tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post3575711279537874645..comments2023-10-18T05:23:01.822-05:00Comments on Laurence Hunt's Blog: Was Omar Khadr a “Child Soldier?”Laurence Hunthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-44010650337911035422012-11-19T21:38:30.172-06:002012-11-19T21:38:30.172-06:00Epihpyte. I think you are technically in the right...Epihpyte. I think you are technically in the right here. I just don't see al Qaeda as having a strategy to advance any positive agenda, even from within their own worldview. What I meant was that while their ideology involves the advancement of an idealized Islamic world, their behaviour tells us that for them, it is easier - and more engaging - to destroy than to build. <br /><br />I'd also like to add that as the years have passed, I've become more interested in the prospect of rehabilitation, though I hold no illusions about its prospects. That is, if we can't somehow rehabilitate or at least conduct a conversation with this individual, how much can we advance in regard to the legions raised within the same ideology, but without the exposure to our way of life which appears to have played an important part in his formation?<br /><br />But let us also never forget that the gap between us is immense. It will be a monumentally difficult, though possibly worthwhile, task. Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-91235988145599196072012-10-02T04:58:17.889-05:002012-10-02T04:58:17.889-05:00"Despite a smokescreen of intense ideological..."Despite a smokescreen of intense ideological rhetoric, this organization is best understood by examining its actions rather than by attempting to grasp its ideology."<br /><br />Not true. They have a very definite and a very clear ideology and a very specific objective: The expansion of the ummah and the world wide dominance of islamic law - with a writ to kill anyone who obstructs that agenda once an invitation to convert to islam has been extended and rejected (that happened back in the '90's). This is simply offensive jihad of the sword - only marginally controversial according to islamic theology because it is premature and does not have a Caliph directing it. All islamic supremacists - the muslim brotherhood included - are fighting for the same goal, it's just that some jihadists are more impatient than others. Epiphyte -https://www.blogger.com/profile/13764695910480345008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-64406447634687151162012-10-02T04:56:45.937-05:002012-10-02T04:56:45.937-05:00"Despite a smokescreen of intense ideological..."Despite a smokescreen of intense ideological rhetoric, this organization is best understood by examining its actions rather than by attempting to grasp its ideology."<br /><br />Not true. They have a very definite and a very clear ideology and a very specific objective: The expansion of the ummah and the world wide dominance of islamic law - with a writ to kill anyone who obstructs that agenda once an invitation to convert to islam has been extended and rejected (that happened back in the '90's). This is simply offensive jihad of the sword - only marginally controversial according to islamic theology because it is premature and does not have a Caliph directing it. All islamic supremacists - the muslim brotherhood included - are fighting for the same goal, it's just that some jihadists are more impatient than others. Epiphyte -https://www.blogger.com/profile/13764695910480345008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-56927651532233623292012-04-20T22:55:03.717-05:002012-04-20T22:55:03.717-05:00This MAN is now severely damaged, damaged beyond b...This MAN is now severely damaged, damaged beyond belief, and nothing and nobody can help that..He might have stood a chance if he was taken into a home of kind loving people and "reprogrammed" at 15 but even that I highly doubt. He was stuck in the system for 8 years and grew that funky beard for a reason..Don't bring this shit into our country we have enough extremist retards here as it is breeding by the second.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-497157561581079522012-01-25T14:43:37.107-06:002012-01-25T14:43:37.107-06:00I'd have to say, this was one of my most diffi...I'd have to say, this was one of my most difficult posts, along with a review of the movie, "Vera Drake." <br /><br />Of course, Omar was essentially a partially "innocent" and mostly dependent kid when this happened. If I'm trying to make a point here, it's that we are daily doing battle with thousands of Omar Khadrs, many conscripted into terrorism as children (and if they are involved in attacks on civilians, it is terrorism). <br /><br />So, in brief, we see children killing children. Which side are we on? When forced to choose (I don't want to, but I have to), I will side with the children being killed against the children who are killing them.<br /><br />My main point is that life hands us ethical dilemmas that have no right answers, yet answer them we must. <br /><br />Better, let's deal with the root causes of conflict. In brief, the West has meddled excessively in the affairs of the East and the South, and that has produced much of the blowback we are seeing today.<br /><br />However, to use the most pressing example, the Taliban daily attack children, both boys and girls, but especially girls. Among their conscripts are children who have been brainwashed in Madrassas, as Omar Khadr was, and now children are trained to kill children, and they do so willingly and with zeal.<br /><br />I for one will defend first those who live in peace and who have not been indoctrinated. It is difficult to reverse. <br /><br />But I will also advocate for non-intervention where possible, and for my country to avoid interfering in the affairs of other countries, where critical human rights questions are not overwhelmingly at stake. <br /><br />No matter how we choose, innocents will die. What course of action will thus result in the least long-term harm? Combatting child terrorism is among the most horrible of choices, which is why I chose to write about it. The question cannot be glossed over.<br /><br />My other point is that we are killing many Omars on the battlefield each day, and no one ever speaks for even one of them. They have no advocates, and, like him, they are killers themselves. <br /><br />With rehabilitation and humane treatment (both of which he should have under our justice system, though no more than any other Canadian or American), could Omar Khadr eventually become an ambassador of peace? I have no idea. Perhaps we do have the resources to aid him - I hope so. But there are tens of thousands no different than he whom we will never possibly be able to help, many already killers also, and many already killed.... <br /><br />Our world is grossly unfair. Perhaps we can be fair to Omar, and it will prove to his luck to have been born a Canadian, despite also having been born into a "terrorist family."<br /><br />But had I been a family member of the man he killed (and who knows how many others he had a hand in killing?), due to his training, I would have a greater right to judge this one young man. Similarly, perhaps moreso, had I been a family member of the citizens he terrorized, many of them also children, I would have to make that hard decision in a very tough and dangerous world. <br /><br />My final word. I am forced ethically to side first with the victims of terrorism. If possible, I would direct compassion towards the perpetrators as well, but never at the expense of the safety of their victims.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-60856703298877890032012-01-25T01:20:00.681-06:002012-01-25T01:20:00.681-06:00Don't ever judge the religion or race or cultu...Don't ever judge the religion or race or culture for a persons action, i come from a multicultural family< and i know that its all about politics and media>>>feel sorry for this poor child>>>and the worlds ignorance about certain matters... none of us will last forever in this world, so stop racism, and live for peace...enough bloodshed from both sides...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-20125281088079611602011-09-04T19:23:45.294-05:002011-09-04T19:23:45.294-05:00Thank you "anonymous."
As time passes, ...Thank you "anonymous."<br /><br />As time passes, I have been getting more "mellow" on this story. I certainly share your distaste for war, and feel we would be far better off by acting wisely to prevent conflict, rather than being forced to respond to acts of aggression by those who are perhaps responding in anger to our history of international transgression through colonialism, etc. <br /><br />I am now thinking we have done all we can do in Afghanistan, for example, that our continued involvement may be creating more negative than positive consequences - and certainly aiding those who wish to recruit more child soldiers to totalitarian and terrorist causes, by overstaying our welcome. <br /><br />I look forward to a world with far fewer child soldiers and adult extremists, and far more ambassadors of peace and compassion. <br /><br />Having read more about the successful interrogation of extremists, it is certainly clear that kindness is a better weapon for peace than cruelty. To the extent that it is productive, I would advocate the use of kindness where it will still combat terrorism and extremism!Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-89306828705443560232011-09-04T12:13:35.804-05:002011-09-04T12:13:35.804-05:00Hello there!
I think war is war...is war and viole...Hello there!<br />I think war is war...is war and violence in any respect is not right. I've just watched the documentary on him titled "You Don't Like the Truth - Four Days In Guantanamo". It was very moving indeed and it made me think.<br />I don't know the full story....yet I suppose few do actually know what happened or what the truth of the matter is. I know that any loss of life on either side is sad and we live in a world that is far from perfect.<br />So I'm pretty sure that in my lifetime war of any sort isn't going to stop at all. Just look at history to prove the point.<br />History 'does' repeat itself in more ways than one...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-81134873351764713082009-02-15T12:10:00.000-06:002009-02-15T12:10:00.000-06:00Though you are using harsh language, I am inclined...Though you are using harsh language, I am inclined to agree more than to disagree with you. Apart from the fact that he was born in Canada, Khadr is different in no respect from the hundreds of thousands of children now being raised in extremist families throughout the Muslim world. These children will grow up first to be "child" soldiers and then to be adult soldiers. We will be at war with them. I wish it were not so, but that is how things are. <BR/><BR/>It would undoubtedly be a "nice" story if we could rescue Omar, but such an outcome would swim against the tide of history. You are absolutely correct that far more could be accomplished by effective action in Darfur. Perhaps we do have the resources to "re" or "un" convert the adult children of Islamic extremist families, but it is a task akin to deprogramming or "reverse" brainwashing. And are we disrespecting Khadr's family's values by deprogramming him??? It is a complex moral problem. Personally, I would try the family members for treason (I'm not assuming guilt, though there seems to be ample evidence of adherence to treasonous principles and practices). Perhaps we would learn valuable lessons by trying to save Omar. I don't think it is his "fault" that his parents are/were militants or even that he was steered in this direction by at least his father. But that still leaves unanswered the question of how we are to respond to the child militants of Peshawar, for example. It's not their fault either, but they are still deadly dangerous to us and to our way of life.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-22286091443675859722009-02-15T10:25:00.000-06:002009-02-15T10:25:00.000-06:00I hate this ongoing story and the sympathy Khadr g...I hate this ongoing story and the sympathy Khadr gets. Omar is a liberal tear factory. The only reason he got any attention was because so many newspaper readers fell in love with his cutesy, baby-faced picture that's at the top of this post. To me, he is a symbol of sensational reporting and failed liberalism. I don't think the Harper government should even hear about his legal proceedings. To the mobs of Khadr supporters: dry your eyes and focus on something more important, like Darfur. Now there's something worth your time and your sobs."Jindar" (display name)https://www.blogger.com/profile/01254382561593826026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-48910198184980264092009-02-10T10:30:00.000-06:002009-02-10T10:30:00.000-06:00A lot has happened since I posted this article. It...A lot has happened since I posted this article. It now appears that Omar was not responsible for the death of an American soldier, for example. My core point remains the same however. Omar is one of probably hundreds of thousands of children being raised for Jihad. We tend to think of him differently because his father exploited Canada's generous citizenship policies to carry out activities that in any other age would have been considered treasonous. None of this is Omar's "fault." Perhaps we can even rehabilitate him (I don't know). Omar was certainly well on his way to being an agent of Jihad at the time he was captured. The larger problem is that there are hundreds of thousands more children like him being raised to practice terror in the Islamic world. My point remains that when we're in battle with these children - or later when they are adults - they will be shooting to kill, and so will we. So what do we do in this case? Perhaps we can find something honourable and effective. But in the larger scheme of things, it doesn't matter very much. We are being forced into war due to the twisted ideology of Islamic terrorism, and we will encounter thousands more Omars on the battlefield over whose plight no voice will ever be lifted. It is one of the deep tragedies of the human situation. We are forced to confront the evil itself, and in so doing, thousands of children and adults will die. And that will continue until either Islamic extremism runs its course, or the Western liberal ascendancy runs its course. It is a great clash of historic movements, and the end is not yet knowable. It is certainly worth contemplating that we could lose. If that were the case, I would expect few humanitarian gestures on the part of the Islamic extremists.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-24053929274684136932008-09-29T23:10:00.000-05:002008-09-29T23:10:00.000-05:00the point that you have completely missed is that ...the point that you have completely missed is that canada is a signatory to the convention of the rights of children. these laws protects children like omar. we in canada are fighting for his freedom we think the US is evil with guantanmo bay prison cause it goes against the geneva convention for the treatment of pow...just my honest opinion that is allsugarbabyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05308795066108620978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-65245717792489054572008-07-27T12:05:00.000-05:002008-07-27T12:05:00.000-05:00Because Omar Khadr happens to have been born in Ca...Because Omar Khadr happens to have been born in Canada, he is distinct from the thousands of compatriots exactly his age engaged more or less in the same types of activities in what is now the Afghan conflict. <BR/><BR/>Obviously there are problems with the Guantanamo process, and this has caused me to have mixed feelings about it. Certainly were our people to have come into the hands of many of the individuals detained at Guantanamo, they would not have enjoyed the rights of prisoners of war, as our enemy in that conflict does not even recognize international law. Torture and summary beheadings could easily have been administered by many of these detainees to our citizens should the tables have been turned. <BR/><BR/>That is, we are dealing with very dangerous individuals at Guantanamo (including in my opinion Omar Khadr!) who represent organizations that have no respect whatsoever for the international laws cited by advocates of humane treatment. <BR/><BR/>I am not saying that we should not treat the Guantanamo detainees humanely. Torture is not effective, and humane treatment defines who we are and what we represent. But let us never forget that the (for the most part) terrorists detained at Guantanamo are not party to the international agreements cited by the human rights advocates who seek fair treatment for them.<BR/><BR/>No matter how harsh an environment Guantanamo might seem, it is in every case fortunate for these individuals that they have fallen into our hands, rather the reverse. For were any of us to be detainees of their forces, the prospects of humane treatment and fair trials would not even be under discussion. <BR/><BR/>Again, the Afghan-Pakistan border region is populated by tens of thousands of Omar Khadrs - boys raised in extremist Madrasahs whose first desire is to die while killing infidels - whether among their own people (their most likely victims), or among our people (whom they are taught to perceive as debauched and/or Satanic invaders).<BR/><BR/>Whatever dignity and rights Omar Khadr is eventually accorded will almost certainly not be shared by the thousands more whom we shall face in battle in Afghanistan or in a possible wider war at some point. And certainly, the rights we accord him will never be extended by his allies to any of their captives, whether from among their own people, or from the Western nations.<BR/><BR/>Despite any hardships Omar Khadr may have sustained, he is in context a very, very fortunate young man to have been born in Canada.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-329533918995537832008-07-27T08:54:00.000-05:002008-07-27T08:54:00.000-05:00Whatever he's accused of, he deserves a fair trial...Whatever he's accused of, he deserves a fair trial, due process, and to be treated humanely. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments have done everything possible to deny that -- that's the main problem people have.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-57427510521014410242008-07-16T00:29:00.000-05:002008-07-16T00:29:00.000-05:00Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments.I...Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments.<BR/><BR/>It is no child's fault what his parents raise him to be.<BR/><BR/>Omar is rare in being born in Canada, but apart from that, I acknowledge that there are tens if not hundreds of thousands like him being taught in the Madrassas of the Islamic world by extremists. <BR/><BR/>Many if not most of these young men will go on the become instruments of oppression, and some will engage in terrorism, because that is what their parents are teaching them. <BR/><BR/>The notion that what we do about Omar Khadr is going to affect the larger problem is naive in the utmost. He is literally one of a multitude, with the only difference being that he is in custody, and most of his compatriots are at large. <BR/><BR/>Terrorist families have terrorist children, and our young men will fight with their young men (and/or women) in battles to the death, and there is little we can do about it until this particular brand of extremism runs its course and dies via normal historical processes.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-1349115346800114262008-07-15T23:09:00.000-05:002008-07-15T23:09:00.000-05:00Thank you for this analysis. It is difficult to th...Thank you for this analysis. It is difficult to think logically about these types of things, in fact, I think that it is almost impossible for an educated Westerner to work through this easily or perhaps at all in many cases.<BR/><BR/>I look at the pictures and its just a little boy to me. I see in him two of my youngest friends, whom I have known since they were young teenagers, both of Pakistani descent -- and yet -- he is nothing like them. They grew up in secular homes in the states. They are kind, loving, unprejudiced (and believe me, as a gay man when I can say that, I know whereof I speak) and have no respect for radical Islam. In one case, I can honestly say that I think one friend is effectively a complete atheist, although he doesn't use the word to describe himself. They are both in college now, and they want to do well in life. Neither of them would ever hurt anyone. This poor young man shares their appearance to a degree, and he does smile -- but he has been twisted and destroyed by the evil of evil men who claim to act in the name of "god" -- but actually act only in the name of darkness and harm toward others.<BR/><BR/>I look at him and so desperately want to help -- but I rationally doubt that I, or anyone else, can.<BR/><BR/>And you do a good job of explaining exactly what is going on. Furthermore -- if he was salvageable (which I am less unsure of than you are) -- our treatment of him has removed the possibility and now he surely is not. Now we have left ourselves with no choice.<BR/><BR/>Yet, I still look and see the sweet kind boy he could have been -- and it hurts.<BR/><BR/>End all fundamentalist religion -- before it destroys the human race.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19263903.post-89916506846253680522008-05-12T13:42:00.000-05:002008-05-12T13:42:00.000-05:00A good friend (I shall now dub him "Neo-Jackson") ...A good friend (I shall now dub him "Neo-Jackson") has a offered these comments by e-mail. He has given me permission to post them on his behalf:<BR/><BR/>Thank you for providing this acute analysis. I think the array of trans-national human rights is much flimsier and more fictitious than we wish to believe. In what might be a "Susanesque" way, I see the universal law paradigm as a western construct that we impose -- imagine we impose, mainly -- on non-western cultures and nations. China has self-exempted, with no adverse consequence. Various terrorist groups exploit the universal law model as a daily tactical asset. They violate its norms, while receiving its benefits when captured. Russia is a member of the Due Process Club in only a nominal way. Africa -- pretty much a loss. South America -- patchwork, no clear vector. India -- coming along, maybe. I'm afraid we're talking mostly to ourselves, in other words. The Globe & Mail editorial had no significant operative purpose other than to make its readers feel good about being humane Canadians. This is expensive self-flattery. It is a new thing to embrace organized sedition as a welcome expansion of diversity. It also weakens the claim made by the first duty of Canada's government: to protect Canadians from being murdered, in this case, by people whose purpose is to destroy Canada. Do you wonder that we appear suicidally insane, or flamboyantly incompetent, to Omar Khadr and his family?<BR/><BR/>On a separate but related point, Foreign Affairs recently published a major article on postwar European political history that critiques the idea that ethnic nationalism is enjoying a "new" burst of vitality. The fact is, it didn't go anywhere. The piece points out that 50 years of political events in Europe have produced a map closer than ever to antecedent ethnic, linguistic, religious, and cultural boundaries. The EU structure, then, is a transnational umbrella over an ethnicized set of frontiers, relationships, and alliances. The author was Jerry Muller (http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080301faessay87203/jerry-z-muller/us-and-them.html). In the long view, it's quite interesting; in a real sense, we're still trying to figure out how to set things up, now that Rome is out of the empire business.<BR/><BR/>In historical terms, the West has SO much money and SO much personal and external security that it may help explain the abnormality of our attitudes. The political classes, in truth, spend money like it exists in infinite supply. We give away due process rights, welfare, and legal status like Santa pushing out candy. On this last point, I'm no scholar, but it has to be highly unusual for any culture to admit to beneficial membership someone who not only forswears entry, and not only condemns the society, but is explicitly its violent enemy. It's so bizarre that I could imagine that pro-terror imams have a teaching that God makes us do these crazy things, as a showing of miracle power to assist jihad.Laurence Hunthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16512608792667325309noreply@blogger.com