Now Thats Just Silly

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/04/24/canadian.guantanamo.ap/index.html?eref=rss_topstories


The U.S. military filed murder charges Tuesday against Omar Khadr, a Canadian who was 15 when he was captured in Afghanistan and sent to the Guantanamo Bay prison in 2002.


Ok. Its an arabic name , and they picked him up in afghanistan.


Khadr, the Toronto-born son of an alleged al Qaeda financial leader, Ahmad Said al-Khadr, was captured in July 2002 after being badly wounded in a firefight near Khost, an al Qaeda hotbed in eastern Afghanistan


Ok, he wasn't sneaking around or anything , it was an out and out fire fight, soldiers shooting at soldiers, with everyone pretty much in army uniforms of one nation or another. (or as close as could be managed). No civilians about.


He is charged with throwing a grenade that killed Army Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer, 28, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and wounded Army Sgt. Layne Morris of West Jordan, Utah.


Excuse me while I laugh at the silliness of the US position.

(ahem) .

You are , not to be too picky about it , charging an enemey soldier with murder ,for the horrible crime of FIGHTING BACK in the middle of a full blown battle.


The murder and attempted murder charges state that the acts were carried out "in violation of the law of war."


Apparently , defending your home land from US soldiers is illegal , and they now arrest the individual soldiers and prosecute them individually for this.


The wounded soldier and Speer's widow filed a civil lawsuit against Khadr and his father, who authorities believe was killed in Pakistan. In February, a judge awarded them $102.6 million


And while you are denied access to civilian courts to defend yourself , civilian courts are not denied access to you ! You can be sued ! And I bet you didn't get released from Guatuanima bay to attend those proceedings either !

And ... when all is said and done, he was 15 when this happened. And he's been in jail for 5 years now. You sued a penniless 15 year old for a hundred million dollars , in absenteism, while he was languishing in one of your own jails. Yes, I'm laughing at this as well.


Well... after due consideration , maybe it isn't as silly as you think it is. If you think about it.

I mean , who's side is he on ? Al-Queda.

Where is Al-Queda ? Ummm... no where. There's no standing government , it's a collection of private individuals with a religious cause and an opinion that anyone who disagree's with them they're gonna cut your throat , record it , and put it on the internet for all to see.

Do they have a country or anything ? No , no country counts Al-Queda as a political force inside of it, though several middle eastern countries are suspected of providing support to it.

So , how do you deal with this collection of private individuals that leave their own countries and run of to fight a war in some different country, without their own countries say so, or without that different countries invitation ?

They are "interferer's in the affairs of nations" and they get what they deserve. No nation backing them ? They're private individuals , criminals. Arrest them for their actions and sue their butts off , because they weren't following any generals orders , just their own religious notions of what is good and bad.

In this respect the US detention is incorrect in trying them in US courts. They should be tried in Iraqi or Afghanistan courts for their crimes. Both regimes of which will , of course, execute these foriegn criminals for their murderous crimes. Thats what happens when you get caught trying to overthrow a government and fail. Usually they execute you for that.

If I was the US Prez, I'd turn them all over to the countries I captured them in and let them decide their fates.

But sueing a 15 year old enemey combatant who hasn't got a dime in his pocket for a hundred million dollars , because , well , he's an enemey combatant ! I'm still laughing at that one. And charging him with murder because, well, in the middle of battle he shot at some soldiers who were probably shooting at him ... laughing at that one too !

The silliness just goes on and on.
Do we still call this a kangaroo court ? I vote to rename it a Bozo The Clown Court.