justice or something
18 - 07/17 /10:15
Last week the Prime Minister of Canada issued a formal apology and ordered the Canadian government to pay $8+million (10.5million Canadian dollars, although Canada refuses to disclose the amount officially) to Omar Khadr. Mr Khadr previously pleaded guilty to tossing a grenade that killed Sgt Christopher Speer, a US Army Delta Force medic. Another American soldier, Sgt Layne Morris was partially blinded in the attack.
No court anywhere ordered this action. What prompted Prime Minister Trudeau? Is this about justice? Or something else?
No court anywhere ordered this action. What prompted Prime Minister Trudeau? Is this about justice? Or something else?
For several years prior to his 2002 grenade attack, the then 16yr-old Omar Khadr had lived and trained with al Queda in Afghanistan. 2003-2004 Mr Khadr was held in Guantanamo Bay, under Canadian control. In 2010, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled his interrogation there violated Canadian standards. A few months later Mr Khadr pled guilty to five war crimes charges and was sentenced to 40yrs in prison, which was reduced by pretrial agreement to eight years. In 2012 he was repatriated to Canada, then released on bail in 2015.
Omar Khadr promptly sued Canada for 20million Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, Sgt. Speer’s widow, her two young children, and Sgt. Morris received a $134million judgment against Mr. Khadr in a US Court.
Although they knew about the outstanding judgment, for some reason the government of Canada rushed payment to Mr Khadr before an injunction petition could be heard by a Canadian court. Member of Canadian Parliament Peter Kent writes that Prime Minister Trudeau’s actions are an “affront to the memory of Sgt Speer, to his widow, his children, to our US allies and to all men and women in uniform.” Huffington Post Canada reports that as a result of Trudeau’s machinations, “Canadians are raising money for the US soldiers’ families.”
If the payment was about justice, why the sneaking and the dodging?
The Bible tells the story of a celebrity prince who spent four years talking about justice as a means of gaining political advantage. In the end Absalom found himself dangling from a tree, his luxurious thick head of long hair somehow entangled in its branches. Preaching justice for political advantage often ends with the preacher unexpectedly entangled, flailing and dangling and exposed as a hypocrite.
Certainly the Prime Minister of Canada is after something other than making one al Queda fighter a millionaire. Whatever his reasons, Prime Minister Trudeau’s extraordinary actions have unjustly undermined the Speer family’s legal options. Something other than justice is at work when a government dodges due process to payoff the killers of those who serve their country. ~
Blessings,
Dan Nygaard
Omar Khadr promptly sued Canada for 20million Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, Sgt. Speer’s widow, her two young children, and Sgt. Morris received a $134million judgment against Mr. Khadr in a US Court.
Although they knew about the outstanding judgment, for some reason the government of Canada rushed payment to Mr Khadr before an injunction petition could be heard by a Canadian court. Member of Canadian Parliament Peter Kent writes that Prime Minister Trudeau’s actions are an “affront to the memory of Sgt Speer, to his widow, his children, to our US allies and to all men and women in uniform.” Huffington Post Canada reports that as a result of Trudeau’s machinations, “Canadians are raising money for the US soldiers’ families.”
If the payment was about justice, why the sneaking and the dodging?
The Bible tells the story of a celebrity prince who spent four years talking about justice as a means of gaining political advantage. In the end Absalom found himself dangling from a tree, his luxurious thick head of long hair somehow entangled in its branches. Preaching justice for political advantage often ends with the preacher unexpectedly entangled, flailing and dangling and exposed as a hypocrite.
Certainly the Prime Minister of Canada is after something other than making one al Queda fighter a millionaire. Whatever his reasons, Prime Minister Trudeau’s extraordinary actions have unjustly undermined the Speer family’s legal options. Something other than justice is at work when a government dodges due process to payoff the killers of those who serve their country. ~
Blessings,
Dan Nygaard