Omar Khadr....

[dancing-loon]

DL,
Many have never thought that the US was involved in torture and are now being awakened to the fact that it has been in practice for many years.

Yes, that is very possible. Remember how it was denied about a year ago, when a list of torturing countries was circulated amongst Canadian Embassy staff or the likes? And remember how the US (Bolton) protested and forced us to retract? Israel did the same! Both, of course, have power over us... so we better heed their commands.

 

[Spade]

Canada has not ceased to be a colony; she has only moved from one empire to another.

"Jesus said, "A person cannot mount two horses or bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the
other." The Gospel of Thomas, verse 47.

 

[dancing-loon]

One more reason why Harper is not fit to be Prime Minister.

I second that!!

 

[Praxius]

Additional Information:

U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Bill Mesta replaces an official picture of outgoing President George W. Bush with that of newly- sworn-in President Barack Obama, in the lobby of the headquarters of the U.S. Naval Station, in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

Path now clear for Khadr's repatriation: lawyer
CTV.ca | Path now clear for Khadr's repatriation: lawyer

There are no longer any obstacles blocking Prime Minister Stephen Harper from requesting Omar Khadr's repatriation to Canada, says his U.S. military lawyer.

On Wednesday, a judge at Guantanamo Bay agreed to a request from U.S. President Barack Obama to adjourn Khadr's war-crimes tribunal for 120 days.

Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler, Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer, said the adjournment is akin to a dismissal of charges against his client.

"I think the practical effect will be the same, which is this process is done and there is no more ongoing process that Prime Minister Harper can use as a pretext for not acting on Omar's behalf," Kuebler told CTV Newsnet.

Khadr, 22, is accused of killing an American soldier in Afghanistan in July 2002, when he was 15.

He has been held at Gitmo since he was 16.

Harper has so far declined to request the repatriation of Khadr, saying it's not his place to interfere with another country's legal process.

As a result, Khadr is the only Western prisoner still remaining in the facility. Kuebler said the judicial process is now effectively over, and Harper's rationale no longer stands.

"I think the door is open now for Prime Minister Harper to say the proceedings have been terminated, there's no process to defer to, and we can effectively bring him home," he said.

Kuebler suggested the decision to temporarily adjourn the proceedings, rather than drop the charges altogether - which he had earlier sought -- was political.

"If they had actually withdrawn charges in the cases that could have been reported as charges being dropped...I think from a political standpoint the optics of a suspension or a stay are preferable," he said.

The defence is "very pleased" with the move by Obama, and believes it signals the beginning of the end for the military tribunal process in Guantanamo, Kuebler said.

However, he acknowledged that the U.S. could still decide to bring Khadr back to American soil and proceed with a trial there.

He has argued that Khadr - accused of lobbing the grenade that killed a U.S. soldier -- should be treated as a child soldier.

Obama acts fast on Guantanamo

On Tuesday, as one of his first post-inauguration acts, Obama requested an adjournment in Gitmo proceedings for Khadr, and those accused of conspiring in the 9/11 terror attacks.

The prosecution in Khadr's case put the request to the judges in his case on Wednesday, and it was approved.

"In the interests of justice, and at the direction of the president of the United States and secretary of defence, the government respectfully requests the military commission grant a continuance of the proceedings . . . until 20 May, 2009," states the motion brought forward on Tuesday.

The motion explains that the intent is to allow time for the new administration to review the military commission process, and to look at the individual cases currently before military commissions.

At the moment there are roughly 250 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, including Khadr. The adjournment allows the administration to evaluate the cases of those who are not granted release or transfer, to determine "whether prosecution may be warranted for any offences."

The review would also lay out the next steps going forward in those instances where prosecution is deemed to be necessary, said the motion.

 

[dancing-loon]

Now read this here from the National Post:

...U.S. NAVAL BASE GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba --

Omar Khadr's terrorism-linked "identification" of Maher Arar emerged Tuesday as less emphatic than testimony before a Guantanamo Bay military hearing suggested the day before.

Notes taken at an FBI interview of the Canadian-born terror suspect following his 2002 capture in Afghanistan show Mr. Khadr stated only that Mr. Arar -- whose 2002 deportation and torture in Syria has come to symbolize excess in the war on terror -- "looked familiar."

The notes go on to say that "in time" Mr. Khadr "stated he felt he had seen" Mr. Arar, the hearing heard.


FBI special agent Robert Fuller, who led the interview of the then-15-year-old, said that "in time" denoted "a couple of minutes."
"We gave him an opportunity to think about it," Mr. Fuller testified.


The FBI agent was firm Monday in saying Mr. Khadr identified Mr. Arar by name when shown a photograph of the former computer engineer, who lives in Ottawa.
Mr. Fuller added that Mr. Khadr claimed to have seen Mr. Arar at an al-Qaeda-run "safe house" near Kabul "on several occasions" -- and also said he "might have seen him" at an al-Qaeda training camp.


But another portion of the notes speaks about the timeline in which Mr. Khadr eventually said he may have seen Mr. Arar in Afghanistan.
It was sometime between late September and early October, 2001 -- a period a Canadian inquiry has since determined that Mr. Arar was in North America.

Phew... I'm glad they cleared that up!!!;-);-)
Does Harper have any other excuses not to let Omar return??


Creative Commons Search

 

[missile]

7 years in a young man's life does cause changes in one's physical appearance. Add to that the effects of "torture' to the mix and most of us would be unidentifible to even our best friends. I'm just saying:smile:

 

[Liberalman]

Khadr is guilty and should not be allowed back into Canada

 

[missile]

So, there is one thing we agree on. They should have shot him right on the spot.

 

[Colpy]

Khadr is guilty and should not be allowed back into Canada

At one point, I would have whole-heartedly agreed........but I have done a 180 degree turn, a "flip-flop", if you will.

Khadr was a child soldier.

Khadr threw a grenade, if he indeed did so, after the Yanks had dropped a 1,000 kg bomb on him.

The trial in the USA is completely, unarguably unconstitutional under the Fifth amendment of the US Bill of Rights.

The trial has been a kangaroo court....a joke, not even approaching minimum standards of justice.

I sincerely wish the Yanks had just shot the kid dead in Afghanistan, or turned him over to Afghan authorities to shoot. But, having saved his ass, they are now responsible for his welfare......

You should see the cartoon in today's Globe and Mail. Damn Damn Damn, I can not stomach the idiots, the moronic, hand-wringing cry-babies of the left that will undoubted cheer (literally) his arrival.......I'd want badly to beat them all with a large stick.....

But, unfortunately, they have a point......

Time for Khadr to come to Canada.

 

[Ron in Regina]

To put a bit of fire back into this....Harper could think up many excuses to
not to let Omar return like a definition of "Child Soldier" (there are many &
they're not all the same). Omar has been in Cuba for 7yrs, and Harper has
not been the PM for 7yrs...so currently it is Harper to focus upon, but he's
not the only one.

Omar WAS shot on the spot, and the Americans saved his life, which Omar's
own Mother has a huge problem with as it deprived Omar from being a Martyr.
Omar has to go somewhere and he IS Canadian (or so his passport says), but
should he be put back with his mother & sister who have publicly denounced
the USA for depriving Omar from being a Martyr? I say we bring Omar to
Canada, but I'm up in the air about keeping his mother and sister here...8O

 

[Liberalman]

khadr did identify a fellow canadian terrorist which was found innocent in this country
that's why he should stay in gitmo

 

[Colpy]

Saturday January 24, 2009


Excuse me while I go throw up.:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

 

[Liberalman]

Colpy Iam glad to see you agree with me

 

[dancing-loon]

!!!!

You two are disgusting ...

rotting brown blobs!!!!:-(

 

[Praxius]

khadr did identify a fellow canadian terrorist which was found innocent in this country that's why he should stay in gitmo

Are you even reading what you post?

Someone claimed he identified a Canadian citizen in Afghanistan (after being tortured and threatened with more torture) at a terrorist camp.... in loon's above report, that has been proven false, therefore he was telling them what they wanted to hear.... not exactly the truth. (Which is to be expected from anybody being tortured)

And there is this thing called Innocent until proven guilty..... and for anybody who still believes in this process of law, Arar isn't a fellow Canadian Terrorist, since he has already been proven to have no relations with any terrorist groups..... and nothing has yet been proven about Omar's situation to "Prove" his guilt of being a terrorists as well.

And simply being in cuba, surrounded by other known terrorists, doesn't default you to being a terrorist...... Once again, innocent until proven guilty.

Oh yeah, and did anybody else catch when that little tid bit of information of Omar identifying Arar came about?

It was released right around the same time Arar filed legal action against the US government for what they did to him..... which was a poor attempt to kill two birds with one stone, but casting doubt on both Arar and Omar's innocence...... but yet again, the US has been proven to have lied yet again.

There is so much reasonable doubt in Omar's case, that it's practically impossible to proceed with any decent legal action against him to find any guilt.

If he was thrown through a normal legal proceeding and was found guilty, sure, them the breaks and I would hope he get's the proper treatment for a child soldier..... however the US royally screwed up their golden example they wanted to make and FUBAR'd it so badly with this farce of a court system, that there is no real chance of getting a solid guilty to stick.

I'm sure many would like to see real justice happen in this case and if he's guilty, be punished accordingly.... and if he was guilty, I'd like to see it too...... but as far as I can see it, it can't happen now.

And if he was guilty, whatever his punishment could be for a child soldier, has had that time spent well away through the number of years he has been held in Cuba thus far.

Keeping a 15 year old kid locked away in one of the world's worst known prisons until well into his 20s', for possibly killing one soldier in the heat of a battle should have been punishment enough.

What people want to accomplish by keeping him locked away for the rest of his life for something I believe most everybody else would do if put in the same situation where they needed to defend themselves, is beyond me.

Sure I can see it differently if it was an adult, whom is legally capable of making their own decisions, but we're talking about a kid who was dragged over there by his father..... a decision that he probably never had a chance to have a say in, and even if he did, he was still a minor and therefore the same situation applies.

His father should be charged for the crimes Omar is being charged with, because he was the responsible parent in this situation and brought him over there.......

...... but he's dead now, so it's a witch hunt to put his son in the spotlight to make an example out of him, regardless of the truth or how old he was at the time.

 

[Colpy]

Basically, Praxius, I agree........except for minor points such as Gitmo as "the world's worst prison" (ha!).

 

[Praxius]

Saturday January 24, 2009


Excuse me while I go throw up.:roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll::roll:

While I agree with your view on the above comic, it would appear to be making fun of those who support Omar without question.

The odd thing I find is that I don't remember seeing anybody that defensive of Omar to the point of thinking of him as some kind of hero.

I don't think he's any kind of hero, unless you want to call him a hero for dealing with living in Gitmo for so long.... but everybody I have talked to who want him to be brought back to Canada, do so based on logical reasons which are justified.... much of which are the reasons you listed off above as to why you feel he should be brought back.

I certainly don't plan on giving him a parade or to change the national athem.... I'd just like to see proper law and order be applied, and if it can't be applied, then say so and move on...... nobody, guilty or innocent, should have to go through what the people in Gitmo are going through..... and to subject people to that way of living (If you want to call it living) to satisfy some kind of punishment factor in the mind, isn't any better then stooping to the level of those we all hate in the first place.

When we abandon our own principles and ways of life to make others suffer due to allowing emotions getting ahold of us, we are the exact same as those we all claim to fight.

What are we really fighting for when we hit that point and abandon the sole thing we have been trying to defend?

 

[Praxius]

Basically, Praxius, I agree........except for minor points such as Gitmo as "the world's worst prison" (ha!).

No, I said "One of the world's worst known prisons"

I'm sure there are a few around the world that are a hell of a lot worse..... but it doesn't justify what's going on in Gitmo.

 

[Colpy]

My big problem has not been conditions at Gitmo, although I know water-boarding is torture.......and sleep deprivation and other milder forms of interogation techniques are definitely border-line, and torture is never acceptable.

My problem has been the unconstitutional nature of his trial, the obvious attempt to railroad him in a kangaroo court, the silliness of trying a giuy for throwing a grenade at you after you drop a 1,000 Kg bomb on him...........

You express it well in the last couple of lines, if we are fighting to defend all that is good about the principles of western civilization, we have to apply those principles.

I am disgusted by the fact that indeed there are a large number of Canadians that will treat Khadr as a hero.......I'm sure that if he landed in Toronto with sufficient forewarning, a ticker-tape parade would not be out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Zzarchov]

I also don't think America has anything to try him for. HE was an enemy soldier. He threw a grenade at you. Thats how war works, there are rules on prisoners.

Now if he sets foot in Canada, we might have some treason charges for him.