National Disgrace

Well the season is upon us and the talking heads are abuzz with election fever.  It is a strange buzz this time around because so much of the debate surrounds whether we should have an election at all.  Meanwhile, outside of elite circles, the world continues to revolve around much of the themes that have defined post-911 foreign policy.  To this I am speaking of the truly mind boggling events surrounding Canadian citizen Omar Khadr.  Omar is a 15 year old combatant whose has been detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as an enemy combatant. Thomas Walkom is a lone voice in the wilderness speaking of this issue, which you can read here.  Omar has only now been charged (after three years of detainment) and will be put before a military tribunal on the charge that he is guilty of killing a US solider.  While he may indeed be guilty, his treatment is nothing short of a travesty of justice.  His government has abandoned him.  The US government ignores even the weak provisions of its own constitution to put on display a 15 year old boy to prove it is doing something to fight terrorism.  Meanwhile Dick Cheney goes before Congress to ask for special permission to use torture.  Where is the government of Canada to stand up for its citizens?  Where is the justice system that Martin claims to protect?

Stand up and by heard Mr. Prime Minister, because your silence is a human rights tragedy.