Khadr: Canada's Embarrassment

Here we go again. Canada’s propensity to make unpleasantries go away with an apology and a good chunk of cash are about to happen again. This time, Canadian tax dollars, estimated at $10M+ will be given to Omar Khadr for wrongful imprisonment. If you don’t remember the name, Khadr is the person, a teenager at the time, who left Canada to go to Afghanistan to kill others. He tossed a grenade at U.S. soldiers, killing one and blinding another in one eye. That happened in 2002. Khadr was subsequently captured and sent to the U.S. Guantanamo base for detention and interrogation. In order to secure his release and return to Canada, Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes, including murder.

Now get this. Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled that his rights were violated. Although the court did not direct the government to issue an apology and give him $10M+, it seems the Canadian government’s default position on addressing controversial issues is an apology and cash.

The only good that may come from this mess is that Khadr not benefit directly from the money. The widow of the U.S. soldier killed by Khadr, Tabitha Speer, who has won $134M judgement in a Utah court merits the money more than Khadr. Some compensation should also be given to the soldier, Layne Morris, blinded during the grenade attack.