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The Omar Khadr repatriation thread - Part 1

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NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
April 20, 2012 - 5:12pm
#61

The Canadian Government's Treatment of Omar Khadr Has Been A Disgrace

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/1164702--the-canadian-...

"...As the legal machinery to repatriate Khadr creaked into motion this week, Ottawa obtusely continued to express no burning desire to get him home where he will serve out his sentence for killing a US soldier. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews will do the Americans a favour by considering transferring Khadr back here, was the official line. Such is the shabby close to an infamous case in which Ottawa refused to go to bat for one of our own..."

and neither did 'our own'.


Fidel
Online
Joined: Apr 29 2004
April 20, 2012 - 6:08pm
#62

The Star wrote:
Through it all, as Canada's allies successfully lobbied to free their nationals from Gitmo, the Harper government wilfully neglected Khadr..

Wait a minute wait a minute? Was it the Harper Government of Canada that sent Khadr to Gitmo? No, it was not. The Harpers are only the most recent vicious toadies to Uncle Sam's phony war on terror.


NDPP
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April 30, 2012 - 10:42pm
#63

Khadr is Not A Traitor - by Peter Worthington

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/04/27/khadr-is-not-a-traitor

"The Americans want Khadr transferred to Canada, where a spokesman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has said the possibility of criminal charges against Khadr 'rests with police and provincial Crown attorneys' This is an odd reaction - but not as odd as the Conservative Party's view that 'Any Canadian citizen who commits treason by taking up arms against the Canadian Forces (or allies)...automatically invalidates his or her Canadian citizenship.'

The suggestion is that Khadr should be charged with high treason for 'assisting an enemy at war with Canada' or (assisting) those against whom the Canadian Forces are engaged in hostilities..."

No mention of Canada's criminality in participating in this illegal war of course..


M. Spector
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
May 1, 2012 - 11:57am
#64

Andy Worthington (no relation to Peter) wrote:

Typical of this was a poll conducted last week on CBC News’s “Your Community Blog,” which asked the question, “Should Omar Khadr be allowed to return to Canada?” as though there was a legal option to prevent his return, when there is not. Fortunately, 53 percent of those who voted said yes, compared to 43 percent who said no, although that is still an alarmingly large minority of Canadian citizens who don’t understand what nationality and citizenship mean, and who also don’t seem to believe that a prison sentence — and any notion of punishment — should be finite.

These voices include journalist and Sun TV host Ezra Levant, who has written an entire hate-filled book about the alleged threat posed by Khadr, but whose approach is “so obsessional that it sometimes seems like a manifestation of clinical mental illness,” as another journalist, Jonathan Kay, recently explained.

Moreover, last Thursday, as the Toronto Sun explained in a news report, Vic Toews conceded that the government would not block Khadr’s return. Some commentators had speculated that the government “was considering using a clause in the International Transfer of Offenders Act to keep … Khadr out of Canada on national security grounds.”

Toews explained, “Under the International Transfer of Offenders Act, he is a Canadian citizen. He is also a Canadian citizen under the Charter which entitles him to come back to Canada, eventually.” He added, “The issue is when does he come back to Canada? That’s a determination I have to make and I haven’t made any decision in that respect yet.”...

In defense of Khadr — and providing some necessary humility — the Toronto Star ran an editorial last Thursday, pointing out that “the abuse he has suffered with the complicity of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government and that of its Liberal predecessors has shamed Canada,” adding, “His expected return from Guantánamo Bay, while welcome, does us no great credit either.”

Seeing through the official line about Canada doing the US a favour, the Star noted, “Such is the shabby close to an infamous case in which Ottawa refused to go to bat for one of our own,” and delivered the following verdict on Khadr’s US ordeal:

Quote:
US President Barack Obama once declared Gitmo a “legal black hole” predicated on a “dangerously flawed legal approach” that “compromised our core values.” Khadr finally buckled to that ugly system in 2010 and surrendered the guilty plea to murder and war crimes that it was designed to elicit. His plea bargain was a “hellish decision” to preclude trial in a sham court and the risk of a life sentence.

The Star also reminded readers that Khadr “was pushed to fight in Afghanistan by his al-Qaida-linked father,” and that US officials “threatened him with gang rape, denied him counsel, deprived him of sleep, and set a precedent by charging him with war crimes as a juvenile.” Also noting that he had “spent far more time behind bars than he would have in Canada, had he been convicted here in a credible court of murder as a young offender,” the Star concluded its pertinent editorial by stating:

Quote:
[A]s Canada’s allies successfully lobbied to free their nationals from Gitmo, the Harper government wilfully neglected Khadr. It never forcefully protested his mistreatment, criticized his prosecution, or asked for leniency. It took the obtuse view that justice was taking its course. It washed its hands of a young Canadian, leaving him to his fate. It failed a citizen, and disgraced itself.

It is rare, at Guantánamo, for another government to have behaved as appallingly as the US, but in Khadr’s case it has long been clear, to anyone capable of viewing it objectively, that the Canadian government has matched America’s abuse towards Khadr every step of the way, and it is time for this disgraceful situation to be brought to an end.


M. Spector
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
May 8, 2012 - 1:20am
#65

The fascist vigilantes are already starting to organize

...and trying to associate Khadr with 9/11...

Quote:

"We are trying to warn people that Khadr is dangerous and is being relocated in the community," said Scarborough resident, Shobie Kapoor, who also started an anti-Khadr online petition. "We are trying to create public awareness."

Kapoor and others will be handing out flyers next Wednesday in downtown Toronto. They were also there last week passing out information.

"We don't want this terrorist in the country," she said. "We are trying to get the word out to all Canadians."

Almost 3,000 Canadians have signed an internet petition that calls for Khadr not to be returned to Canada.

Meyer Weinstein, of the Jewish Defense League, said efforts will be made this week to place an ad on the TTC.

"This is a serious situation that is not to be taken lightly," Weinstein said. "We don't want any terrorist here." (sic)

Ron Banerjee, of the Canadian Hindu Advocacy, said posters will be displayed in areas of Scarborough calling for Khadr to be kept out.

"We will be putting up posters with the same message," Banerjee said. "The community has to know there is a convicted terrorist moving in beside them."

He said members are "outraged that Khadr, a convicted Islamic al-Qaida terrorist, is being returned to Canada."

"Our organization has long lobbied to identify and deport large numbers of Islamic radicals linked to fundamentalist groups from Canada," Banerjee said.

The groups also plan to distribute hundreds of flyers in Khadr's old Scarborough neighbourhood.

"We will also be doing door-to-door canvassing to ensure people know about the impending arrival of a convicted Islamic terrorist to the area," Banerjee said.

 


Bacchus
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Joined: Dec 8 2003
May 8, 2012 - 1:26am
#66

Hmm lets see, Cdn citizen, never had that stripped from him. Hmm Im guessing fuck you bigots, you can't keep him out


M. Spector
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
May 8, 2012 - 11:33am
#67

You don't think so? These bigots have friends in the federal cabinet.


Fidel
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Joined: Apr 29 2004
May 8, 2012 - 5:53pm
#68

M. Spector wrote:

The fascist vigilantes are already starting to organize

...and trying to associate Khadr with 9/11...

He said members are "outraged that Khadr, a convicted Islamic al-Qaida terrorist, is being returned to Canada. "

For years the US Gov't and CIA referred to them as mujahideen "freedom fighters". Khadr's father, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the Karzais etc all fought for the CIA in 1980s-90s Afghanistan and were provided unrestricted travel in and out of America for years.

Charade they are.


M. Spector
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
May 8, 2012 - 7:41pm
#69

There's no evidence that Ahmed Khadr was ever involved with the CIA or ever fought with the mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Your spreading these lies about him only helps to further promote hatred against Omar Khadr's family and plays into the hands of the fascist thugs who want to keep Omar in Guantanamo.

Nice work, Fidel.


Fidel
Online
Joined: Apr 29 2004
May 8, 2012 - 8:15pm
#70

M. Spector wrote:

There's no evidence that Ahmed Khadr was ever involved with the CIA or ever fought with the mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Why would he move his family to 1980s Afghanistan if he had no real ties to that country? The senior Khadr was born in Egypt, like Egyptian-born US Army Sargent Ali Mohamed, Al-CIA'duh's hijacking specialist allowed by the RCMP and FBI to come and go to and from Afghanistan at will from the 1980's forward. And the current head of Al-CIA'duh was able to obtain special U.S. visa privileges that few legitimate immigrants to the US ever hope to receive.  

M. Spector wrote:
Your spreading these lies about him only helps to further promote hatred against Omar Khadr's family and plays into the hands of the fascist thugs who want to keep Omar in Guantanamo.

Nice work, Fidel.

 

I think you're missing the point. There is at least one established tie between the Khadr family and the CIA.

CIA paid me to spy: Abdurahman Khadr

It's partly why truth seekers refer to them as Al-CIA'da. It's amazing how many "Al-Qa'eda" end up working for the American CIA.

There is no such thing as al-Qaeda. It's warmed-up cold war baloney. 

The mujahideen are real and some of who are referred to offhand as "Al-Qaeda" now and again for colder war purposes. What they are are the CIA's expendable jihadi assets ever since the CIA began funding the most ruthless of warlords and drug barons in 1980s Afghanistan. They are mercenaries and soldiers of fortune from more than 40 countries and on the CIA's payroll long time. But there is no such thing as Al-Qaeda. The Khadrs, Karzais, bin Ladens, KSM, Ali Mohamed etcetera etc are all rabid anticommunists just like their CIA, Pakistani and Saudi financiers. I find it difficult to empathize with any of them or their sponsors.


M. Spector
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Joined: Feb 19 2005
May 8, 2012 - 8:48pm
#71

I'm not missing the point at all. You are joining the Harpocons and the JDL in slandering the Khadr family and helping to keep Omar Khadr in Guantanamo. Your treachery knows no bounds.


Fidel
Online
Joined: Apr 29 2004
May 8, 2012 - 9:46pm
#72

M. Spector wrote:

I'm not missing the point at all. You are joining the Harpocons and the JDL in slandering the Khadr family and helping to keep Omar Khadr in Guantanamo. Your treachery knows no bounds.

 

Maybe he's being paid to spy on innocent people held illegally at Gitmo, like Omar's brother Abdurahman did happily for the American CIA. 

Maybe Khadr will sue Canadian taxpayers and use the proceeds to fund another CIA sponsored anti-Russian/Chinese jihad somewhere else in Asia just like his mercenary-for-hire father before him and whom Omar said encouraged him to become a child soldier. Ever think of that?

Don't you think Omar's parents should have been reported to children's aid for endangering their child, or something? Or are you all ready to agree to sharia law and Taliban rule in Afghanistan at some point after the CIA and Saudis negotiate a power sharing deal with their former proxies in Kabul who are only now mildly opposing them in this phony-baloney war on terrror?

The only ones keeping Omar at Gitmo are the Harpocons years after the Chretien Liberals handed him over to the American inquisition after being instructed to do so by their imperialist masters in Warshington.

NAFTA? Aye-aye! Phony war on terror? Aye-aye, Uncle Sam, on the double-double!


Rebecca West
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Joined: Nov 28 2001
May 9, 2012 - 6:56am
#73

Fidel, your conspiracy theories are becoming more ludicrous by the day.  How much of this twaddle are you prepared to spew before you're cut off?


Fidel
Online
Joined: Apr 29 2004
May 9, 2012 - 2:35pm
#74

Rebecca West wrote:

Fidel, your conspiracy theories are becoming more ludicrous by the day.  How much of this twaddle are you prepared to spew before you're cut off?

What is it about the Khadr family's connections to the American CIA and Afghanistan are not clear?

Are you doubting the CBC's journalistic integrity?

I've supported Omar Khadr's rights before in plenty of threads, and so has the NDP.

The only ones conspiring against Omar Khadr's basic rights have been our vicious toadies in government since Chretien and one very secretive U.S. Military inquisition there at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. And today they don't even want him anymore for whatever reasons people might not wish to discuss here in a discussion forum. I can't imagine why that would be the case. But for the record it's our corrupt stooges of the day who are currently conspiring to deny Omar Khadr's basic human rights. 

And as far as conspiracy theories go regarding the ultimate reason for the long and protracted phony-baloney war on terror, there needs to be a legitimate investigation and rights to fair trials carried through on. That hasn't happened yet, and it is a real conspiracy. 9/11 is an ongoing investigation according to the American FBI and U.S. Government themselves. The truth about 9/11 is still unknown to the public. Of course people are going to speculate. It's what human beings do.


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
May 25, 2012 - 3:23pm
#75

Majority of Canadians Oppose Khadr's Return: Poll

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2012/05/24/19796191.html

"The Abacus Data survey into public opinion on Khadr, who pleaded guilty in 2010 to war crimes committed in Afghanistan when he was 15 years old, suggests 53% of Canadians view him as a security threat and shouldn't be allowed back into the country..."


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
June 21, 2012 - 11:55pm
#76

Canada Broke Agreement with Omar Khadr, Lawyers Say

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2012/06/20/pol-cp-omar-khadr-laywe...

"The Canadian government has consistently failed to live up to its obligations to Omar Khadr. While Omar, a child, was trapped in a place that has been condemned around the world, the Canadian government stood idly by and said simply 'we will let the process run its course,' his Canadian lawyer John Norris, told an Ottawa press conference Thursday. 'Well, that process has now long run its course. Yet today he still sits in a cell in Guantanamo, eight months after he was eligible to return to Canada,' Norris said.

'It needs to be clear to Canadians: He is a good kid and he deserves a chance at life,' said Lt Col John Jackson. 'Canada must honour the agreement it had with Omar khadr and return him immediately to Canada.' Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said again Wednesday there was nothing new to say about the case..."

vic.toews@parl.gc.ca


Boom Boom
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Joined: Dec 29 2004
June 22, 2012 - 12:00am
#77

Yeah, saw that on both CBC and CTV tonight. Sooner or later the Cons will get a clue, but I'm not optimistic.

 


Unionist
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Joined: Dec 11 2005
July 14, 2012 - 8:44am
#78

Unionist, on April 18, 2012 wrote:

It is inconceivable to me that this government will accept Khadr's request.

I fervently hope I'm wrong. But with no one giving a shit any more (no party in the Commons, at any rate), what do they have to gain vs. the potential loss to their fascist reputation?

But maybe the NDP, the Liberals, the Bloc, and the Green are still busy putting the finishing touches on their eloquent demands for justice for Omar Khadr?

 

Further to the above post, I have heard no plea from the likes of Mulcair, Rae, Paillé, or May for repatriation of Khadr - though I confess I don't search their speeches daily. Khadr's lawyers are now going to court again. Khadr will no doubt have finished his 8-year sentence by the time the proceedings are over:

Omar Khadr's lawyers push for transfer to Canada


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
July 14, 2012 - 10:12am
#79

There has been no plea from Mulcair et al. And in truth not a lot from the lazy liberal-left generally.

But there has been passionate lobbying from 'patriotic' Canadians...

 

159 Reasons to Stop Omar Khadr and Charge Him With Treason

http://www.blogwrath.com/canada-terrorism/159-reasons-to-stop-omar-khadr...

"If it wasn't for the repulsive Khadr clan and their Islamic friends, all of those [Canadian] soldiers would've been alive today. Think of that - those were 159 people with families, dreams, friends, and plans for the future, who went to that godforsaken country to help bring it back to normality. Those 159 lost lives are the 159 reasons to keep people like Khadr the murderer out of Canada.

What is the point of sacrificing the bravest Canadians to stop terrorism abroad, if we welcome terrorists in Canada with open arms thanks to deluded politicians and hysterical leftists..."


laine lowe
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Joined: Dec 15 2006
July 14, 2012 - 10:23am
#80

Roméo Dallaire is still pleading Omar's cause. He's created a petition at change.org:

 

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/minister-toews-bring-back-omar-kha...


NDPP
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July 19, 2012 - 10:35am
#81

Omar Khadr: Peace Loving Canadian or Al-Qaeda Royality?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/07/16/omar-khadr-psychiatrists-...

"...Days ago his lawyers filed a notice of application seeking to ask the Federal Court to review the federal government's failure to ask the US to transfer Khadr to Canadian custody.."


contrarianna
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Joined: Aug 15 2006
July 19, 2012 - 10:51am
#82

laine lowe wrote:

Roméo Dallaire is still pleading Omar's cause. He's created a petition at change.org:

 

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/minister-toews-bring-back-omar-kha...

Elizabeth May at least signed Romeo's Dallaire's petition. I am unaware of any other MP's taking this small step--any word?

Before speaking up for Canada's decency and basic human rights, the members of the "opposition" parties ask thiemselves one crucial ethical question:
"Will this really help my career?"


Unionist
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Joined: Dec 11 2005
July 20, 2012 - 10:18pm
#83

Toews' request delays Khadr's transfer to Canada

Quote:

In a letter to U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta dated July 19, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said he wants access to videos of interviews that two psychiatrists conducted with Khadr, who is serving his eight-year sentence at the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Toews also wrote that he wants uncensored versions of the psychiatrists' reports. Toews contends the information is necessary for the Canadian justice system to "effectively secure" Khadr and "appropriately administer his sentence in Canada."


Boom Boom
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Joined: Dec 29 2004
July 20, 2012 - 10:39pm
#84

This was discussed on P&P tonight. One of the panel said one of the reasons the Canadian government doesn't want Kdahr back any time soon is because once he is on Canadian soil, his lawyer(s) will sue the gov't for quite a significant amount - in the millions of dollars.


Fidel
Online
Joined: Apr 29 2004
July 22, 2012 - 6:15pm
#85

They are prolific ditherers in the halls of powerlessness. Nobody does it better. If the Harpers were any slower, they'd be in 1950.


kropotkin1951
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Joined: Jun 6 2002
July 22, 2012 - 6:25pm
#86

I worry that they are trying to build a file so that when they bring him back to Canada they can lock him up for his own safety and the safety of others using our mental health laws.  Harper is not beyond using Stalinist methods to get rid of inconvenient figures.


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
August 23, 2012 - 2:56am
#87

Canada Doesn't Want khadr Back: Poll

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/22/canada-doesnt-want-khadr-back-poll

"Canadians overwhelmingly agree that convicted terrorist Omar Khadr can stay right where he is, in prison at US Naval Station Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Six in ten Canadians do not want him back..."

 


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
September 18, 2012 - 3:41am
#88

Coren Confronts a Khadr (and vid)

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/1836869443001

"Michael Coren attends a Toronto 9/11 vigil where a counter-protest took place in support of Omar Khadr.."

Canadian nazi media in action.

 

Canada Delaying Transfer of Citizen from Guantanamo Prison: Activists (and vid)

http://presstv.com/detail/2012/09/18/262190/canada-delays-citizens-gitmo...

"Canadian activsts have accused Ottawa of failing to expedite the return of Omar Khadr, the Canadian citizen who has unlawfully been held in the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison camp since 2002.."


NDPP
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Joined: Dec 28 2008
September 22, 2012 - 1:39am
#89

US Officials Accuse Tories of Leaking Omar Khadr Documents

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1260778-u-s-official...

"US administration officials accuse the federal Conservative government of leaking classified documents about Guantanamo Bay prisoner Omar Khadr, saying they 'are astonished' by the apparent breach..."

surely it is now 'safe' for even the ndp to say something on this...?


pookie
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Joined: Dec 13 2005
September 29, 2012 - 9:23am
#90

CBC and Toronto Star reporting that Khadr has been repatriated.  Toews holding press conference shortly. 

http://www.thestar.com/specialsections/omarkhadr/article/1264339--omar-k...


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