Don't Lose Sleep for Omar Khadr

Well.. today I'm doing a two-fer on SFL.

I had opined on Maxwell's House, in response to a blog by Devin Maxwell, the failed 2008 Liberal candidate for MP in Halifax Citadel - suggesting that PM Harper should be "ashamed" for not doing more for Omar Khadr, that, well, "nope, not losing any sleep for poor Omar."

Devin suggests that says more about me.. and I suppose it does - in so far as I worry more about the families of those who have been killed by terrorists, than I do about terrorists who are alive and, relatively, well in this world. So color me a bad guy.

Well.. after that minor sharing of views, Devin devoted a full blog to make his point that I should "check my DNA" if I'm not losing sleep after viewing the "evidence" of improper conduct of our government relative to poor Omar.

See his "evidence" here, here, here, and here - decide for yourself.

Anyhow.. not being one to shy away from a debate - particularly with fellow legal counsel, I responded on the blog:

Still not losing sleep.

Let's start with the background.

It is not like Khadr was randomly picked up off of the street. He was at least present -and quite clearly participating, in a battle between U.S. armed forces and Taliban or Al Qaeda terrorists. That is a fact.

I do note from his affidavit, that he has very detailed and clear information about his time in Gitmo - but offers up nothing to explain or even deny the allegation that he is a murderer who killed a U.S. medic. That he was trained, and shown in a video making improvised explosive devices - which type of devices have been the vehicle of death for many of our Canadian soldiers.

Now - yes, his affidavit makes numerous allegations - some of which suggest he was mistreated, and some suggesting he was in fact tortured.

Personally, while I'm not going to have too much personal sympathy for a terrorist who is tortured, I believe the real problem with torture is it demeans the country who is authorizing and practicing it, as it is hardly consistent to suggest that terrorists using violence to obtain their own ends is wrong, but when it's to obtain our ends, it's ok. I will fully acknowledge that.

However - was Khadr tortured? Clearly, we know Khadr is to some degree lying. That is a certainty. For him to state that he has no information or knowledge of "anything related to Islamic extremism or Al Qaeda" is, well, completely unbelievable considering he was at least present, if not complicit, in the murder of a U.S. Medic. What - did he trip and fall into the midst of the battle? Please.

The other two affidavits - frankly, I can't even see their relevance. Firstly, there is a transcript of an interview where Harper says, basically, that he was going to follow the lead of the Liberal government and not interfere with the prosecution of Khadr, but would seek assurances he was treated humanely. Now - the reporter makes the statement, twice, that the Canadian government "knew" Khadr was being tortured.. which is probative of, well, nothing.

Finally - the cross-examination transcript - which, at the end, illustrated, nothing. CSIS attended on two occasions, interviewed Khadr, and basically found that he had given very inconsistent information regarding his involvement with terrorists - most recently, suggesting that he had no involvement or information, and that any evidence to the contrary was given under duress or torture. Problem is - the prior evidence is much more consistent with the fact that he was present and participating in a terrorist exercise.

Now - let's take a closer look at the Khadr family, shall we.

Omar was born in Canada in 1986 - however, he never grew up here. The Khadr family took advantage of Canada for medical care, and apparently for Omar's birth - and then essentially returned to Pakistan and Afghanistan because they did not "approve" of our culture. It appears clear that Omar's father was a close associate of Osama Bin Laden and his brothers were all trained in Al Qaeda - and they continued to reside in Pakistan or Afghanistan until 1992 - when his father - while plotting and planning to harm western interests - clearly felt comfortable enough to return to Canada to obtain medical care when he was injured in Lowgar, Afghanistan - where he recuperated - only to return to Pakistan, being killed in 2003 during a raid on Al Qaeda and Taliban - Omar remaining in that part of the world until he allegedly killed a U.S. Medic.

Video captured at the location of the battle allegedly discloses that Khadr was shown being trained in, or making IED's.

There it is.. the Khadr's are a family of terrorists - who were in Canada when it was convenient to utilize our health care system - and returned to Pakistan and Afghanistan to wage their war on the west.

I fully support the notion that torture is wrong - and if in fact Khadr was tortured, while I find that offensive - I'm still not losing sleep, and I would not for a moment feel that would either justify or excuse what he and his family were involved in.

The soldiers in Canada who have been murdered. The innocent people murdered in the 9-11 terrorist attacks. The many, many innocent people killed and tortured by Islamic extremists around the world by people like the Khadr's deserve perhaps a little more attention of people like you, Devo, but then, their lives are expendable or can be ignored - because they really don't help you make your point that our government is somehow "bad", because, amongst other things, they don't do enough to help terrorists who happen to be born here. (And, by the way, if you're going to attack Harper, well, you have to lump in with that the government under Paul Martin and in particular his Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler - who, in a move that only a Liberal could be so hypocritical to try to pull off - did nothing for Omar while he was Minister, but yet complained loudly, and filed formal documents, seeking Omar's repatriation - AFTER his party was voted out of power.. what, Irwin, somehow the idea just came to you after you lost your job?)

Perhaps we could get a few thoughts on that subject, Devin, namely, why Irwin Cotler and Paul Martin did nothing when Omar was first arrested and placed in Gitmo - and only came to his defence when the Liberal party was in opposition.

The Khadr affair is complex and difficult - however, the notion that he is a "victim" belies the reality that so many terrorists are also "victims" as much as Omar - and unless we wish to put down our arms and allow their continued sick and murderous tactics to continue, some blood is going to be spilled by these so-called "victims", and, again, no sleep will be lost here over it.