FONT face=Arial size=2]1[/FONT]}



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