Omar Khadr first to face trial for war crimes under Obama

Shame on Harper, shame on Obama and shame on us all. The Toronto Star reports today [2] that "this week the first war crimes trial under the Obama administration will feature its only remaining Western prisoner and one who was 15 when captured."

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the warmongers from the former administration were left to walk free, as Obama told the world to "look forward, not backward." Apparently we only "look backward" -- how on earth would any law ever been enforced without looking back? -- at the actions of child soldiers. Some in Washington, D.C. even seem to grasp how absurd this all looks, as the Star reports:

"As the historic first test of the amended military laws, some have made comparisons to the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders, but experts scoff.

'It’s actually in no way like Nuremberg," said Eugene Fidell, a professor of military law at Yale.

'This case doesn’t involve the leader of the opposing force, it’s not the head of the Taliban, it’s not the head of Al Qaeda. It’s small fries. If anything it’s like the follow-on trials that were held in (Nuremberg) Germany after World War II – if that.'

Even so, the political optics of having Khadr as the star of a showcase trial has some in Washington uncomfortable. Or as one high-ranking official in the administration who spoke to the Star on the condition of anonymity said: 'Let’s just say it has many people scratching their heads.'"

The article goes on to assert the following about Canadian public opinion on this matter:

"Polls show the country roughly split between calling for his repatriation and leaving him to face justice in the U.S. Over the years, an increasing number of Canadians have expressed concern at the trial delays, or issues surrounding Khadr’s age at the time of his capture – but the shift has been slight."

Now, the mainstream media deserves some of the blame for the fact that this case did not generate more outrage and mobilization. But I also believe that social movements and human rights organizations did not do enough to raise the profile of Omar Khadr's plight, and that's why I say shame on us all.

Not to say that that there weren't valiant efforts by Lawyers Against War, Amnesty International, the BC Civil Liberties Association and others in the peace and social justice movements across the country. It's just that so much more needed to be done to press for repatriation.

As for the upcoming trial itself, the Globe and Mail has an interview [3] with one of Khadr's civilian attorneys, Nathan Whitling. Here's what he says about why this trial is going ahead:

"President Obama has failed to make good on his own promises to close Guantanamo Bay or to fix the unfair military commission system. Powerful interests, including some in the Pentagon, are gung-ho on obtaining whatever convictions they possibly can – even if it’s just a wrongly accused child soldier. To date, President Obama has lacked the courage and leadership to stop them."

Comments

Submitted by Gladstone on April 26, 2010 - 5:16pm.

Dear sir,

What do you mean shame on us all? I've written letters to the government, and to opposition parties, demanding Omar Kadr's return to Canada. I've attended protests and public forums, signed petitions and sent letters to the editor. What else can we ordinary people do?

No, I say the shame is all with the Harper government, the Liberal party, and other racist and cowardly politicians and their allies. All reasonable and compassionate people should be outraged and disgusted with them for their complicity in US-led atrocities, including the torture of children captured in war zones like Kadr. But just add it to the long list of grievances we have against a nearderthalian political-corporate class bent on class warfare and backwards thinking.

But let us be clear that they don't speak for us. F*** them, and THEIR KKKanada.

Regards

Submitted by derrick on April 26, 2010 - 7:06pm.

I understand the sentiment... What I said was: "But I also believe that social movements and human rights organizations did not do enough to raise the profile of Omar Khadr's plight, and that's why I say shame on us all." The point being that I don't think the politicians in Canada are just inherently more nasty that the British and other countries' ones who were forced to demand their nationals be repatriated. If we can build stronger movements around these issues we can build the kind of people power to prevent these outrages from happening again. But by no means did I mean to imply a moral equivalence between politicians and our inadequacies in opposing them. I appreciate the time you and many others put in on this issue; the anti-war groups that I work with did work on this issue, but it was frustrating to see so little done especially by larger national organizations (the issue especially seemed to disappear after Obama got in).

Submitted by Pensive on April 26, 2010 - 7:14pm.

It's absolutely disgraceful and appalling that Omar will be tried for war crimes, yet Bush walks free.

edit: (as I saw your reply after i posted)

The point being that I don't think the politicians in Canada are just inherently more nasty that the British and other countries' ones who were forced to demand their nationals be repatriated.

I do. Harper and Kenny are definitely more nasty. Have you not been following the systematic dismantlement of our human rights, women rights, aboriginal rights, middle class rights, etc?

Harper has is abusing his office to benefit his own agenda and those of his various corporate buddies (including those Pro-Israeli). Look how they've turned a blind eye to the detainee scandals in general! Harper's reply? In a nut shell, " Canadians don't really care. ./shrug"

Well, I care.

Submitted by derrick on April 27, 2010 - 1:38am.

Harper and Kenney are certainly about as nasty as it comes, in a different political context but similar to a Sarkozy in France in the scope of their ambitious right-wing agenda... The comparison I had most strongly in mind was that the British attorney general objected to the military tribunals and called for repatriation of UK nationals way back in 2004 (only a year after the UK had stood shoulder to shoulder with the US invading Iraq). Back in those days, it was Canada's Liberal gov't leaving Omar Khadr to be tortured in Gitmo...