How a very old story about a candidate’s past came back to life

How much of a candidate’s past life should be exposed for examination during an election campaign?

Drunk driving charges, nude photo sessions and even “love child” rumours are inevitable during national election campaigns in the U.S. and Canada. Civic campaigns aren’t exempt from gossip, either.

First-time City council candidate Abdul Rasheed found that out this week. He’s been putting up with rumours for years about him once being a terrorist, even though the real story has been published extensively.

Whether or not it all surfaced this week out of curiosity, or as an attempt to damage his chances in the election, who knows? For his part, though, Rasheed isn’t particularly amused.

“I don’t know,” he said of the motives of whoever has been sending around copies of an old Globe and Mail story about him.

“This is my first experience with Canadian politics. It used to happen a lot in Afghanistan — the same old lousy tactics.”

Because of the newspaper story about his experiences fighting with the mujahedeen resistance against the Soviets in Afghanistan back in the ‘80s, he said, people are now asking him if he’s Taliban.

“I’ve never tried to hide anything,” said Rasheed, who left the Pakistan army in 1979 to help the mujahedeen after the Soviets occupied Afghanistan.

It’s a fascinating story, but it’s old news. The Daily News published a story about it back in 2004; the Globe and Mail article now being circulated was written in February of 2005.

The story in our newspaper described him as a field commander with the guerillas who, aside from joining the Afghan resistance, authored a 1986 analysis of it for the Strategic Review in Washington, D.C.

In part, Rasheed wrote of the importance of unity within the resistance in order to defeat the Soviets. “Unless the Resistance remains rooted in the culture of Afghanistan, it is destined to fail,” he concluded.

Then there’s the later Globe story, which said Rasheed was once “one of the most wanted men in Afghanistan. A mujahedeen (holy warrior) leader whose attacks struck fear into the Soviet forces. A colleague of Osama bin Laden, a friend of the fundamentalist war lords who would later seize power as the Taliban, and an emissary to London and Washington where he went to get the Stinger anti-aircraft missiles that turned the war in Afghanistan against the Soviets.”

While Rasheed taught the mujahedeen military tactics and use of weaponry and helped turn them into an effective fighting force, he was regarded in Washington as too radical.

After the U.S. armed other mujahedeen groups with Stingers to bring down Soviet gunships, but withheld them from his own faction, Rasheed became disillusioned. In 1987, he moved to Canada and eventually to Kamloops, where he bought Yellow Cabs in 1999.

The Globe quotes author Jere Van Dyk in his book In Afghanistan: An American Odyssey, as saying Rasheed packed a lot of clout within the mujahedeen but was a cold customer, “rather like rubbing the back of a cold snake.”

Rasheed says those days are far behind him. He sometimes is asked by governments to provide background information on the war in Afghanistan, but he declines. He is not, as the rumours might suggest, a terrorist.

He’s running for council, he says, because he sees problems in Kamloops every day and “the best way to bring change is to get involved.”

Just what’s behind spreading the old newspaper article around, and how extensive it is, I can’t say. I can also say a certain amount of the reaction to it has been to question whether he should be eligible to run for council.

Whatever, the word was getting around enough by this past Tuesday that it came up for casual discussion among City council members when they took their 3 p.m. break from their weekly meeting and repaired to the mayor’s reception area for coffee and cookies.

Mayor Terry Lake had heard about it — from other members of council, he said — and sent off a staff member to do a Google search for the Globe article.

A copy of that article was handed to Radio NL reporter Angelo Iacobucci, who did a story the next day.

When I asked him who tipped him off, he wouldn’t say, adding something about journalistic ethics in protecting sources. Why the name of the person who hands you a newspaper clipping would be secret, I have no idea, but Angelo evidently suspected that if I was asking it must be a sensitive issue.

“Gotta go,” he said, giving me the bum’s rush.

What happened was that after the Globe story came back from the Corporate Services computer (at a cost to the taxpayers of $4.95 plus tax), Lake told Angelo about it.

You might question whether members of council should be engaging themselves in the rumour mill, but the mayor says he doesn’t think the story is negative to Rasheed. It paints him as a war hero, not a terrorist, he says.

But if anyone who runs for public office doesn’t understand clearly that they have entered a fish bowl, the surfacing of this moldy  years-old story as civic election day draws near should be an effective reminder.

* * *

Okay, we’ve got a week to go before election day, and it’s time to start figuring out who will get the job. You know all the incumbents, and you know those who have run before and are back for another try.

But what about the rookies, the first-timers? Since as many as half the City council incumbents are vulnerable, we might well see either two or three new members as of next Saturday night.

Based on credentials, forum performances, effectiveness of campaigning and how they’re answering questions, here are just a few who are beginning to stand out from the crowd:

Ken McClelland (very practical business approach, trying to bring some fun into the campaign, and could develop into a pretty good orator).

Kevn Skrepnek (the very same one I labeled as the “foul-mouthed blogger” a few weeks ago. Self-confident, acquits himself well — the kid has potential).

Marg Spina (with an impressive background in high-pressure community work, and one of the better-known “unknowns,” she could be an effective councillor).

Bill McQuarrie (smart, thinks well, not afraid to try new ideas, his experience as head of the Interior Science Innovation Council would stand him in good stead).

Wayne Vollrath (retired corporate services director for the City, his knowledge of what makes cities tick could make for an interesting addition).

That’s by no means all-inclusive but there’s my two cents thus far on the newcomers. See you at the media-sponsored forum Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the TRU Grand Hall.