~ ONE JOURNEY ~
~ There is only one journey: going inside yourself. ~
- Rainer Maria Rilke
"Guantanamo North"--landmark ruling sets a potentially troubling precedent ~ Friday, September 26, 2008
My friend Rob's new book, _Guantanamo North: Terrorism and the Administration of Justice in Canada_, which was only just released, has been getting some exposure lately because of the recent ruling on terrorism. It's a disturbing landmark case, and it strikes me that the release of his book could hardly be more timely.
The questions raised by these developments are complex and problematic, though I suppose in many ways, it boils down to the old dichotomy between safety for the many (or at least, measures that provide the *appearance* of safety, even if they're not actually as effective as one might hope) and liberty/civil rights (and its curtailment, be it for all, or for certain targeted demographic groups).
There have been times when we could have the luxury of both relative safety and relative liberty, here in North America. I suppose for me part of the question is--to what extent is its current curtailment a bid for increased power and consolidation of power (which could be for many reasons--deterrent, the show of a strong front to potential terrorists, etc. as well as for the usual, evil reasons we often associate with such moves to consolidate power) and to what extent is it truly justified as one of the only ways to protect the citizenry? Which, of course, just scratches the surface.
Here are some news articles about the ruling. It's great, at least, to see that Rob gets a mention in the coverage:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080926/terror_law_080926/20080926?hub=Canadahttp://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2008/09/27/6899181-sun.htmlhttp://www.680news.com/news/national/more.jsp?content=n092669AAnd some links to the publisher's page, and a direct, frames-removed link to Rob's book:
http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/ http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca/pages/search_book.php?RECORD_KEY(titlelist)=f_isbn_10&f_isbn_10(titlelist)=1-55266-279-9 ::Posted by Anduril Elessar @ 3:21 PM::
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