CSIS and the Shame of Omar Khadr

I see that six years after they interrogated Omar Khadr in his Guantanamo hell hole, those cruel CSIS agents have finally been condemned.

CSIS ignored human-rights concerns and did not take Omar Khadr's age into account in deciding to interview him at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay prison, says a report from the parliamentary committee that oversees the spy agency.

And I can only wonder why did it take so long?

I've written about this case so many times before.

But of course the video says it all.



And so does this:

"I always say that I've never seen anyone who's been so abused and so abandoned by so many who should know better."

Poor Omar Khadr, the Canadian child soldier who was abandoned by his own people. Who after six years in that twilight gulag appears to be losing hope that anyone in Canada will ever help him.

Poor Canada, the pariah nation that allowed a child to be tortured. And has done nothing to save him.

How long must the shame go on?

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P.S. A friend of mine asked me this evening why I spend so much time writing about Omar Khadr, when he said he's probably a religious fanatic who hates gays. It's a question I've been asked a million times by right-wingers.

So I told him what I told them. There's no reason to believe that Omar is a religious extremist who hates gays. But even if he was it wouldn't make a difference. Because he WAS a child soldier. Justice is justice. And no matter what you think of him or his family, or what political party you support, it's the only right, decent and Canadian thing to do.

Because my Canada is BETTER than that.

You know.... so I never have to answer that question again...