Following several years in US custody which included a long history of mistreatment, Canadian citizen and former child soldier Omar Khadr “pled guilty” to US charges of war crimes for throwing a hand grenade.
Of course throwing a hand grenade during combat wouldn’t be a “war crime” in the first place, and Khadr’s young age at the time of the incident affords him additional protection as a child soldier.
But the Canadian government issued a collective yawn today to the report of the clearly coerced confession, insisting it was “between Mr. Khadr and the American government.” Some reports had Khadr pleaing guilty in the hopes of being returned to Canada instead of spending the rest of his life in military prisons.
Which ought to be shocking for Canadians. After all, the Canadian government would generally act as an advocate for its citizens when they get detained by a foreign power, and in this case we are talking about a child soldier in the custody of a foreign military which is known to have been abusing him for years.
Steven Harper has is tongue so far up the Pentagon's arse he carved his initiIals in tomorrow's Imperial turd. You wouldn't believe how little Canadians care about this story and how everyone's eyes seem to glaze over when they hear that he was a child soldier. It's like they don't hear it and keep repeating: "ya but he murdered an American fighting for freedom". I wonder if there is something in the public water here that makes us so stupid about what's going on. I swear that Canadians, myself excluded, of course, are clinically insane.
Don't assume that you are the only one who abhors the current regime in Canada. There are many others out here in the Wasteland.
As for insanity, that was imported from the US.
Residing so close to the imperial power infected our so called conservative political whores quickly.
Living in BC has the added depressing "benefit" of gordon campbell, so that we domestically, and internationally (stephen harper ), get the worst of both worlds..
Harper's racist and bigoted junta did what its supporters aka base expects it to do. Canadian mercenaries are war criminals occupying Afghanistan. What did Afghanistan do to Canada?
<Should be shocking to Canadians> Not so shocking to Canadians- and I would respectfully, if somewhat vainly, request that everybody refer not to "The Canadian Government" but instead to "Canada's Minority Government", since only 34% of the voters who voted, and 21% of the eligible voters, actually voted for those guys.
There was a showing of a Khadr documentary on Parliament Hill yesterday; EVERY Bloc Quebecois member attended. ALL. And not one Conservative.
Quebec is Canada's conscience on this, and they're all over this.
This government is not representative of Canada. It's representative of a tiny minority of religious zealots. And their time is nearly up.
Quebec is Canada's conscience? Quebec gave Canada the terrorist FLQ.
Why Canadians have any business in Afghanistan at all continues to boggle the mind.
Stumbling,Bumbling, fool this harper "Govt" has been an abysmal failure, shamed canadians in the eyes of the world and will be run out of Afganistan.
The Harper government will pay heavily for their disregard for this Canadian citizen. I voted for the Conservative representative in my riding in the last electiion and will never again vote for that party if they continue to not stand up for we Canadians. Five Canadian soldiers killed in south Lebanon just before the last Israeli-Lebanese war and it hardly gets a mention. One Canadian arrested in Iran and all hell breaks loose. With this support for Canadians, Harper is a dead duck.
and now for something completely different. at the time Omar Khadr entered his guilty plea our illustrious prime minister, the Right Honorable Steven Harper, was in Europe, lecturing the Ukrainian people on human rights.