"Send Me to Syria to be Tortured"

That's what my friend Jack said when he read this.

Canada apologized to software engineer Maher Arar and his family on Friday and said it would pay him C$10.5 million ($8.9 million) in compensation after Canadian police falsely labeled him an Islamic extremist, which led to Arar being jailed in

Syria.



"On behalf of the government of Canada, I wish to apologize to you, Monia Mazigh (Arar's wife), and your family for any role Canadian officials may have played in the terrible ordeal that all of you experienced in 2002 and 2003," Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated [EE: He wasn't Prime Minister then; the Liberals controlled Parliament when this happened. I note with disgust that the MSM fail to point this out.].



Arar says he was repeatedly tortured during the year he spent in Damascus jails after he was deported to Syria by U.S. officials during a stopover in New York in 2002.



The apology and compensation were a part of settlement agreed to by Arar after he launched a suit against the Canadian government. He is also suing the United States.



Harper objected to the United States continuing to keep Arar on its security watch list. A Canadian judicial inquiry concluded last year that Arar had never been a security threat and it recommended compensation.



In addition to the C$10.5 million, the Canadian government will also pay Arar's legal bills, which a Harper aide estimated at C$1.5 million.

Jack's wife concurs: send him to Syria to be tortured!



Seriously, though, I once had a friend who taught in the law school here who had a standing offer that anyone could inflict all the pain and suffering they wanted on his right shoulder (he was right handed) for $5m. This was back in the days before E-Bay, so he didn't try to auction off the right. The point he was trying to make, I think, was that in most instances people do not think of what compensation they would accept ex ante when a tort is inflicted upon them.



There still are rumours floating around (see maybe this) that all is not as it seems with Arar, which is why the U.S. has not conceded that they made an error with him. If so, I hope he continues his suit and the U.S. clears the air. BenS wonders what if, in the end, the U.S. defends itself successfully? Should the Canadian gubmnt sue Arar to get its money back?