This is Omar when he was young. He may be 15 here but I am not sure.
This is an artist's skectch from the court case.
I must admit I have a difficult time comprehending the case of Omar Khadr, who is charged with killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. I doubt there will be much written about the case as it is troubling because of the defendant’s age at the time of the alleged crime. I am not a fan of Guantanomo Bay. I think it is wrong to cart people half way around the world, lock them up in pens for years and then try them as enemy combatants. After President Obama was sworn in he had promised to close Guantanomo Bay. It hasn’t happened and it probably won’t happen any time soon. No one seems to know what to do with these people. They are living in endless hell, far from home without a trial. Our system of government is based on a right to a speedy trial. These people do not have these rights nor do they really have any rights.
My problem with the Khadr case is the age of the “enemy combatant” at the time of the crime and the fact that he is actually being charged as an enemy combatant. He was fifteen and the killing happened in the war in Afghanistan back in July of 2002. I have a problem with the age of this child at the time of this crime as well as the charges against him based on when he was 10. I find it rather alarming that a 15 year old was transported across the world to a little island and detained. I don’t know how we as a country get by with some of this stuff. I am not saying that the child did not do the crime. Frankly, I don’t know what he did.
Omar was born in Canada. His father is Egyptian and his mother is Palestinian. They moved to Pakistan when Omar was four. His father was thought to be an associate of Bin Laden by the U.S. government. His father, Ahmed, moved the family back and forth between Canada and Pakistan. During the 1995 Egyptian embassy bombing Ahmed was arrested. The prime minister of Canada at the time was Jean Chrétien who negotiated Ahmed’s release. After his release he moved his family to Afghanistan. Omar was picked up after it was suspected that he threw a grenade at soldiers when they were sweeping an area that they thought was an Al Qaeda compound. One soldier died and three other soldiers were injured. Omar was shot three times. His father was killed in a battle a year later.
The thing that I and others find most concerning is Omar’s age. Omar has allegedly been recruited by Al Qaeda at a very young age. Some people feel he should be classified as a soldier rather than an enemy combatant. This article is interesting and explains more as this was first brought up in 2007. http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/04/terrorist_or_ch.html
What I find most troubling is that Omar never had a chance to grow up any other way if indeed he was recruited at such an early age. This is a good article on the current status of this case. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2010/0809/First-Guantanamo-military-tribunal-under-Obama-gears-up
I’m not going to pretend to have any answers here but this seems to me to be wrong to have dragged this kid away from his family and placed half way around the world to spend his young years in a pen at Guantanomo Bay. I’m not sure I understand either of these “wars” to begin with as neither one is a declared war. They are both considered military engagements. It seems to me we want special rules as though we are at war without actually declaring war.
Most people think we are at war because we call it war but we are not in a legally declared war as Congress has not declared war. They did pass an authorization that allowed President Bush to invade Iraq. However, they have fallen short to declare either war which I think puts all of these Guantanomo Bay detainees in a strange place. I’m not a lawyer. I don’t have a clue about all of the legal mumbo jumbo. However, I am an educator and I can’t believe that a country based on freedom could think that a child who was obviously influenced and possibly trained from little on to perhaps be a soldier could possibly have had an opportunity to choose any other life for himself! What choice did Omar have growing up? Could he have run away when he was four before his father moved from Canada? When he was ten was he expected to do anything other than what he was told by the adults that took care of him? If a child grows up knowing only this hate is he responsible for what he may become? This is a question that should be debated.
Our society here in the United States of America gives all kinds of breaks for the powerful. Should Laura Bush have gone to jail for the death of her friend when she was a teenager because he died in a car crash she was involved in? Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen both seem to have terrible tempers where they allegedly assaulted their mates. Charlie bought his freedom and Mel may or may not even be charged. The children of the rich and famous continually break the laws and get routine little pats on the hand for their misbehavior. Yet, when this child, who grew up knowing nothing of what most of us consider to be a “normal” life commits a crime, he is charged as an adult, enemy combatant, and then transported away from his family and friends half way around the world. I think what we did by that act alone was horrible and could be considered child abuse. If we do this enough we will probably create even more monsters that hate America. As I said before I don’t have the answers but I know we must educate people and talk about all of the choices we make as a country. A normal life may never be an option for Omar but how many other children like Omar are still out there? We must make a decision about Guantanomo Bay and we must live up to our own ideals as a country!