The Colvin Rebuttal: The reaction so far

Retired Lieutenant General Michel Gauthier claims that the sixteen page, point by point rebuttal contains "no substantive new information," and suggests that Colvin "attributes blame to the Canadian Forces for matters that are clearly outside the military lane," and that "the 'architects' of the December 2005 policy were quite clearly the accountable cabinet ministers of the day."

A spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay notes that Colvin's claims have already been "refuted" by senior military and diplomatic officials, accuses the opposition of "second-guessing the actions of the Canadian Forces with four years of hindsight," and concludes by noting that the government "reject[s] all assertions that Canadian troops have committed war crimes." 

MacKay's parliamentary secretary Laurie Hawn picked on that last point as well; in the statement that his office sent out to the media this afternoon,  he says that "unlike [his] opposition counterparts, [he] will not be cavalierly suggesting that Canadian soldiers have committed war crimes for political gain" and echoes Gauthier's view -- and, for that matter, words -- by stating that  "there is nothing substantially new in Mr. Colvin's recent correspondence." 

Meanwhile, in a press release, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said that the Colvin letter shows that  "all roads lead to the Langevin Block and the Prime Minister's Office;' the letter states that Colvin informed Kevin Lynch, then Clerk of the Privy Council and "the highest civil servant directly responsible to the Prime Minister," who "must," in his view, "have informed the Prime Minister." 

The NDP, on the other hand, held a press conference soon after the Colvin letter went public, at which defence critic Jack Harris and foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar took turns denouncing the "massive government cover-up" on detainees, and vowing to keep searching for the truth.