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Occupy Ex-Presidents: Protests Planned for Bush, Clinton Event in Canada
SURREY, British Columbia -- Canadian authorities braced for protests expected to take place near Vancouver, British Columbia, on Thursday outside an event where former U.S. presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are scheduled to appear.
Hundreds of demonstrators are expected to protest outside an event in Canada where Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are speaking. Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities to arrest Bush for "war crimes" while activists announced Occupy Wall Street-style protests of the economic summit in Surrey where the former presidents were scheduled to speak along with world finance experts.
"We would prefer his home country try George W. Bush," said Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada.
Neve said Bush should face trial for ordering the so-called enhanced interrogation, such as water boarding, of suspected terrorists.
"But the Obama administration has made it clear they do not intend to do that, so we are asking Canada to. We are not naive. It's an uphill fight but we feel we have a strong case," Neve said.
Across social media and the Internet, activists called for an "Occupy Surrey" protest similar to demonstrations in dozens of cities decrying Wall Street excess.
Several recent Occupy Wall Street demonstrations led to property damage and arrests.
Authorities in Canada said they were prepared for potential clashes with protesters, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said in a statement the force is going to "respect the rights to democratic and lawful protest and is approaching this event no different than other similar events with a potential for conflict."
The summit is taking place in Surrey, a city just south of Vancouver with a population of about 370,000.
Organizers are charging about $600 a head for an audience of about 500 people to listen to speakers, including Bush and Clinton.
According to the summit agenda, the two ex-presidents will share the stage for about an hour to discuss a variety of topics including "new realities of the North American economy."
The talk given by the two presidents is scheduled to begin at 3:45 p.m. ET and will be closed to the media, organizers said. The government of Canada, a close U.S. ally, has not commented on protesters' calls to arrest Bush.
But the country's Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the Vancouver Sun newspaper the request was not being taken seriously.
"Amnesty International cherry-picks cases to publicize based on ideology," Kenney said. "This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights advocates have abandoned Amnesty International."
Last month, protesters appeared at a Vancouver event for former vice president Dick Cheney promote his book.
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43 Comments so far
Show AllCouldn't happen to two better guys! Go get 'em Canada!
Go get 'em Canada? With Puppet Harper in charge? You gotta be kidding!
Besides, it's just a couple of former emperors on a "good will visit" to the nearest colonial outpost of empire. Nothing to see here. Move along.
But perhaps the Tar Sands opponents or other such honest Canadians will be there.
Perhaps. But Canadians' time might be better spent dealing with the complicity of their own puppets where they have some chance (at least in theory) of actually correcting the problem. Trying to compensate for the American public's reticence (kindest word I could think of) is likely to be a thankless task.
True, although I have to cut the Canadians some slack. In their country, just as ours, there's no opposition party to the corporatist consensus.
Traitors2 Btried 4treason. call 2all citz 2arrest of all corp puppets, incl their provative thugs!!!
"new realities of the North American economy."
That should be short and sweet. I can sum it up: "The poor will get poorer and the rich will rule the earth. The rich should invest in fences and security forces to keep the riff raff out."
Bush and Clinton should be tried for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity... as some dims are considering Hillary as a candidate???????????.
Never forget the 500,000 Iraqi children who died under Clinton's rule.
Exactly. Never forget the MILLION Iraqis who died under Clinton's reign, victims of the illegal economic sanctions, children unable to get basic medicines, people unable to drink purified water. Never forget Clinton's illegal bombing of Yugoslavia.
as soon as clinton sanctioned the continuance of bush1's sanctions I knew there would be no change in USer belligerence.
clinton got away with murder.
why is amnesty not calling for his arrest too?
http://talking_points.tripod.com/enron/id9.html
Glad to hear it and glad others are assuming the role.
I wouldn't be able to communicate well around them.
"RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said in a statement the force is going to "respect the rights to democratic and lawful protest and is approaching this event no different than other similar events with a potential for conflict."" ----- but not uphold Canadian and international law.
"Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the Vancouver Sun newspaper the request was not being taken seriously. "Amnesty International cherry-picks cases to publicize based on ideology," -------- Cherry picking to this bozo means pointing out particular infringements by high profile and influential law breakers, who by flaunting Canadian and international law, do influence and effect globally the respect of laws against torture, war crimes and and human rights violations.
It is fair to point out that these authority's refusal or obfuscations of their legal obligations to to apply these particular laws make them party to the crimes in question. Aiding and abetting a war criminal is, I believe, tantamount to conspiracy, but perhaps someone knowing more on Canadian law can clarify that.
The canadian government including the goons- rcmp, is just a tentacle of the fascist amerikan empire ! On with the Rebellion; the oppressors WILL be overthrown !
Hello...Canada's tar sands and pipeline scam needs this p.r. How can we interfere in that marvelous corporate grab? Who are we but the mundanes those assholes like Clitton and Bush look down on from there top of the dick posture?....
The picture says it all.
Here are your democrats and your republicans.
Two faces of the zombie class.
And they look like Shit don't they!
If there is in fact a set of pearly gates those 2 jackals won't get anywhere near them.
Hey Clinton - stole any Haitian relief money lately? The answer is yes of course.
Hey bushie - beaten your wife lately? The answer is probably a yes also.
Scumbags.
.
Several OWS demos have led to property damage? I have counted exactly one, last weekend's protest in Rome. Please provide links to back up your claims, CNN. Anyway, go get em Canada!
CNN sez: "... the two ex-presidents will share the stage for about an hour to discuss a variety of topics including 'new realities of the North American economy.'"
***
Bush? "Realities"?
Oh, I get it ... it's a comedy tour.
Two ex-presidentts = Two future Nuremburgers (assuming the cocaine, Johnny Walker and ac/dc orgies don't do them in first).
We all know nothing will happen to arrest W, but just the same I commend the people for bringing this lawsuit and trying to get W arrested for torture and just maybe, they will be compensated financially and get a verdict of guilty. At least that would be a start and it would also make others culpable like Dick Rummy, Condi lies alot, as accessories to torture.
Also, Canada considers a DUI a felony. Bush would have a difficult time crossing the border if he was an average citizen.
$600 per head? What *will* they do with all those heads?
They could put them on pikes.
Could we have a citizens arrest of these war criminals please? At least greet them with thousands of angry demonstrators.
That Bill Clinton and Barack Obama joined hands to rehabilitate the tarnished, blood stained legacy of George W. Bush's presidency less than a year after the Bushies were ousted from Washington DC in public disgrace is precisely why the two-major-party political system is now held in such wide disrepute by the disenfranchised and thoroughly dissilusioned 99 percenters who have taken to the streets.
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tenet, Gonzales, John Yoo, and their cohorts in crime (torture, warrantless electronic surveillance of domestic communications by NSA/CIA, lying the nation into war) were all quietly given a collective pass by the Justice Department under Eric Holder. Rather than criminal prosecution or even meaningful investigation, the Bush/Cheney era inner circle instead receive Rose Garden perks and orchestrated, media-fawning speaking junkets like this latest bipartisan sojourn into Canada by Bill and the Shrub.
The left, the Main Street middle, and even the much of the libertarian/Tea Bag right are frustrated and furious at this fundamental betrayal. The 2006 and 2008 election results should have mattered. An effort at least should have been made to restore respect for the rule of law by the rich and powerful.
Instead, after the mouthing of a few pieties by the new White House regime, the neocons and their cronies all received a wink, a nod, and a get out of jail free card.
Those chickens will come all the way home to roost in 2012. The DC beltway leadership of the Democratic Party has no one to blame but themselves. Small wonder that Little George, Karl Rove, and Dick Cheney from his hideaway in exile at an indisclosed location keep grinning.
Bill from Saginaw
Thanks Bill. The pornographic love fest between GWB, the Clintons, Obama and all the other un-indicted financial and war crimes co-conspirators continues shamelessly out in the open. I am waiting for some indictiments from countries outside the US whose economies and populations are still reeling from the military and monetary assaults by this incestuous little group of sociopaths.
They are all part of the 01%. Who do you expect them to associate with? And don't be naive. The US will go to war before any current or past commander in chief is ever indicted by a foreign country or international body.
gardenernorcal -
Absolutely correct on that last point. No way in hell would Obama tolerate George W. Bush being taken into custody and held for arraignment in any court, anywhere, to answer for crimes committed during his presidency. There would be Special Ops, black ops, diplomatic ops, financial ops, and a veritable shitstorm of other ops.
Such a prosecution would never be allowed to proceed. The buck stopped with Eric Holder.
Bill from Saginaw
Let them keep traveling and thinking they are invincible no matter where they go --- and one day they will step right into the hands of justice when they enter the borders of a country that finally does bring them to justice. It just may happen that way one day -- the sooner the better, but we may have to wait a tiny while longer.
Do you really think their secret service details are going to allow that?
Throughout history the palace guards have often turned against the despot, so one cannot discount the possibilities...
The 99% have drafted a Declaration that ought to be published as its own item here at CD so I don't have to spam every article with the URL as I'm now going to do, https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/
How is it that war criminal can appear in public without being spat on? Just keep him out of shoe-throwing distance from me. It should be a no-brainer:
Promote a war, make a profit, go to jail
seeking justice is no "stunt"!
Arrest & jail both their sorry asses.
these assholes don't know sorry.
They had a initiative to "shame the rioters" wherein pictures of peoples who participated in the Stanley Cup Riots were plastered all over the web.
I might suggest the same here. Take a picture of every person going in to listen top these war criminals.
Shame shame shame!
"Amnesty International cherry-picks cases to publicize based on ideology," Kenney said. "This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights advocates have abandoned Amnesty International."
Wow. From a Canadian yet. That is exactly what I used to hear from old Joe McCarthy-style right-wing USAns back in the day, whenever AI criticised Somoza, the Shah, Pinochet or Suharto.
Can this guy list some respected human rights advocates who have abandoned AI? The few I know of may have becasue AI is insufficiently critical of US atrocities. In particularly, they would condemn the death penalty in other nations, but not the US. That is what led me to quit supporting them.
Clinton and Bush: The Slime & Crime tour.
It was Bill Clinton who repealed the Glass-Steagall Act and who passed NAFTA and who reformed Welfare. And what is the subject of this gathering? Clinton is responsible for the mess we are in.
"Authorities in Canada said they were prepared for potential clashes with protesters, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said."
These articles always use the cliche phrase that police anticipate "clashes with protesters." This is code for the pigs expect to use unreasonable force against unarmed, peaceful protesters.
Declare Billy and Butt Head terrorist (which they are) send a navy seal team to execute them, drag their bodies around for awhile. Then claim we have liberated them and given them the ultimate freedom. That's the Merkun way.