I've been standing up for the human rights of Omar Khadr for so many years you can imagine how I feel about his shameful show trial. This horrifying mix of Kafka and Stalin.
Because if this is pure Stalin.
The statement of facts Khadr signed also says he would think back on his actions and the death of the American soldier when he was aggravated by his guards in Bagram, Afghanistan, and "it would make him feel good."
Surely this must be Kafka.
Dr. Welner's conclusions were reached, he explained, based largely on his understanding of the work of a psychiatrist in Copenhagen, Dr. Nicolai Sennels, who published a study of young Muslims in prison there. Although Welner admitted that he hadn't actually read Dr. Sennels's book because it was written in Danish, which Welner can't read.
He "expressed no interest in developing himself academically," said Welner, because when given U.S. schoolbooks - not classes, just books - he did not show much interest in reading them. Instead, he read Harry Potter, which Welner characterized as a form of "escapism."
The fact that Khadr is surrounded by all Muslim prisoners - a choice made by the U.S. military, not Omar Khadr -- is also a strike against him, said Welner. He's been "marinating in radical Jidahism," Welner said several times on Tuesday. Welner had not spoken to any of the other prisoners in Camp 4, and the source of his information about those prisoners and their beliefs was unclear.
Kafka.Or Dr Strangelove. Or just Dr Welner the inventor of the...um... Depravity Scale.
Because let me get this straight. They riddled this kid with shrapnel. Then shot him twice in the back.
They then tortured him, and locked him up in Guantanamo, and now because he spent so many years there, he's too dangerous to release?
Oh boy. Here we go again . For the record, Khadr's guards say he is a decent young man. Not a religious fanatic. He almost certainly did not throw any grenade because he was too badly wounded.
The real war criminals are in the Pentagon.
Obama is a weakling. Stephen Harper is a sadistic monster.
The trial is a travesty.
And whatever they say or whatever they do.
Omar Khadr WAS a child soldier.
And he lives HERE...
Thanks for this, Simon. The good Dr. is a known gun for hire by the side with the most money. As a medical professional with links in psychiatry, I happen to know that he is regarded as a nutjob in the profession overall. He's "invented" this bizarre "Depravity Scale", which he insists measures every person's "depravity level". It's a questionnaire of 15-20 questions that is completely unscientific, untested anywhere except by the good Dr., & is utter garbage. Anyone can take in online to try it out. The results wouldn't tell Manson from Mother Theresa. He was supposedly using this scale - takes about 10 mins. MAX, on Omar. Oh yeah, the guy is known to be a huge egoist who wants to be "the rock star" of forensic psychiatry - providing irony for headlines today in which he says Omar is the rockstar of Guantanamo. Pure projection. Oh yes, we musn't forget that this American, hired by the prosecution to define Omar's pscyhological state, has very strange theories & ideologies overall, that are not accepted by mainstream psychiatry. Additionally, just for interest, he's Jewish & his grandparents on both sides were wiped out in Poland. Just a real objective "expert", eh?!
ReplyDeletethanks God there are people who may think analytically! You are right, CanNurse, what we can expect from a Jewish doctor? I lived in Israel for many years and know from experience the brutality of Israeli soldiers towards Arab teens.
ReplyDeleteshame on Canadian government which abandoned this child
ReplyDeleteSimon, you are one of the few who has blogged relentlessly throughout these eight long years to call out this outrage and miscarriage of justice. I certainly appreciate it when even among more level headed, often progressive opinion makers, have either ignored this or not recognized the travesty.
ReplyDeleteAnd I won't even start with the mainstream media who did a hatchet job all along or the spineless politicians (on both sides of the border) who never raised their voices in horror.
Anyway, an excellent interview with a former US constitutional law professor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gskxFTd1xvA
I don't even care if he's guilty or not, he's a Canadian citizen. If that has any value at all, the government should have brought him home at the beginning of all of this.
ReplyDeleteMore bad news. In today's globe and mail, Cannon denies making any deal to repatriate Khadr.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/lawrence-cannon-denies-role-in-khadr-repatriation-deal/article1776596/
hi CanNurse...When I heard that the Pentagon had hired Welner I simply couldn't believe it. I couldn't help think of Dr Strangelove, where Peter Sellers elaborates on his deranged survival theories. And especially the last scene when he gets out of his wheelchair and shouts "Mein Fuhrer I can walk !!!!" Oh sure he's Jewish, but a maniac is a maniac... :)
ReplyDeletehi pandorra...yes shame on TWO Canadian governments. And sadly shame on far too many Canadians, who allowed their prejudices to blind them to simple justice...
ReplyDeletehi Christina...I don't think he is guilty of anything. But even if he did throw that grenade, he was a child soldier, we were the FIRST government to sign the U.N. Protocol of Child Soldiers, and he should have been brought home, and rehabilitated not further punished.
ReplyDeleteI repeat this over and over again because it's the only thing that needs to be said. A lot of Canadians seem to be deaf, but that's THEIR problem. And history will judge them harshly...
hi Beijing...yes I saw that. I can't believe that loser Cannon could sink any lower. But of course it all comes from the diseased mind of Stephen Harper, and the loose Cannon will pay for it in the next election. Unless he decides to run in Alberta, which would be entirely fitting...
ReplyDelete