Khadr: Confession of a Junior Terrorist

As part of a plea deal, Omar Khadr has confessed to war crimes he committed at 15 and will serve one year of an eight-year sentence in the U.S. before being returned to Canada.

Ezra Levant’s Sun Media column on Khadr is best enjoyed if used to play a game called ‘Spot the Hyperbole,’ in which you must determine how much of what Levant writes he actually believes. Is it possible he believes, as he says he does, that Khadr’s confession is legitimate and untainted by coercion? Certainly it is; many Canadians think Khadr committed murder. How about Levant’s assertion that if Khadr’s repatriated to Canada “he’ll be out by next Christmas” on parole. Most analysts say he’ll serve four years, but it’s a legal grey area so sure, Levant could be right. His contention that the CBC is using coverage of Khadr as part of a project aimed at “undermining the legitimacy of the war on terror, including the Canadian Forces and CSIS”? That sounds a little overblown, to be honest. But his prediction that the liberal media loves Khadr so much that it’s “certain he’ll be the first murderer nominated for the Order of Canada”? There it is! Hyperbole! No way Levant believes that.

The Toronto Star may not want to nominate Khadr for any awards, but its editorial does declare “nothing like justice has been done in this wretched case.” Khadr’s military trial was a sham, the Star says, designed to elicit a guilty plea that can’t be taken at face value. Even those who think he’s guilty should rue the cobbled-together military trial that’s ended with an eight-year sentence. “Compare (Khadr’s) rough justice with the fair treatment given Fahim Ahmad, the ringleader of the 'Toronto 18' terror plot.” A Canadian criminal court gave him 16 years on Monday, and he didn’t even kill anyone.

As much as it may rankle many Canadians, it’s our duty to accept Khadr’s repatriation, writes the National Post’s Don Martin, not because Khadr’s a good guy but because the “Canadian government had a supporting role in his terrorist-trained upbringing, contributed to his captivity and didn’t lift a diplomatic finger to help him even when the highest court in the land urged them to act.” It’s a nation’s responsibility not only to protect its citizens, but to punish them if they commit crimes.