home

Married to the Jihad

Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul has an excellent post today on the latest in the torture scandals. The middle section of her post talks about 18 year old Canadian Omar Khadr who has been imprisoned for 3 years, since age 15. This week the Toronto Star called for a trial by impartial tribunal or his release.

Last year we wrote a long piece on Omar's family--which stemmed from an article titled Married to the Jihad. It depicted a reporter's interview with two Canadian al Qaeda wives, one of whom was Omar's mother, who expressed their expectation and approval of their sons joining the call to fight.

Abdurahman and Omar were captured by the Americans and imprisoned at Guantanamo. Abdurahman, who liked to posture around the bazaar, swigging from an imported bottle of tabasco sauce to impress his buddies, has blamed greedy Kabul acquaintances for "selling" him to the Americans for a bounty. Omar, who was only 15 at the time, hunkered down with some fleeing Arab fighters in Khost, eastern Afghanistan, until American troops attacked the hideout. Despite being described by his mother as the most sensitive of the brothers, he is reported to have killed an American medic during the gunfight before taking a bullet himself, in the eye. He was soon whisked off to Guantanamo, where he was not allowed to speak with his incarcerated brother and where he remains under interrogation.

The original article is now subscription only, but we quoted so much of it you'll get the full flavor. It's quite a tale.

Nonetheless, the Star is right:

Canadian troops fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan, to defeat Al Qaeda and to defend our way of life. That way does not include jailing 15-year-olds forever, under abusive conditions, for crimes committed under fire, which have not been weighed publicly in a credible court. [Prime Minister] Martin must press for Khadr to be tried, or released.

Jeanne adds:

The problem is, Omar Khadr is as much a victim of these people as a member of the family. He's eighteen years old. When he was captured in Afghanistan, he was fifteen -- a child turned into a soldier by parents from hell. And our government's response to this victim of child abuse was to abuse him further.

< Lockdown at Pelican Bay State Prison | Senate Hearing Monday on Cash Payments in Iraq >
  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


  • Display: Sort:
    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 02:57:36 PM EST
    So are they saying, we should let all jihadist go, because all Moslem are victims of Mohammadanism? Don’t do the crime, if you don’t want to do the time.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 05:22:59 PM EST
    Don't you just love straw men? Why do I get a feeling that if someone progressive said "People should eat vegetables," someone like BurgerBoy would respond, "So are they saying we should stuff vegetables down our throats until our stomachs burst in overdoses of nutrition? Better to stick with Big Macs!" No, no one said "We should let all jihadists go," except BurgerBoy. The article says that a child forced to take up arms by his parents should not be put in prison for life, and tortured along the way. Is that really so hard for the "compassionate conservative" brigade to understand?

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 05:47:59 PM EST
    Matt - You are quite correct. He should have been shot out of hand on the battlefield or behind the lines when caught. Quicker, easier, cheaper, and even traditional! -C

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#4)
    by BigTex on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 05:59:02 PM EST
    Is that really so hard for the "compassionate conservative" brigade to understand? Outside o' rh' don't torture him bit, yeah, it's a might difficult t' understand. He was fightin' against all who are not Muslims. Th' rallyin' cry o' th' rattlers is convert or die. "If America will not convert on its own, we (i.e. the militant Islamist movement) will eventually become strong enough to topple the government and convert America, and her people, by force." NY Post. Christians, who lived peaceably with their Muslim neighbors three years ago, now live in daily fear of attacks from them. Declaring they are on a holy mission from Allah, machete-clad Muslims assault Christian villages shouting, "Convert to Islam or die. ICC Harkat-E-Islam Al-Jihad’s issued ultimatum .. The letter said, their family members will be attacked and houses will be burnt if they do not follow the orders ... We have established Harkat-E-Islam Al-Jihad to eliminate people like you. Our Jihad will continue until we win. Our main objective is to exterminate you from this country. The Daily Sangbad (Bengali News Paper) Now I'm not sayin' that he shouldn't get his chance t' prove his innocence t' a tribunal, but he is accused o' throw a grenade at US troops and killin' a medic, a noncombantant. Yeah, it is a shame that his parents exerted influence on him t' join jihad, but he was activly participatin'. When Afghanistan was invaded he could o' fled and claimed he was kidnapped, or surrendered away from hostilities and given information t' ail th' troops, or acted like he froze on th' battlefield, th' list goes on. Before anyone says he was coerced into makin' th' confession, remember none o' us have personal knowledge he didn't (or fer that matter he did like claimed) that's why there are tribunals, which he should stand before. But don't let him go with out tryin' him fer his actions.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 06:50:45 PM EST
    Dear Matt I was asking a question, not making a statement, I put a question mark at the end. What makes this jihadist worthy of mercy? “Question mark” I was at the same time making a valid point that all jihadist could claim to be victims of US policy or in reality victims of Mohammadanism. Does being a victim make them worthy of our mercy, when their goal is our destruction? “Question mark” I don’t think Usama bin Laden was just trying to say “HI” on 9/11. I have empathy for any person who would devote his life to the destroying of others lives. According to the Qur’an and Hadith this jihad is the ultimate of accomplishments of any Moslem against the infidel. Just because you have empathy for someone, does not remove the fact that we are a nation governed by laws that dictate what one must pay for their chosen actions. Specially one who killed an American service man during their Islamic jihad at the age of 18. A Christian martyr says “I will die for what I believe in” A Moslem martyr says “You will die for what I believe in”

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#6)
    by glanton on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 07:32:21 PM EST
    Ahh, The joys of warfare. Don't you guys love it? How blessed we are to have so many on this site to patiently explain how uncomplicated life is, that there's really no moral issue at all here. What if it was a seven year old, Cliff? Shoot him then too? Ah, easy. Why even ask? Can't wait for the next invasion!

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 07:59:14 PM EST
    glanton - During the last days of the battle for Berlin, before we stopped and let the Russians murder every man not judged fit for the gulag and rape every woman between 6 and 60, we were regularly shooting ten year olds and 70 year olds. During the battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa we regularly killed women and children as young as 8. At the very end of the Civil War the Union Army was forced to kill and entire class of 7th graders from a military academy near New Orleans during a bayonet charge (they had only one round each). My family still honors that distant dead cousin. Of course they used to be killed out of hand. Heck, the French still honor members of the resistance (nor more than half of whom were probably Vichy) who were killed as young as 12. -C

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#8)
    by glanton on Sun Feb 13, 2005 at 08:45:09 PM EST
    You relate truths, Cliff, but they are sick and depraved truths. The worst of human history can be found in the creative ways we have fashioned for annihilating one another. Some people get off on these kinds of scenarios, it makes them feel manly and patriotic and oorah and all that.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 12:41:15 AM EST
    Quoth Cliff:
    He should have been shot out of hand on the battlefield or behind the lines when caught.
    Yeah, right. Shoot the prisoners. I wish that some day you'll meet up with someone who will mete out to you the treatment you recommend to others.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#10)
    by bad Jim on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 12:42:30 AM EST
    "Shoot the prisoners" was mine.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 07:02:19 AM EST
    Unless we want our young soldiers tortured, we cannot contenance torture. Period. Throughout the ages, kings and dictators and sadists have found that using torture can get people to admit to almost anything. That is not what we want our country to be doing to anyone. If a child has been found to be acting as a soldier -- we have seen child soldiers in many countries, these days -- that does not give us the right to hold that child forever in a far-away jail. Nor to torture him.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 03:14:32 PM EST
    During the last days of the battle for Berlin, before we stopped and let the Russians murder every man not judged fit for the gulag and rape every woman between 6 and 60, we were regularly shooting ten year olds and 70 year olds. Who's this "we" you speak of, Cliff? When I last looked into the history of the Battle for Berlin, there were no American soldiers anywhere within 150 miles of the place. And if, as you claim, American troops were regularly gunning down children and old men during World War II, perhaps you could enlighten us as to why you appear to be upset that the the Russians were doing the same thing? You should examine your inner soul, Cliff, and try to understand why you lack any compassion for your fellow human beings, once you have categorized them -- whatever their age and with no evidence other than the almost always discredited claims of the Bush administration flacks -- as "terrorists."

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#13)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Feb 14, 2005 at 06:34:24 PM EST
    I agree it's terrible that young Omar is being held against his will. Why, those nasty Americans ought to release him right now, and give him a brand new AK-47 with a couple of banana clips fully loaded to make up for his lost time. Maybe even throw in some RPGs, just to give the boy a head start on restarting his chosen occupation of jihad against the West.

    Re: Married to the Jihad (none / 0) (#14)
    by jondee on Tue Feb 15, 2005 at 04:19:12 PM EST
    Cliff's "conservative" take on history in a nutshell - Cannibal mother to cannibal son:"But junior,we cannibals have ALWAYS eaten people."