Oh Poor Pitiful Me
Click the title of this post to read the AP article that inspired it... That article details the first release of a video of an interrogation of a POW at Gitmo.
The POW in question is the 16 year old Canadian, Omar Khadr who was captured after being wounded during a firefight in Afghanistan in which among other things, he threw a grenade which killed Special Forces medic, SFC Christopher Speer and blinded another soldier Layne Morris. He is one of a family of Egyptian terrorists with Canadian citizenship.
Liberals have attempted to paint this video as proof absolute of the inhumane conditions at Gitmo and the "harsh" treatment these "poor" POW's are receiving. They seem to have their panties in a bunch about the fact that this is a "child" and as such should not be treated like a POW instead he should be eating ice cream and making prom plans instead of being "tortured" by his American swine captors.
Look, this is a child. That is true. Legally, in the US a 16 year old is considered a child... In most other countries of the world however a 16 year old is considered a man. A 16 year old is indeed capable of pulling a trigger and tossing a grenade. A 16 year old is additionally capable of telling right from wrong. I mean a two year old will lie about their misbehaviour, proving that even at that early age they are forming the ability to distinguish right from wrong. You see the development of this ability is nearly finished by the time a child reaches the age of 16, it doesn't suddenly spring into existence overnight when a child reaches their 18th birthday. Children are tried as adults in our courts here all the time and they are certainly not enemy combatants! I've seen 5 year olds acting as the heads of households in AIDS riddled Africa and children far younger than this kid carrying rifles in the militaries of many countries. Attempting to use this misguided youth as some poster child to indict our troops of "abuses" is ridiculous. It attempts to impose American sensibilities on parts of the world where they couldn't be any more alien.
In the article one of Khadr's lawyers is quoted as saying, "We hope that the Canadian government will finally come to recognize that the so-called legal process that has been put in place to deal with Omar Khadr's situation is grossly unfair and abusive. It's not appropriate to simply allow this process to run its course."
It is actually unfair to allow this person to go unpunished for causing the death of Christopher Speer and for maiming of Layne Morris.
Another quoted person describes Khadr as a "screwed up young man" whose trust had been abused by just about everyone who had ever been responsible for him — including his family and the U.S. military.
Listen, the world is full of screwed up young men who often grow to become screwed up old men and these screwed up people perform atrocious acts at any and all stages of life. His history and "screwed up" status does not excuse his actions nor does it indicate that any mercy is indicated.
The fact that he is indeed sitting in front of a camera alive and talking to a Canadian interrogator is certainly far superior to the alternative that has been presented to every American prisoner in this conflict. That in itself is the ultimate form of mercy and far more than this person deserves. Charles Manson was at some point a "screwed up young man" and the same could be said of Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer and any number of other infamous personalities.
If you misguided bleeding heart liberals are so sure that this "kid" is a poor misunderstood cherub, how about we let him stay with you in your house?
If you don't believe that this person belongs in Gitmo then explain how he wound up without parental oversight in the company of Arab terrorists in Afghanistan hundreds of miles from Egypt and and thousands of miles from Canada at the tender age of 15.
The POW in question is the 16 year old Canadian, Omar Khadr who was captured after being wounded during a firefight in Afghanistan in which among other things, he threw a grenade which killed Special Forces medic, SFC Christopher Speer and blinded another soldier Layne Morris. He is one of a family of Egyptian terrorists with Canadian citizenship.
Liberals have attempted to paint this video as proof absolute of the inhumane conditions at Gitmo and the "harsh" treatment these "poor" POW's are receiving. They seem to have their panties in a bunch about the fact that this is a "child" and as such should not be treated like a POW instead he should be eating ice cream and making prom plans instead of being "tortured" by his American swine captors.
Look, this is a child. That is true. Legally, in the US a 16 year old is considered a child... In most other countries of the world however a 16 year old is considered a man. A 16 year old is indeed capable of pulling a trigger and tossing a grenade. A 16 year old is additionally capable of telling right from wrong. I mean a two year old will lie about their misbehaviour, proving that even at that early age they are forming the ability to distinguish right from wrong. You see the development of this ability is nearly finished by the time a child reaches the age of 16, it doesn't suddenly spring into existence overnight when a child reaches their 18th birthday. Children are tried as adults in our courts here all the time and they are certainly not enemy combatants! I've seen 5 year olds acting as the heads of households in AIDS riddled Africa and children far younger than this kid carrying rifles in the militaries of many countries. Attempting to use this misguided youth as some poster child to indict our troops of "abuses" is ridiculous. It attempts to impose American sensibilities on parts of the world where they couldn't be any more alien.
In the article one of Khadr's lawyers is quoted as saying, "We hope that the Canadian government will finally come to recognize that the so-called legal process that has been put in place to deal with Omar Khadr's situation is grossly unfair and abusive. It's not appropriate to simply allow this process to run its course."
It is actually unfair to allow this person to go unpunished for causing the death of Christopher Speer and for maiming of Layne Morris.
Another quoted person describes Khadr as a "screwed up young man" whose trust had been abused by just about everyone who had ever been responsible for him — including his family and the U.S. military.
Listen, the world is full of screwed up young men who often grow to become screwed up old men and these screwed up people perform atrocious acts at any and all stages of life. His history and "screwed up" status does not excuse his actions nor does it indicate that any mercy is indicated.
The fact that he is indeed sitting in front of a camera alive and talking to a Canadian interrogator is certainly far superior to the alternative that has been presented to every American prisoner in this conflict. That in itself is the ultimate form of mercy and far more than this person deserves. Charles Manson was at some point a "screwed up young man" and the same could be said of Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmer and any number of other infamous personalities.
If you misguided bleeding heart liberals are so sure that this "kid" is a poor misunderstood cherub, how about we let him stay with you in your house?
If you don't believe that this person belongs in Gitmo then explain how he wound up without parental oversight in the company of Arab terrorists in Afghanistan hundreds of miles from Egypt and and thousands of miles from Canada at the tender age of 15.
Labels: Commentary, Middle East, Militant Islam
posted by G-Man at 2:19 AM
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