Israel recently announced that there will be two foreign observers as part of the Israeli probe into the attack on the aid flotilla . Nine people were killed on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. Netanyahu has already announced that the probe will clear Israel of any wrongdoing. As if this were not enough to color the probe as a whitewash the two foreign observers are also hardly impartial especially David Trimble. He recently helped form a group which has this to say about why it was formed: (Firedoglake.com)
The initiative is being launched now, its sponsors said in a statement, because of their outrage and concern about the “unprecedented delegitimation campaign against Israel, driven by the enemies of the Jewish state and perversely assumed by numerous international authorities.”... the sponsors of this Initiative believe, there is no West without Israel.” ---------- Trimble also belongs to another group that had this obviously balanced and impartial view of the raid on the flotilla: "" The whole controversy and furore surrounding Israel’s convoy raid is an utter farce and highlights some disturbing ironies and double standards. This was undeniably, unequivocally and inexorably a political ploy and by no means a humanitarian mission to alleviate the suffering of the people of Gaza. This was a political ploy with the purpose of provoking Israel into unwarranted aggression, provoking international outcry, further isolating the country, breaking the siege and causing Israel unparalleled humilation." David Trimble is obviously eminently qualified to be the pre-eminent big name applauding foreigner on the probe. But just to be absolutely safe Israel has not given either foreigner a vote.
The other foreign observer is less well known. He is Ken Watkins. Watkins is a Canadian and military judge advocate general. Perhaps Watkins was chosen because he is great at cover ups. Recently a Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin blew the whistle on the practice of Canadian troops transferring captured suspected militants to Afghan custody knowing that they might be tortured. Colvin wrote several reports on the issue to his superiors warning them this could be a war crime. Among those to whom he reported was Ken Watkins. Here is a short bit from an inquiry into the issue: (CTV -Gen. Ken Watkins, the military judge advocate general, claimed solicitor-client privilege about whether he'd seen warnings from a diplomat in Kandahar and whether he'd received direction from the prime minister's office. "Obviously the coverup continues," said Liberal defence critic Ujjal Dosanjh. "It is not part of solicitor-client privilege to hide who instructs you or who your client is. If the (Prime Minister's Office or Privy Council Office) instructed these individuals, we ought to know."........ Watkins refused to say whether he -- or anyone else in his office -- saw Colvin's reports...................
So there you have it the two prize contestant winners of the help whitewash the Israelis probe. Perhaps our Prime Minister Stephen Harper also a great defender of Israel commended Watkins to Netanyahu.
Coincidentally the U.S. is very pleased with the new probe having replaced the UN's dastardly unfair international probe. Blog: http://kenthink7.blogspot.com/index.html Blog: http://kencan7.blogspot.com/index.html