The Khadr Thread

[The Bread Guy]

The latest from the Canadian Press:

The Harper government is appealing a court ruling that ordered it to seek Omar Khadr's return from Guantanamo Bay, sticking with its view that he should remain in the U.S. military prison to face charges there.

Officials confirmed Friday that Ottawa filed an appeal of a Federal Court ruling that the government must demand that U.S. authorities return Khadr to Canada.

The opposition argues that Khadr was a child soldier and that - as the last Westerner locked up in the prison - his government has a moral duty to repatriate him.

But the Canadian government says that because Khadr, now 22, faces a murder charge in the U.S. he must remain there while his case plays out.

"The Government of Canada has consistently stated that Omar Khadr faces serious charges," said a statement from the department of Foreign Affairs.

"After careful consideration of the legal merits of the ruling from the Canadian Federal Court issued on April 23, the Government of Canada has decided to appeal the decision.

"As the matter is currently under litigation, we will provide no further comment at this time."....

More from the Toronto Star, National Post/CanWest, the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Presse.

 

[Dennis Ruhl]

Has anyone thought of repatriating Khadr?  To Afghanistan to face Islamic justice.  He wouldn't object to that, or would he?

 

[Shec]

CSIS ignored Khadr's human rights: report
http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/15/khadr-csis015.html

Oh my my, it appears that we did the misunderstood young lad an egregious act of irreparable harm and in so doing committed an historic wrong. 

Seems to me CSIS has been cleaning up a historic wrong made by Immigration & Citizenship way back when.

 

[OldSolduer]

"The Khadr family has longstanding ties to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. A purported financier and extremist with the network, Omar's father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was killed by Pakistani forces in 2003.

Omar's brother Karim suffered wounds that left him a paraplegic in the shootout that killed their father. Another brother, Abdullah, is accused by U.S. officials of supplying weapons to al-Qaeda."

Straight from the CBC website.

Now that its been determined his "rights" were violated, how many millions will this cost the taxpayer? :rage:

 

[North Star]

Probably lots, unfortunately.

There seems to be a misunderstanding as to the role of intelligence services - they are not police. They are services designed to provide decision makers with information upon which to base their decisions. The Khadr saga has been unfortunate in that courts are becoming involved in the day-to-day business of intelligence agencies and seem to be projecting the roles and responsibilities of police forces onto them.

It does not surprise me that CSIS agents did not look at Mr. Khadr's participation in the frequent flyer program - it's not really in their mandate. The treatment of Canadian citizens abroad by a foreign government is a DFAIT thing. All CSIS is supposed to do is gather up info and ship it back.

Years from now, when CSIS is under the same scrutiny as police services, and has the same limitations and rules of evidence applied to the information it collects, we'll form a true intelligence agency and allow the same to happen to it.

 

[GAP]

Why the Khadr fetish?
Ezra Levant, National Post  Published: Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Article Link



T he Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has a crush on Omar Khadr. The left-leaning lawyers' club held its convention in Dublin last week, but even Ireland's charms couldn't get their minds off the accused terrorist, still detained in Barack Obama's prison at Guantanamo Bay.

The spark for the CBA's latest pronouncement on the matter was a decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, ordering the Canadian government to seek Khadr's repatriation (the government is considering an appeal). But the CBA doesn't need a reason to talk about their favourite cause. Khadr has been the subject of more CBA press releases than everyone else on the planet combined.

The CBA is obsessed. A search of its website yields 232 items about Khadr. What about other Canadians trapped overseas, such as Huseyn Celil, a Canadian citizen currently being held on trumped-up charges by China, or William Sampson, who was held and tortured in Saudi Arabia? They are non-persons to the CBA -- no press releases for them, and no mentions on its website.

At any one time, there are typically about 1,000 Canadians detained overseas, most of them for good reason. In Khadr's case, he is charged with murdering a U. S. soldier, Christopher Speer, in Afghanistan, where Khadr had gone as part of his jihad.

Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention is pretty clear on the rights of people caught in Khadr's circumstances: If someone isn't part of a chain of command, doesn't wear a flag or emblem "recognizable at a distance," doesn't bear their weapons "openly" and doesn't follow the "laws and customs of war," they don't have rights as a prisoner of war. Khadr didn't do any of those things.

In the past, when Allied troops caught enemy combatants breaching those rules -- like some Germans did on D-Day-- they were shot on sight, or subject to expedited trials on the spot. Not Khadr; His life was saved by U. S. medics and he was flown to Guantanamo, where he has received food, shelter, a Koran and an imam -- and free lawyers. Sgt. Speer was flown home, too -- to a graveyard.

If the CBA had a general policy of demanding the return of Canadians caught in trouble overseas, its Khadr fetish wouldn't stand out so garishly. But the CBA doesn't do that. In fact, when it comes to the world's worst regimes, the CBA isn't just silent -- it participates in their PR rehabilitation.

Take Burma, a brutal country that just extended the illegal house arrest of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner. The CBA recently sponsored a tourist junket to Burma, full of sightseeing and shopping. Suu Kyi has specifically called for a tourism boycott, saying in a 1999 interview "to suggest that there's anything new that tourists can teach the people of Burma about their own situation is not simply patronizing, it's also racist." But the CBA sent 60 vacationing lawyers to Burma on an itinerary that included some great bargains on lacquerware and rubies.

But the CBA's moral cover for Burma pales next to its collusion with the Chinese government. The CBA engages in legal exchanges with the All China Lawyers Association, a Communist Party front. If the CBA were meeting with legal dissidents, or were filing lawsuits or petitions on behalf of political prisoners, that would be one thing. But they're meeting with lawyers who work for the police state. It's an exchange alright -- the CBA vacationers get a great junket, and China and Burma get PR cover. They can point to the CBA's visits as proof of their liberalism. Oh, and you won't find the word Tiananmen on the CBA's website, either.

There is one more thing about Khadr. He was captured by the United States in 2002. But it wasn't until 2006 that the CBA began its noisy campaign to press the Canadian government for his release.

Was it a coincidence that the CBA didn't care about Khadr's repatriation until the Conservative government was elected?

Perhaps we should ask the keynote speaker at last year's CBA convention, Jean Chretien. - Ezra Levant blogs at ezralevant.com
More on link

 

[Shec]

It's interesting that such an august institution as the Canadian Bar Association has its convention offshore.  What's wrong, couldn't they get an off-season rate in Cuba so they could be closer to their beloved? So much for their patriotic fervor. Reinforces their credibility about as much as the Teamsters meeting in Las Vegas back in the day.

 

[GAP]

Ottawa takes Khadr ruling fight to Supreme Court
Last Updated: Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Article Link

The federal government will go to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn court rulings that would require Ottawa to press for the return of Canadian Omar Khadr from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, CBC News has learned.

The government has decided to fight a Federal Court of Appeal decision this month that upheld a lower court ruling, unnamed sources told CBC parliamentary reporter Julie Van Dusen.

The Justice Department has filed a motion for a stay pending appeal, Van Dusen said. No minister was available to comment Monday evening, but the government told CBC News "its position remains unchanged" that "Omar Khadr has been accused by the U.S. of serious crimes including murder."

The Supreme Court will have to decide whether to review the case, Van Dusen said.

The Toronto-born Khadr, now 22, was arrested in Afghanistan in July 2002 when he was 15 years old. He is alleged to have thrown a grenade that caused the death of a U.S. soldier. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay since October 2002, awaiting trial on charges of murder, conspiracy and support of terrorism.

In Edmonton, Khadr's lawyer Dennis Edney told CBC News, "I think it's a mean decision by this government."
More on link

 

[Eye In The Sky]

What makes anyone think the US will simply hand him over anyways??

Another stupid waste of taxpayers dollars IMO. 

 

[Smity199]

IMO this kids parents should also be deported... who sends a 15 year old to afghanistan in 2002??..
I hope that he never sees the light of day again

 

[Shec]

Had it been a different order of battle that day, and it could easily been just that,  he would have lobbed that grenade at Canadian soldiers so arguably the Americans are saving us the trouble of trying him.  Let him continue to enjoy his sojourn in Cuba.

 

[ruckmarch]

Had it been a different order of battle that day, and it could easily been just that,  he would have lobbed that grenade at Canadian soldiers so arguably the Americans are saving us the trouble of trying him.  Let him continue to enjoy his sojourn in Cuba.

Hey,

You ought to be careful with comments like that. It is alleged that he threw a grenade, another report claims he was just found squatting in a corner. We weren't there to confirm that, we are only going by what the US soldiers are saying, the same soldiers that put a leash around prisoners and piss on them from the videos we've seen from Gitmo.

To the poster that said Khadr should be repatriated.....he was born in Toronto!

Don't get me wrong, if there is concrete evidence that he did indeed take part in such a thing, then he ought to be punished in some way shape or form.

 

[Bass ackwards]

Speaking of comments we ought be careful of, could you please post a link or at least some credible reference to the aforementioned videos from Gitmo.
Also, it'd be nice to see some evidence that the same soldiers who claimed Khadr threw the grenade are the same ones doing all this prisoner abuse (certainly you weren't suggesting that all US soldiers are prone to abusing prisoners are you ?).

 

[ruckmarch]

Speaking of comments we ought be careful of, could you please post a link or at least some credible reference to the aforementioned videos from Gitmo.
Also, it'd be nice to see some evidence that the same soldiers who claimed Khadr threw the grenade are the same ones doing all this prisoner abuse (certainly you weren't suggesting that all US soldiers are prone to abusing prisoners are you ?).

Hmmmmm.....I didn't mean the same soldiers were involved in the same accusations . Here is a link for ya, remember the female soldier with the leash?

http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.infowars.com/headline_photos/iraqi_torture/leash.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.infowars.com/print/iraq/iraq_torture_archive.htm&usg=__3_MxI2wXLHyHYjfv2J04d3_41wk=&h=325&w=335&sz=19&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=_rdisk3_UfaBDM:&tbnh=115&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dprisoners%2Bon%2Bleash%2Bat%2Bgitmo%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

 

[GAP]

Without denying the abuse happened and all that stuff, you really should have picked a better website for information than  www.infowars.com/.../iraqi_torture/leash.jpg Alex Jones Infowars with headlines screaming that Vaccinations Kill
Invisible Empire: A New World Order, Official Trailer 
Fall Of The Republic Exposes How Brand Obama Is Destroying America
etc. etc. 

 

[Bass ackwards]

OK Ruck, thanks for the link, but you do realize, don't you, that all of that took place at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq ?
And that the soldiers involved were all punished ?
And that it has nothing at all to do with Guantanamo Bay ?

If there is any credible source of proof that such things are going on in Gitmo, it's news to me.

Hmmmmm.....I didn't mean the same soldiers were involved in the same accusations .

Ah OK...so then what you meant is that by virtue of being US soldiers they must have been involved in different accusations ?

Do you see where we're going here ?

 

[Dennis Ruhl]

To the poster that said Khadr should be repatriated.....he was born in Toronto!

The alleged crime took place in Afghanistan.  Let them try him and carry out a sentence they see appropriate.  I think they might find humour in the child-soldier defence.

 

[The_Falcon]

To the poster that said Khadr should be repatriated.....he was born in Toronto!

And??? What does that have to do with anything.  Dozens (hundreds) of Canadian are currently sitting in foreign jails/prisons, what makes him so special?  The only reason people have been clamouring for his release is 1)He was a minor at the time, and we all know how pathetic our legal system is towards minors, ergo, the light treatment he would (hypothetically) receive.  2)He was a cough Canadian (of convience) cough caught up in evil George W's war on Terror. 3)We have a conservative governemnt in power, and pushing this issue makes them look evil, and racist in the eyes of the liberal/left wing.  I don't seem to recall this being much of an issue back when the liberals were still in power (I am willing to be corrected ont this though),

 

[armyvern]

And??? What does that have to do with anything.  Dozens (hundreds) of Canadian are currently sitting in foreign jails/prisons, what makes him so special?  The only reason people have been clamouring for his release is 1)He was a minor at the time, and we all know how pathetic our legal system is towards minors, ergo, the light treatment he would (hypothetically) receive.  2)He was a cough Canadian (of convience) cough caught up in evil George W's war on Terror. 3)We have a conservative governemnt in power, and pushing this issue makes them look evil, and racist in the eyes of the liberal/left wing.  I don't seem to recall this being much of an issue back when the liberals were still in power (I am willing to be corrected ont this though),

He was born in Toronto - that means that he isn't a "Canadian of Convenience". His parents perhaps, but not he. Deporting him to his country of birth/origin would put him squarely back into Canada. Now, daddy took him back to 'the' homeland when he was (13??) - I'm sure that he didn't buy his own plane ticket over there - that being said, when you want to play with the adults you should also pay like the adults.

It's time for an overhaul of Canada's immigration policy and our Citizenship policies for sure. Sadly, we have many immigrants here in Canada who've never become Canadian citizens, but who've done much more for this country than the Khadr's (who obtained citizenship) have ever done for the place.

Something is just fucked up with that.

 

[The_Falcon]

He was born in Toronto - that means that he isn't a "Canadian of Convenience". His parents perhaps, but not he. Deporting him to his country of birth/origin would put him squarely back into Canada. Now, daddy took him back to 'the' homeland when he was (13??) - I'm sure that he didn't buy his own plane ticket over there - that being said, when you want to play with the adults you should also pay like the adults.

It's time for an overhaul of Canada's immigration policy and our Citizenship policies for sure. Sadly, we have many immigrants here in Canada who've never become Canadian citizens, but who've done much more for this country than the Khadr's (who obtained citizenship) have ever done for the place.

Something is just ****ed up with that.

Yes he was born here, I never stated he wasn't.  That however doesn't preclude him (or anyone else for that matter), from abandoning all connections to their birth country, and only when the fit hits the shan do they emphatically wave their passports and wrap themselves in the flag, and thus being Canadians (or insert other country) of Convienance.  As well I never mentioned anything about deporting him.  He can stay and rot in Gitmo for all I care.