One of the top news stories in Canada recently is the fate of the Pakistani-Canadian Omar Khadr. At age 15, Mr. Khadr was captured in Afghanistan in July of 2002 following a 4-hour firefight with American forces. Since then, Khadr has been kept in the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, where he stands accused of war crimes and terrorism for throwing a grenade that killed U.S. soldier during the aforementioned firefight. In Canada, a great divide exists over what to do about Omar Khadr. Some say he should be left to the American justice system to deal with, others think Canada should step in and him. Should be allowed to serve his sentence in Canada? The debate is raging. Even the Prime Minister has had to comment. Steven Harper has made his position clear though: the PM says that Khadr “stands accused of very serious crimes” and that must “wait until the American justice system runs its course before he makes any further comments.”
My question is then, why is Omar Khadr even in jail or on trail at all? In 1996, the Omar Khadr’s father Ahmed relocated his family to Jalalabad, Afghanistan where his father worked for an NGO. And here is where the sticky situation arises. The Khadrs knew and worked with Osams Bin Laden and the Khadr and Bin Laden childen played together. This maybe is not that surprising; Bin Laden was a pretty big man about town in Jalalabad circa 1996. Following the 1998 embassy bombings and the subsequent American cruise missile retaliation, the Khadr family following the Bin Laden’s into the Tora Bora hill region. Ok, so I admit it, this looks bad, it looks like Amhed Khadr was a good buddy of Osama. But remember, this is 1998 we are talking about, so young Omar was only 12 at this time.
I question why Omar Khadr is being prosecuted for the following reasons. First, he is being charged with war crimes because he threw a grenade that exploded and killed a U.S. soldier. That is really a shame for that U.S. soldier, I feel bad for him, and worse for his family. However, that young man made a choice, there is no draft, he chose to join the U.S. Army and accept all the dangers that go along with that profession. That U.S. was part of a multi-national force that was invading the country which Omar Khadr called home. Khadr then threw a grenade and killed a soldier invading his home. War crime? No...that just sounds like war. Is that not what happens in a war? People shoot guns and throw grenades and other less fortunate people on the receiving end of said projectiles and explosives end up dead. It’s not glorious but its reality. What about the U.S. soldiers who no doubt threw grenades back at, and mostly likely killed some of, Omar Khadr’s companions. Are they being charged with war crimes?
I guess what I am complaining about is the doubt standard. A NATO soldier throws a grenade he is doing his job, Muslim kid throws one back and he is a terrorist and a war criminal. I am all for prosecuting actual terrorists and actual war criminals. Osama Bin Laden is a terrorist, Slobodan Milošević is a war criminal. However, every Tom, Dick and Harry who throws a grenade, shots a gun or sets off an IED is not a terrorist. They are soldiers in a war. Like it or not Afghanistan is a war. And in war people die. There are many people in Afghanistan who see us as invaders and in my opinion they have just as much right to defend their country as we would. Our job is to convince them otherwise but we have to always remember this is their home. When we call every Afghani or Pakistani who raises a fist in anger against an invading army a war criminal we degrade the term and make it mean nothing.
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