Omar Khadr
Omar Khadr is imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay by the US, who picked him up in Afghanistan for killing a US soldier. Omar was 15 then. Now he's 18, and the US still hasn't brought charges against him -- or to the other prisoners held there as a matter of fact. His mother and Canadian lawyers (Omar is Canadian) made an appeal yesterday in a press conference for the US to release him and for the Canadian government to do more. His lawyers claim that Canada is helping the US and is doing nothing to get Omar out. It's a sad story. Quite the tearjerker to see Omar's mom and grandmother crying at the press conference.
But the facts please. Omar's father, Ahmed, was a known associate of Osama bin Laden, and he died in a shootout with Pakistani police in 2003. A brother, Karim, was wounded in that shootout and has returned to Canada. Another brother, Abdullah, has been accused of running a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and his whereabouts are unknown. Yet another brother, Abdulrahman, is also in Guantanamo prison.
While Omar's mother makes her tearful plea, I'm left to wonder -- why was Omar in Afghanistan? He is Canadian. Shouldn't a Canadian teen have been in high school, learning math, science and playing video games? His lawyers and mother have appealed to Canadians for public pressure on the Canadian government to do something to help. I say no. If you're going to play in the public arena, then explain what your son was doing in Afghanistan. Why was he there with his brothers and father? What were they doing?
On a more pressing question however -- how the hell did these people make it into the country? And why are they still hear? Are immigration officials hired for their sheer stupidity? Do they work hard to turn away real immigrants and refugee claimants and work just as hard to let questionable characters in?
But the facts please. Omar's father, Ahmed, was a known associate of Osama bin Laden, and he died in a shootout with Pakistani police in 2003. A brother, Karim, was wounded in that shootout and has returned to Canada. Another brother, Abdullah, has been accused of running a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and his whereabouts are unknown. Yet another brother, Abdulrahman, is also in Guantanamo prison.
While Omar's mother makes her tearful plea, I'm left to wonder -- why was Omar in Afghanistan? He is Canadian. Shouldn't a Canadian teen have been in high school, learning math, science and playing video games? His lawyers and mother have appealed to Canadians for public pressure on the Canadian government to do something to help. I say no. If you're going to play in the public arena, then explain what your son was doing in Afghanistan. Why was he there with his brothers and father? What were they doing?
On a more pressing question however -- how the hell did these people make it into the country? And why are they still hear? Are immigration officials hired for their sheer stupidity? Do they work hard to turn away real immigrants and refugee claimants and work just as hard to let questionable characters in?
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