The Pessimist

Let me begin by stating my opinion on the celebrated Khadr family:

The elder Khadr's were naturalized Canadian citizens for over 25 years, and in that time they brought into the world a handful of Canadian babies. However, in all of those years they never adopted Canadian values. Quite the opposite, they became jihadists of the highest order.

The Khadr family are close personal friends of Osama bin Laden and had spent several years residing at his private compound in Afghanistan. The boy children attended the terrorist training camps. The elder Mr. Khadr got himself killed in a fire-fight with American troops and got his youngest son wounded by the American army.

Mrs. Khadr returned to Canada for medical help for her wounded child (because health care in Canada is excellent and free). But while her son was receiving the best care in the world, Mrs. Khadr and her daughter were frequently "seen" in the burkha bags on television giving interviews saying what a wonderful man bin Laden was; what a great thing 9/11 was; and what a crap country Canada and the U.S. were.

The Khadr's used Canada as their personal safe-house, while taking all that Canada had to offer. They moved freely around the world on the respected Canadian passports. But they hate us, and wish us death. What a bunch of psychopaths.

Some say that we should revoke their citizenship and deport them. But I don't agree. I agree with our local Member of Parliament (Andrew Telegdi) that citizenship should not be dispensed with so lightly. They are Canadian citizens, and are entitled to all the rights that citizenship entails. The fact that they have not taken the responsibilities of citizenship to heart should be dealt with otherwise.

If they are behaving criminally, they should be jailed.
If they are trafficing in and spewing hate, then CSIS should be so far up Mrs. Khadr's ass that they should know when she is hungry before she does. CSIS should then apply the criminal justice system to deal with them when they cross the line.
If they were just behaving as intolerant bigots, they should be goaded into conforming to Canadian values, or shunned.

But what was my point on the trial? Oh yeah.
The military trial started today at Gitmo. And what happened on the first day? The judge castigated Omar Khadr for showing up in jeans and a t-shirt. The judge said that his apparel showed insufficient respect for the court and ordered him to dress better tomorrow.

Well, he's been living in an orange prison jump-suit at gitmo for the last two years. Where was he supposed to get a respectable suit and tie? Should he have nipped over to the Santiago de Cuba Banana Republic?
If he was to be dressed suitably, shouldn't that have been the responsibility of his American lawyer?
Christ, if the American military tribunal wants a show of respect, maybe they should show some respect for human rights and international law.

But, as ThePessimist, I don't see that as likely.