We have two thick files on Omar Khadr, covering just the last five and a half years. The issue as we see it has nothing to do with liking or not liking who Omar Khadr was or is, or what he did or didn’t do.

It has to do with a Canadian citizen, a minor, railroaded through an American kangaroo court in support of the discredited agenda of a foreign power with the aid of his own country. It has to do with knowing that no civilian court in the United States or Canada would have permitted any charges against Omar Khadr to stand. It has to do with a Canadian government and a Canadian prime minister complicit in the torture, abuse and mistreatment of a child soldier for political purposes. It has to do with the shame that the likes of Stephen Harper, Vic Toews, Steven Blaney, Peter MacKay, et al, have brought upon us and our country. It has to do with how they’ve demeaned the value of citizenship in it.

It’s very possible Canada will one day have to write a large cheque to satisfy a judgment in Omar’s favour. Should that happen, we’d like to see Stephen Harper brought back from exile in Texas, made to get down on all fours, that cheque clenched in his teeth, have to crawl up to Khadr, present the money to him, and kiss him on the butt.

Those two files contain a number of letters to our politicians. The latest, published below, is in response to the Globe and Mail’s May 9th “PM has no apologies for Omar Khadr.”

May 12, 2015

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister of Canada,
Office of the Prime Minister,
80 Wellington Street,
Ottawa, ON K1A 0A2

Re: Omar Khadr

Prime Minister:

Omar Khadr should never have been charged with any crime. You know that.

Omar Khadr’s U.S. appeal of his military tribunal conviction will succeed. You know that, too.

You are complicit in the torture, abuse and mistreatment of a child soldier. What do you think that makes you?

You got nothin’ but medieval Machiavellian motives for ragging on Khadr, selling your soul for a few bigoted votes.

How could you do that to yourself? How could you do that to your country?

Charles H. Klassen