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Marcy did the heavy lifting yesterday of transcribing a letter that Omar Khadr wrote to Col. Patrick Parrish, the judge presiding over his military commission. After yet again firing his lawyers, Khadr appeared resigned. “[N]ot one of the lawyers I’ve had, or human right organization or any person say that the commission is fair, or looking for justice, but on the contrary they say it is unfair and unjust and that it has been constructed solely to convict detainees and not to find the truth,” Khadr wrote. ” I will not take any plea offer or [several words redacted] because it will give excuse for the gov for torturing and abusing me when I was a child.”
Reporting from Guantanamo — how satisfying it is to write those words — Carol Rosenberg informs us that Parrish ordered Khadr’s military lawer, Army Lt. Col. Jon Jackson, to represent the detainee at trial August 10. A federal court in Canada has ordered the Harper government to intervene, something the Canadians have resisted for years in Khadr’s case, as Khadr’s al-Qaeda connected family is among the country’s most infamous.
Assume for sake of argument that Omar Khadr, at 15 years old, threw the grenade that killed Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. That was a classic battlefield act, occurring during a July 2002 firefight. He is not accused by anyone of committing any hostile act against a noncombatant. Yet if Khadr’s convicted, he will be convicted as a war criminal.
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These “Military Commissions” are bogus show trials. They are no different than what the Soviet Union did, government sponsored murder and torture. The Commissions are also used to conceal the neo-con secrets, the Pakistan support of the Taliban and other terrorist groups, the privatized Blackwater secret armies, and the phony “Al Qaeda Affiliates”, sponsored by US taxpayers.
There is the covert war propaganda campaign by SAIC, K-Street, Pete Peterson, Burson-Marsteller and of course the Washington Post. Carol Rosenberg was punished as a lesson to the few real journalists left. Tell neo-con lies and you will be rewarded. Tell the truth and you will be purged.
Too bad Obama wasn’t on the job at the time. A predator drone would have made quick work of Khadr and any innocents in the area. /S
You obviously do not understand Khadr or the fraudulent Afghan War.
George Orwell nailed it. Presecient, wasn’t he? Truthiness is reality.
Shame what george and dick did to us and the constitution.
They had their way with this fella and our country, it’s a crying shame.
Isn’t that torture investigation about to report it’s findings?
Pfft. If Obama was really the man you think he is, he’d solve this problem right now with a predator drone. /s
That was a classic battlefield act, occurring during a July 2002 firefight. He is not accused by anyone of committing any hostile act against a noncombatant. Yet if Khadr’s convicted, he will be convicted as a war criminal.
Sorry, I’m afraid that’s wrong. Only privileged combatants may conduct legitimate attacks against soldiers. That means national army, uniformed militia, or other resistance groups making use of military-style rank, uniform, and observance of the rules of law. While Khadr should be able to at least partially escape responsibility because of his age, the claim that he was doing nothing illegal is not legally supportable.
Guilty – for violating the dress code?
Your same argument applies to the mercenaries in Irak and Afghanistan. It applies to the Armed Drone Operators. These assassins are criminals committing war crimes. Both the Irak and Afghans wars are violations of international law. These were based on phony pretexts cooked up by neo-cons, Darth, Wolfie, Feith, Zelikow, Addington, Rummy, Chimpie, Woodward, SAIC, and so on.
Sorry, I’m afraid I don’t understand what any of that has to do with this discussion, which is about Omar Khadr. Rambling about a million other unrelated things doesn’t have anything to do with this case.
And disraeli, under the laws of war, yes, whether you wear a uniform and insignia, whether you follow military discipline – these things matter.