Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Sticking points

There's the one everyone's talking about (and forgetting that parliament is the ultimate arbiter of what is in the interest of national security, not some dude):
Federal parties are close to a deal that would avert a parliamentary showdown — and possible election — over sensitive Afghan detainee documents. The government and opposition parties have agreed to let a small special committee — made up of MPs from each party, all sworn to secrecy — scrutinize all relevant, uncensored documents. And they're close to agreement on the key question of how to resolve disputes over what information can be safely released to the public — without jeopardizing national security. Details have not yet been hammered out but sources said Wednesday that all parties are now willing to let a neutral judge or panel of experts vet which documents will be disclosed.
And then there's the unmentionable one. What happens if the detainee documents reveal criminal behaviour by the government or members thereof? What procedure does this ridiculous committee and its "neutral judge" have for that sort of occurance?

There be an odour of sorts coming off this thing.

No comments: