...born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad

Opprobrium in the Star: Letter-writers in the Toronto Star are outraged by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's seemingly callous disregard for Gitmo's sole Canadian resident, Omar Khadr.

Well, they would be, wouldn't they?

My letter, which offers a differing viewpoint:

I think everyone up in arms over the way Omar Khadr has been treated and Prime Minister Harper’s refusal to intervene and bring him home would be well advised to consider this: It was the actions of a previous Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, which went a long way to getting Omar--and us--in this predicament. It was Mr. Chrétien, after all, who interceded with authorities when Omar’s father, Ahmed Said Khadr, was locked up in a Pakistan prison. Khadr père, who styled himself as a charity fund-raiser but was actually raising money to assist his good friend, Osama bin Laden, repaid the Prime Minister’s consideration for Khadr’s citizenship by reaffirming his bond with the man who went on to unleash the 9/11 attacks. Soon enough, Ahmed found himself embroiled in a firefight with American soldiers that would end up costing him his life and land two of his sons in Guantanamo.

If not for Mr. Chrétien, Ahmed Said Khadr might still be in a Pakistan jail, his wife and daughter, who have publicly expressed their contempt for Canada and its values, might not be living here, and we might not be having an angst-ridden debate about whether or not to bring Omar “home”.

Posted by: scaramouche at 13:01 | link | comments (1)

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