In the land of the blind – a one-eyed man is king*

Shelia Pratt – Post Media’s Op-Ed writer at the Edmonton Journal and self-appointed Omar Khadr Cheerleader – reported on Thursday  that admitted “teen terrorist” Khadr is suffering from vision-loss in his remaining right eye.

Khadr was left blind in his left eye by shrapnel from detonated ordinance that he and his accomplices unleashed during the July 2002 final firefight that resulted in the death of two Afgan interpreters, death of U.S Special Forces medic Sgt Christopher Speer as well as the severe wounding/impairment of at least 4 other military personnel – including Layne Morris.

Had Khadr not been saved through extraordinary measures by the U.S Medics who had just witnessed one of their own being blown to pieces in front of them by these terrorist belligerents – he himself would have quickly succumbed to his battlefield injuries.   In saving Kadr’s life they ignored his demands to kill him – and in his diary an officer recounted that he was about to tell one of his soldiers to put a bullet into the badly-wounded Khadr – before a member of the Delta 3 squad told him not to harm prisoners.

Apparently, Khadr needs surgery soon to repair his vision or it “may be permanently effected” according to his Concordia University English instructor Arlette Zinck.

In a related development his lawyers were reportedly “stunned” to learn the Supreme Court of Canada will review the Governments challenge to Khadr’s successful Alberta Court of Appeal decision that allowed him to be held at a lower security Provincial Jail.  Personally, as a non-lawyer, I have never heard of the Supreme Court rejecting a Government challenge – as they are usually made for very valid reasons.

The general public was equally surprised when Khadr’s lawyers did an “about face” after this win and decided Khadr should remain in a Federal Institution as they discovered he would receive better access to programs such as studies that would allow him to complete his High School diploma.

So one wonders why Khadr’s lawyers bothered to appeal Justice Rooke’s original decision at all.

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* Attributed to Erasmus “Adagia” [1500] and interpreted to mean that “even one of limited ability is considered extraordinary by those of even less or no ability at all.”

Democrats blame CIA for torture.

Here is the U.S Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s retiring from briefing following the release of report on the CIA’s “Detention and Interrogation Program”.  Ezra Levant from Sun News gives a very accurate overview of the event.

Here is a link to a PDF of the report.

• As far as I can tell – nothing is new – except for the spin by the Democrats.  Moving from “about 100 terror suspects” to “119 detainee spread over dozens of black sites around the world – including Gitmo” is hardly “inaccurate” given the problem.   A definition of “inaccurate”in this case would be an order of magnitude – twice, thrice or more.  Twenty?  Come on.
• Formerly tortured Vietnam Vet Senator John McCain closely monitored these interrogation techniques and was briefed on their progress.  He disagreed with Sen. Diane Feinstein’s partisan characterization of the report.
• Recall that their ISIS opponents “enhanced interrogation techniques” often ends up with the subject dead.
• We shall see this report used to help advance Omar Khadr case in Canada against the government.

Ahmed in Wonderland

Well, well – wonders never cease.

In the process of reading about a complaint to the CBC Ombudsperson Esther Enkin about their reporting on a recent Omar Khadr news report – I found that there is a KHADR APOLOGIST website called http://www.freeomarkhadr.com!  Naturally they do not allow “open” comments (or any comments at all) as they would be forever giving their many detractors an opportunity to call them out on their perfidy.  As I am all for free speech – I welcome this site as a perfect example of what WOULD NOT exist in any nation that Khadr and his supporters cite as exemplars of what Canada should become.

Now I don’t have to search as hard for Khadr sympathizers propaganda as it is all in one place.

As to the complaint towards CBC – Ms Enkin rejected the charges with her typical alacrity.

Moral confusion of Ottawa Citizen continues with endorsing Khadr Propaganda OpEd

Following the tradition established by Ottawa Citizen Deputy Editorial Pages Editor Kate Heartfield on Dec 29, 2013 – the Ottawa branch of Post Media allowed Omar Khadr’s his own whitewash OpEd  on Oct 29, 2014.  The Ottawa Citizen made no challenges to the various wonderous claims that repeat former conflations of moral and cultural equivalence and attempt to confuse the readers by mixing-up national and international law.  (Further adding to the insult is that it seems likely the whole piece was ghost written for him by his complicit legal counsel).

To summarize his claims specifically;

1. he was a hapless “child soldier”
2. he was subject to brutal “torture” at Gitmo.
3. the Courts have validated all his challenges – revealing the uncalled animus of the Harper Conservatives.

1) Khadr was 6 weeks short of his 16th birthday when he actively participated in that fatal firefight which lead to the death of 2 coalition soldiers, serious injury of others – including his own likely death had he not been saved by the extraordinary emergency medical care provided by U.S Army Medics despite one of their team just being killed in the fight.  He – along with his fellow belligerents – were given multiple opportunities to surrender but instead brought hellfire on themselves when they shot at point-blank range two Afgan translators offering terms of surrender.

Invocation of “child soldier” status for Khadr stretches the typical definition far past the accepted 8-12yrs old age range used by the UN in past African conflicts.  It also runs over the Canadian definition of “young/juvenile offender” that allows adult charges for very serious offenses committed by 14-18yr olds ONLY when special conditions exist that indicate the young offender was able to understand the consequences of his actions and should have or could have made a mitigating choice but did not.  Those conditions would likely have been met with Khadr.

Lastly, are we ascribing North American cultural standards for the primitive, poverty stricken, third world that Khadr inhabited and where 16-18yr olds are beginning to form families and are considered adults.  Also, as we have detailed in past posts the “normal” early indoctrination of children occurring in many Islamic countries which would be considered psychological “child abuse” in most Western nations as a mitigating cultural factor.  Should we do Khadr the disservice of dishonouring his normative cultural tradition of Jihad and instead apply our own Canadian cultural standards and treat him like a normal juvenile delinquent teen from Scarborough?

Clearly, according to these standard definitions – Khadr was never a “child solider” unless one is prepared to push new standards or claim Khadr was NCR (Not Criminally Responsible).

Oct 29, 2014 – Syrian children as young as 5 years old are indoctrinated at ISIS Training Facility

2) While at Bagram AFB following capture and possibly Gitmo under American Military security Khadr maintains he was “tortured” by the “Frequent Flyer” treatment where one is shaken awake every hour while in a brightly lit cell – yet has not detailed what other mistreatment he alleges he received.  Even though the “Frequent Flyer” practice is quite common in many Canadian detention facilities – ostensibly to prevent adverse medical outcomes for recovering alcoholics or where self-harm is a risk – I have no doubt it is very discomfiting BUT it does NOT meet the definition of “torture”.  To really understand “torture” we must look to the atrocity’s committed in the name of Islam.

Oct 29, 2014 – ISIS commits another atrocity by brutally executing 30 Sunni Tribal Leaders.

Apart from this “Frequent Flyer” claim there is nothing else to substantiate Khadr’s claims of torture.  Much ink has been spilt in accusing the American Military of such acts – but most seem to have been the result of Hollywood scriptwriters.   Further, perhaps no other Military than the U.S has studied the intricate uses and abuses of torture in order to ensure they do not fall afoul of their own constitution.  A constraint not hindering many Islamic nations.

Taken in this cultural context the “torture” claimed by Khadr is akin to asserting that only being offered milk instead of lemon with his tea constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment”.

3) It is true that Canadian Courts ahve been kind to Khadr – but most of these decisions do not prove any government “conspiracy”.  The merely serve to clarify valuable legal points that have arisen from legislation that has been rolled out since 9/11.

When comparing Khadr to the case of Maher Arar – it is worth remembering that Arar was returned to his former county of origin – Syria – via extraordinary rendition.  This early case reinforced the importance for our Security Services not to expose new Canadians – even those suspected of allegedly treasonous actions – to greater harm when extradited.  In Khadr’s Supreme Court of Canada  challenge – it was determined that Canada’s Foreign Affairs bureaucrats can not advocate for a Canadian facing a legal issue in a foreign country and then betray that confidence – regardless of the national security outcomes.  It is a simple situation of preventing a conflict of interest – not a new restriction on international diplomacy.

And one can hardly equate Syria to America (or in Khadr’s case its stand-in, Gitmo).

The self-serving propaganda piece in teh Ottawa Citizen repeats the same arguments that have been made by Khadr’s Legal advisers ad nausium for the past 4 years – there is nothing new.   It merely shows us how deep the deception of our mainstream media has become that NO ONE apart from Sun Media was sensate enough to bother with a cogent deconstruction of the moral confusion, half-truths and hatred of our own Canadian values and U.S allies misrepresented by Khadr and his counsel.

And the final indignity was to post the OpEd on the same day that we morn the cruel and needless death of a decent young Canadian soldier – Cpl Cirillo – instead of shining a light on a POS.

OTTAWA CITIZEN RUNS KHADR OP-ED

Ezra Levant horsewhips The Ottawa Citizen for running a propaganda piece by Omar Khadr on the day of the funeral of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo.  Another victim of the same brand of terror that Omar Khadr practiced and remains unrepentant for.

Here is a link to the Sun News video.

ISIS recruiters can easily target Canadians: Expert

Multiple reports state Farah Mohamed Shirdon, a man in his early 20s from a Calgary, was killed in Iraq while serving with ISIS forces.

His alleged death comes after two other former Calgarians died fighting with extremists in the last year:

Damian Clairmont was killed while fighting in Syria and Salman Ashrafi died in a suicide bombing mission in Iraq.

Here is the rest of this article on Sun News.

Mainstream Media continues to “carry water” for Omar Khadr

In yesterdays Edmonton Journal (Aug 16, 2014) another reader opposed the EJ’s Editorial comment “Stop Playing Politics with Khadr” – reprinted in many other Post Media properties – that suggested the Federal Government was exacting a particularly cruel punishment on Omar Khadr by preventing any reasonable media access to him while he has been in prison.

Mr. Brad Schurman of Sherwood Park took issue with Jane Orydzuk’s July 31 critique of Canada’s role in providing military support in Iraq  and Afghanistan to bring about regime change post 9/11.

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Punish Khadr for life

Re: “Stop playing politics with Khadr,” Jane Orydzuk, Letters, July 31

This letter-writer wrote “there were hundreds of American and Canadian soldiers firing bullets at many innocent people.”

With an accusation such as this, it’s a wonder we still live in a free country. How many million pounds of aid have our military flown over to civilians in any given mission, how many schools, wells or power plants have they rebuilt that were destroyed by violent shadowy people? How much more good have they done while under fire than time spent firing?

Omar’s kin are a certified Canadian terrorist family, several of which have either been disabled or killed during their free participation in terrorism, combat, or whatever adventure you want to relabel that behaviour as. They have no love or respect for you or Canada, and have said as much.

If you are going to compare free-roaming murderers our justice system pampers and early releases, to this murderer who has been caught and jailed, then my hope is that Omar does get “punished for the rest of his life,” just as every murderer should be.

Brad Schurman,Sherwood Park

Sharon Maclise had penned the original letter that precipitated this dialogue – and she has this to add:

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The Edmonton Journal has made it their mission to convince the public that Omar was a mere boy with the instincts of a child when he killed Sgt. Speer and maimed Sgt. Morris.  Apparently not all “the people” are buying it. They weren’t buying it in 2008 BEFORE our clever Conservative government decided, for reasons only known to themselves and never shared with the public, to bring him back to Canada:

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/08/22/canada-doesnt-want-khadr-back-poll

And, despite the repeated finger-wagging and tongue-lashings of the Lawrence Martin’s  of the Media Party (as Ezra Levant of Sun News labels the main-stream media):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/in-the-matter-of-omar-khadr-shame-on-us/article1387362/

most of us are still not buying it today in 2014:

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/25/omar-khadr-not-a-victim-nor-is-he-a-hero

It seems that the only ones who have swallowed the “Let’s make Omar a folk hero” bait his lawyers have set for them, are the Media Party.  And, oh yes, and the Raging Grannies.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/25/omar-khadr-not-a-victim-nor-is-he-a-hero

Brad Schurman, a letter-writer published in today’s Journal, (see above) has the right idea regarding Omar Khadr and what should be done with him ~ given lifelong punishment as every murderer is given.

You need to realize how amazing this is, that this letter was published.  My understanding of good journalism (silly, saying that in the same breath as Edmonton Journal) that the Letters page should publish letters according to the same percentage of letters, pro and con, that the paper receives on any issue.  Thus, the Journal must feel compelled to occasionally publish a letter reflecting the public’s disgust with Khadr, as I am sure they get hundreds of letters voicing that opinion, so they cannot be accused of bias!  Yes, you can laugh now!  Sheila Pratt of the Journal is Khadr’s personal progressive cheering section, publishing everything that makes him look so “put upon” by her version of right-wing fascists and filtering anything resembling the unpleasant facts of his history and actions.

While the Journal used to publish my Letters regularly, since Margo Goodhand, late of the Winnipeg Free Press (see link below regarding Goodhand’s Winnipeg Free Press and Manitoba journalism history) became the new editor, it never publishes one.  Knowing Goodhand’s journalism background, I called her up shortly after she became editor wondering why the Journal could not be bothered to join the Press Council of Alberta – were they afraid of regulation and oversight?  This may explain a little more about who Goodhand is and why she prefers to avoid outside regulation of her press practices.  It seems she prefers to be a one woman regulator of other media, with a direct pipeline to the CRTC, while steering clear of oversight herself:

“However she managed to stay around just long enough to see the irreparable damage that she caused to the radio station, to the reputation of the college, and, worst of all, to the integrity of the journalism course it offers.”

http://blackrod.blogspot.ca/2012/07/margo-goodhands-legacy-in-winnipeg.html

Sharon Maclise

VICE DOCUMENTARY SHINES LIGHT ON MUSLIM WORLD

Adrienne BHATRA, Arun KHAN and Ray HEARD discuss why Mulsim Community does not criticise radical elements within their own community and posters at York University that indicate a backlash against immigration.

ISIS indoctrination of children

In the video below a 9 year-old boy is coached and primed by his Belgian father to say hateful things about “kafirs” (non-Muslims in the west) then another looks forward to learning to go to a camp where he will learn to use an AK-47 and kill “Americans, Russians, Kafirs”.

Who can doubt this was the kind of programming Omar Khadr was exposed to while traveling with his father in Pakistan/Afghanistan to various Al-Qaeda operatives?

h/t VICE 

Let Khadr tell his own story

Letter to Edmonton Journal RE: Opinion – July 30, 2014

Khadr is an admitted killer who would have been sentenced to 40 years in jail had his sentence not been interrupted by our hypocritical Canadian government.  Would we let Paul Bernardo, who defended his heinous crimes, give a self-serving interview to the public from inside his jail cell?  Not a chance.  We did not give falsely convicted inmates like David Milgaard or Steven Truscott or Donald Marshall a podium to preach from, and they never admitted to the crime they were falsely convicted of committing.

Why would we give someone who was a traitor to his country, entered a battlefield against his fellow countrymen with the object of killing, injuring, maiming and harming men and women that Canadians, you and me, sent to that battlefield to defend and protect us, a chance to speak?  We should allow a man who has never repented of his crimes or promised to avoid any association with family and friends who continue to preach in support of the same traitorous crimes, a public podium to further injure the memories of the 158 soldiers who died on that battlefield and the family of his dead victim as well as his surviving victims? His crimes speak loudly for themselves.

And why would a self-respecting, principled reporter and news outlet ever consider publishing his words?  To sell newspapers in a down market?

Sharon Maclise