August 25, 2003
Canadian William Sampson was released from a Saudi jail earlier this month. Sampson had been held for 31 months, and faced execution by beheading, for supposedly killing British citizen Christopher Rodway by planting a car bomb in a turf war over the illegal liquor trade. Although Foreign Affairs will not admit it, it appears that the Canadian government had little to do with Sampson’s pardon and release. The other captives were British citizens, and if any one person was responsible for their release, it was Prince Charles, who used his connections with the House of Saud. It’s a good thing, as not many people pay attention to our anti-monarchist Deputy Prime Minister, John Manley.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Bill Graham, defends his policy of soft power (ie. no power) and his deferential treatment of the Saudi state during Sampson’s captivity, by saying that he didn’t want to say or do anything that might provoke the Saudis into killing William Sampson. Although Graham might think that this form of inaction is some sort of fancy schmancy theory of modern diplomacy, it’s nothing that battered women haven’t known for years. Never confront the batterer--you do, it will just make it worse. The battering will increase and he might even kill you. Just talk nice to the batterer and he will be nice to you. Just sit down and explain to the batterer that his conduct isn’t, as Bill Graham might say, "acceptable." And if you are really, really nice to the batterer, he may promise never to do it again. And if he promises to be nice, you’ll believe him.
If bleeding heart liberals, like Foreign Affairs Minister Graham, could get as tough with regimes who torture Canadians into confessing to crimes that no one believes they committed as they do with men who batter women, Canada would have the opportunity to be a real country again. But it isn’t going to happen.
Bill Graham was reluctant to acknowledge that William Sampson was tortured. Again, he didn’t want to upset the little dears who were holding Sampson captive. The official line from Foreign Affairs was that the Canadian government wasn’t "convinced" that he was, in fact, tortured. You have to remember that this is the same gang that is "convinced" that if we don’t spend a zillion dollars a year, the earth will burn up and we’ll all die. This is the government that was "convinced" that U.N. weapons inspectors needed more time to find weapons of mass destruction that they are now "convinced" do not exist. These are the people who are "convinced" that a woman is battered when there is no evidence of battering other than her saying so--but a higher standard of proof is applied when the batterer is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which has a history of torture and human rights violations. Maybe the government was right. Perhaps William Sampson was guilty and voluntarily confessed. Maybe Sampson has a Jack Layton complex and would say or do anything just to get in front of a camera. Maybe Bill Graham is just a wimp.
Graham was also concerned about the thousands of Canadian citizens who are currently in Saudi Arabia, and gave that as another reason why he essentially did nothing. Graham’s government bemoans the fact that there are not enough shelters for battered women to flee to, but apparently the thought of telling Canadian citizens to leave Saudi Arabia was not an option. Just make nice and everything will be all right. The fact that the Saudis tortured Sampson and his British associates while holding them on trumped up charges don’t seem to be a priority to Bill Graham and the Liberal government.
Part of Bill Graham’s problem is that he is an internationalist. He owes his allegiance to the world (the United Nations), and not to Canada or Canadian citizens like William Sampson. This is not the first time that Graham has acted like this. In one of his statements concerning the murder of Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran, Graham expressed concern that nothing should be done that might hinder the progress of the reform movement in that country. Graham put the internal politics of Iran ahead of the rights of a Canadian citizen. It’s shameful. If you are a Canadian citizen and choose to leave Canada, don’t ever expect any help from your government.
Bill Graham acts exactly like a battered woman who appeases her abuser, but we will never actually see evidence of Battered Woman’s Syndrome. That syndrome is when the woman finally breaks and lashes out at her abuser, and assaults or kills him. Graham lacks certain anatomical parts to ever do that.