Thursday, May 07, 2015

The Freedom of Omar Khadr and the Shame of the Con Regime



I wrote my first post on Omar Khadr eight years ago, and called it The Guantanamo Kid and Canada's Shame.

And nothing that has happened since has ever changed my view. 

For what was done to that child soldier has been one of the most shameful episodes in modern Canadian history, and an absolute travesty of justice.

So you can imagine how happy I felt today when I saw that picture of Omar walking free in his own country at last. Or read these words.

“Mr. Khadr you’re free to go.” With those words, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Myra Bielby turned down the federal government’s last-ditch effort Thursday to keep the 28-year-old detained.

Or how disgusted I was to see the lowlife Con stooge Steve Blaney rolling in his own excrement....



"We are disappointed by the decision of the court, because we feel that victims should be considered in the decisions," Public Safety Minster Steven Blaney said at a press conference.

“Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes, including the murder of American Army medic Sergeant Christopher Speer. By his own admission, as reported in the media, his ideology has not changed.


When he must surely know that just about every word in that statement is nothing but a Big Lie.

There was no heinous crime. Khadr could not have thrown the grenade that killed that Special Forces soldier, when he was riddled with shrapnel and blind in both eyes.

The only reason he pleaded guilty at that kangaroo military trial in that hell hole called Guantanamo was because he was facing a sentence of forty years.

Christopher Speer was not a medic, he was a Special Forces soldier trained to treat the most basic battlefield injuries, and was otherwise a regular soldier like all the others.

And by the accounts of all those who have come in contact with him over the years, Khadr has no terrorist ideology, is not a religious fanatic. But is instead a gentle young Canadian who who never should have been jailed, never should have been tortured....



Because he was a child soldier, who should have been rehabilitated not punished according to the U.N. Protocol on the Treatment  of Child Soldiers which we were the FIRST to sign.

And the fact that he is the only person in the Afghan war to be charged with a war crime is an absolute obscenity.

When as Khadr's noble lawyer Dennis Edney points out, the real crime was Canada's failure to protect him from the Pentagon Death Machine.

“We were the only Western government not to request one of its detainees to return home” from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “We left a child, a Canadian child, to suffer torture; we participated in this torture.”

Even though he was in every sense a victim and had been horribly wounded...



And Stephen Harper's behaviour couldn't have been more disgusting or more cowardly.

“Mr. Harper is a bigot. Mr. Harper doesn’t like Muslims. He wants to prove he’s tough on crime so who does he pick on? A 15-year-old boy.”

His actions had nothing to do with crime and justice and everything to do with cheap politics.

“The government never had any solid legal arguments,” military law specialist Paul Champ said in an interview from Ottawa. “It was clear that their position was political rather than legal.


And was nothing more than a blatant attempt to pleasure his rabid bloodthirsty base...



As well as no doubt satisfy his perverted desire to hurt, jail, and torture others. 

And so much hatred has he stirred up against Khadr that I fear someone might try to hurt or kill him. 

But tonight all I want to say is thank goodness for our Canadian legal system, that has managed once again to restrain the bestial instincts of that ghastly sadist.

And yes, thank goodness that Khadr is finally free in the land he never asked to leave, and by all accounts loves as much as any other Canadians.

This shameful episode in our history is almost over.

Some of us never forgot you Omar...



And we couldn't be happier to see you free at last.

Justice at last.

Freedom, freedom, freedom...

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15 comments:

rumleyfips said...

8 years! Thanks for staying with it .

e.a.f. said...

Reminds me of that line, free at last, free at last, thank god almighty, free at last.

What went on at Gitmo ought to have landed any number of people at the International Court in the Hague. That Canada left a child these is disgusting, but that's the cons, a disgusting group of politicians who can see no further than their own ideology. Sort of the Canadian version of the Taliban.

it is always good to remember Steve and 60 of his cons are members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church which believes the bible is "inerrant" and the second coming is "imminent". with closed minds like that what else can we expect. of course it doesn't say much about Canadians who elected him either or stayed home and didn't vote, so he got elected.

Steve and his Cons are just that, cons as in con artists and cons as in jail with criminal records, yet Canadians have continued to elect them. Although Alberta voted for change, there still is no conclusive evidence we won't have another Con government following the next election. Of course people might not be interest in political freedom, but they might want to be concerned about the future of the medical system. Steve plans to cut $30 Billion out of the health care budget. That might cause more than one Canadian to die. Do you want to bet that could be you.

Anonymous said...

The amazingly cruel irony is that had Omar been convicted of the accusations here, the Young Offenders Act would have set him free a long time ago. Guilty or not, he's paid his dues. Harper likes to play with peoples lives when it serves him well and that is deplorable beyond belief. How does he sleep????
JD

David said...

Hey e.a.f. .... enough with the bashing of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church. It's getting BORING! Lots of Christians believe the Bible is inerrant (not just the folks of this denomination)

https://carm.org/inerrancy-and-inspiration-bible

but they don't think or act like Harper.

Ever hear of Baptist minister Tommy Douglas?

Tommy Douglas - Greatest Canadian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YtTZSY7NPo

http://www.canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Online-Exclusive/Articles/History-Idol--Tommy-Douglas.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Canadian

Simon said...

hi rumleyfips...yes eight years and almost a hundred posts. Few stories have outraged me as much as Khadr's story has. I used to warn people that if Harper could do that to Omar he would one day do it to others. And sure enough he has....

Simon said...

hi e.a.f...I honestly don't know how Omar Khadr survived, and is by all accounts a really nice guy. He was betrayed by his father, estranged from his family, horribly wounded, abandoned by his own government and many Canadians who hated him because they hated his family. If I had experienced what he had I'm pretty sure I would be angry and bitter. But as for Alberta...a lot of people are predicting catastrophe, but I think if Notley does a good job, it could be the beginning of a much more progressive province and even an orange dynasty...

Simon said...

hi David,,,oh goody a theological argument. Nothing like one to elevate this blog out of the gutter.
I should stay out of it, after all I am an atheist. But the Church harper belongs to is not my idea of a good Christian church, They believe that women should be submissive and that gays are an abomination, they are an incredibly aggressive missionary church, and they believe that the world could end tomorrow. Which hopefully puts them on the fringes of good Christian organizations. But as I said, I'm a christianly atheist so I'm staying out of this one.... ;)

Simon said...

hi JD...well of course this whole affair has been a travesty of justice., and a horrible legal nightmare made worse by naked prejudice. I have researched his case extensively, and I am absolutely convinced that he could not have thrown that grenade. There was a Taliban still alive in the bombed out ruins, who was still firing on the advancing troops, whose presence the Pentagon tried to conceal. And if he didn't throw the grenade, it was probably an American grenade that fell short, and this whole affair is a Special Forces cover-up. If you've ever seen them they are practically an army within an army, or a cult, And they are quite capable of covering up for each other...

Unknown said...

Omar has in spades, what Harper has none of, courage! How else could he have survived this travesty of justice.
Welcome to freedom Omar.

e.a.f. said...

David, not all churches are equal. Yes I am aware the NDP has deep roots in religion, because some of the founders in various provinces were ministers. There have been any number of religious ministers in office. Those people were very different from Steve's religion.

Think the Salvation Army does an incredible job. First United Church is a main stay for homeless and poverty striken on the Vancouver downtown east side. If the Gospel Mission in the DTES in Vancouver weren't doing meals a lot of adults and kids would be hungry. There are churches who run soup kitchens, free stores, build social housing, provide medical care. You name it they try to do it. However, Harper's religion has spilled over into our House of Commons. He has brought his religion into our political affairs. those 60 Cons aren't in favour of choice. They don't care about kids, hell they cut the budget of the anti kid porn branch of the RCMP. So how Christian is that? More Vets killed themselves than were killed in the middle east because they couldn't get adequate help. So how religious is all of that.

if harper had his way, there would be no In Site needle program in Vancouver. Do you know how many people would die if he got his way? That is not Christianity or any other religion. In Indiana, they banned the sale of needles, etc. and now in one small town one in 30 have AIDS, HIV, Hep C, etc. These religious types never think outside the box or beyond their own narrow lines.

So I'll continue writing about steve and his religion because it impacts on our lives here in Canada.

Anonymous said...

As you know Simon we are as one on this issue, and always have been, so I feel very much the same things as you do at this. I was having a tooth extracted in the dentist chair when I saw the news on the CBC Newsworld scrawl in the monitor on the ceiling while it was being done and it took all I had to not whoop in joy so as to not spook the dentist removing that tooth when I saw it!

I thought Harper proved how horrible he could be to Canadians that didn't look like him with the Mahar Arar affair and what he is on record as saying in the House of Commons when that first emerged, but the abuse he and his have piled on Omar Khadr have made that look like nothing, which given how horrific that was speaks volumes as to how much worse this case is!

I *LOVED* Omar Khadr's reply to the question as to what he would say to PM Harper in that scrum the other night. What this person endured was horrific, and to listen to Blaney and Colandra go on and on about how he confessed, how he admitted his guilt yet fail to mention that was only after many years of torture in the world's most notorious "prison" of the last decade and in the clear objective of finding a way out of their and back into a real legal system that he clearly had motive to make a false confession, that we never seem to hear about now do we.

I've always said that even arguendo everything he was claimed to have done happened in that way he STILL did not deserve what he got, he was a child soldier and deserved the protections from that reality given the treaties both we and the Americans were signatories to on this very point. How this can be ignored by so may is something I find utterly repulsive, and I also find the civil suit brought against him in the US using that "confession" as it basis of fact to be utterly disgusting. This was brought so if he sued and won for wrongful imprisonment and torture by the US government that he could not receive any of it and the family of a soldier who died in combat unlike the families of so many other dead in combat soldiers from the exact same fight would get to profit from it. The disgust I feel on this goes beyond my ability to articulate.

This is one of the great tragedies and perversions of justice for both America and Canada, and how anyone by this late date cannot see and understand that I find baffling, tragic, pitiable, and horrifying all at the same time.

At least at long last Harper cannot just point to his cardboard cutout of Omar Khadr and pass it off as the real thing, now that the real thing spoke so well for himself the first day he was freely able to in the last 13 years. Let us hope that the essential fairness so many Canadians like to believe is a part of our national character proves itself in this case from here on out now that they have seen and heard him for themselves.

Scotian

David said...

OK, e.a.f. and Simon... here's the website of the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada.

http://www.cmacan.org/who-we-are

http://www.cmacan.org/statement-of-faith

*
My own 2 cents: the word "submission" as used in the New Testament does NOT mean "submission" in the modern sense. Although it states that wives are to "submit" to their husbands,

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+5

it doesn't mean the wife must do everything the husband wants her to do! eg. submit to being beaten, etc. That would be crazy!

Ephesians 5:21 says: "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

so it's implied that husbands are also to submit to their wives. 8-)

And you don't have to be married to be in submission to others. For example, if you work for a company, in an office, etc. you are "in submission" to the boss (unless of course you ARE the boss!)

https://carm.org/apologetics/womens-issues/what-does-it-mean-wife-submit-her-husband

[snip]

Today, one of the most difficult concepts in God’s Word is biblical submission. The word submission is not limited to wives alone. For example, Christians are to submit themselves to each other (Ephesians 5:21), to government (Romans 13:1), and unto God (James 4:7). This is a frequent concept in the Bible. Self-sacrifice is required in each circumstance. Submission is never glossed over to be seen as easy or always convenient. Instead, it is viewed as service unto God.

David said...

POWER AND POLITICS | May 8, 2015 | 12:10

Omar Khadr out on bail
MPs Paul Calandra, Charlie Angus and Sean Casey react to the release of Omar Khadr on bail

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2666807016/

David said...

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/World/ID/2666694039/

NEWS | May 7, 2015 | 7:03

Omar Khadr's challenges
Psychologist Oren Amitay looks at how 28-year-old might cope with re-entering society now that he's out on bail

*
Omar Khadr speaks publicly: 'I'm a good person'
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2666704532/

Omar Khadr lawyer statement to media following ruling
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/ID/2666674331/

PM on Omar Khadr's release
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/ID/2666785345/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-keeps-his-comments-brief-on-omar-khadr-1.3066604

http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/

e.a.f. said...

submission to the boss????? not if you're unionized. you have a collective agreement and it rules. I'm just not into that submission stuff, but then I'm an atheist. On a bad day, an agnostic. More murder and war has been done in the name of religion than just about anything else. I'm not big on it and when it comes to one of those religion's like Steve's ughhh. People are free to believe what they want but the rest of us are free not to believe and not to have to deal with a P.M.'s religious views of what is right and wrong. That is why we have Constitutions. If steve feels so committed to his religion let him go to Communist China and preach to them. Leave us Canadians alone. We have a lot of other religions in this country and Steve and his cons religion does not rule this country. Well perhaps they think it does, but that is how we got the Taliban, ISIS, etc.
I prefer those religious people who actually put their sweat, minds, money where their beliefs are working with the poor, abused, etc.