Gitmo former 'child soldier' sentenced to 8 years
By BEN FOX, Associated Press Ben Fox, Associated Press – 30 mins ago
guantanamo bay naval base, cuba – a former teenage al-qaida fighter was sentenced sunday to eight more years in custody under the terms of a plea agreement unsealed after a military sentencing jury said he should serve 40 years for war crimes.
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A former teenage al-Qaida fighter was sentenced Sunday to eight more years in custody under the terms of a plea agreement unsealed after a military sentencing jury said he should serve 40 years for war crimes.
Omar Khadr looked straight ahead as a military judge imposed the eight-year sentence, ending a legal odyssey that began when the Canadian son of a major al-Qaida figure was captured — at age 15 — with severe wounds in Afghanistan in 2002 after a four-hour firefight.
Khadr pleaded guilty Oct. 25 to five war crimes including murder for throwing a grenade that mortally wounded an American special forces medic, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer. Military prosecutors said it was no routine battlefield killing because the Canadian was not a legitimate soldier, but an al-Qaida fighter.
Speer's widow, Tabitha, pumped her fist and cheered "yes!" when the jury announced its 40-year sentence. Then she burst into tears.
Under terms of the plea deal, the U.S. agreed to send the now 24-year-old Khadr — the last Western prisoner at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba — back to his homeland after one more year in custody. He has been held at Guantanamo for eight years.
The Toronto-born Khadr could have received up to life in prison if convicted at trial of even one of the charges against him.
The Khadr case has been one of the most scrutinized at the Guantanamo war crimes tribunals, with critics saying that a battlefield death should not be treated as a homicide and that Khadr — whose father was a confidante of Osama bin Laden — was a "child soldier" pushed into militancy by his family.
Prosecutors said he deserved no special protection and argued that his actions were war crimes because al-Qaida fighters are not legitimate soldiers who follow the internationally accepted principles of war. Khadr admitted planting 10 roadside bombs in Afghanistan and spying on U.S. convoys to study the best ways to attack them.
The jury began its deliberations after nearly a week of testimony that included a wrenching hour of testimony from Speer's widow about the loss of her husband and a 10-minute statement from Khadr, who apologized to the soldier's family in his most extensive public statements since his capture.
The jury also heard from a forensic psychiatrist testifying for the prosecution who said Khadr was a dangerous and angry radical.
Another witness, Navy Capt. Patrick McCarthy, the former top military legal adviser at the detention center, described Khadr as a "respectful" prisoner who could be rehabilitated.
"Fifteen-year-olds in my opinion should not be held to the same standards of accountability as adults," McCarthy said.
Before announcing the verdict, the jurors had asked that a tape of McCarthy's testimony be played again for them. The seven-member jury of military officers all declined to speak to reporters after the hearing.
And, this, related, from Winds of Jihad:
Why does Obama Release Omar Khadr, an Islamic Psycho Killer?
by sheikyermami on October 30, 2010
Ezra Levant, excoriates Obama for giving a sweetheart plea deal to confessed Gitmo Killer
Omar Khadr admits to being a murderer, a terrorist, a spy and an al-Qaida member in a U.S. war crimes court, also confessing he was motivated to kill Americans and Jews.
TORONTO SUN Reportedly, Khadr has struck a plea bargain with the Obama administration for an eight-year prison term — one year in U.S. jails; the rest in Canada. But anyone who knows Canada’s liberal parole laws knows he’ll get out immediately. Our “statutory release” policy requires offenders serve the final third of their sentence “in the community.” But Khadr won’t stay in even that long. (Barenaked)
Coddled Khadr
He’s an admitted murderer but he’s treated with kid gloves here
by Ezra Levant
It’s all true. Omar Khadr admits to being a murderer, a terrorist, a spy and an al-Qaida member.
(In fact, his whole parasitic family are confessed Islamic terrorists and proud of it)
Monday, he confessed this to a U.S. war crimes court, also confessing he was motivated to kill Americans and Jews.
Khadr murdered U.S. army medic Christopher Speer. Speer’s widow, Tabitha, sat in court Monday weeping, comforted by her sister.
Her name almost never appears in the love letters to Khadr published in Canada as “news reports.”
Khadr tried to kill Sgt. Layne Morris, too. He was blinded in one eye. Morris was also in court. I bet you haven’t heard his name before. I bet you won’t read it again.
Because Tabitha Speer and Layne Morris interfere with the mainstream media’s project of turning Khadr into a Muslim saint.
The twin headquarters of Khadr’s fanclub are the Canadian Bar Association and the CBC. According to its website, the CBC has produced 1,700 stories about Khadr. The Dalai Lama only gets 1,550 and Nelson Mandela, 1,070. Unlike Khadr, they’re not useful in undermining the legitimacy of the war on terror, including the Canadian Forces and CSIS.
And lobbying for Khadr has been the Canadian Bar Association’s highest political priority. The CBA remained only secret admirers of Khadr for the first four years of his incarceration, because that’s when the prime minister and justice minister were Liberals.
The CBA could only gaze at the picture of Khadr in their locker, doodling his name in their diaries. What a relief when the Conservatives took office, and their love for Khadr could be sung from the mountaintops, in over 100 public statements.
Khadr will return the favour to the profession. The Jew-hating murderer has filed a $10-million lawsuit against the Canadian government. That’s a lot of fees for a lot of lawyers.
There are too many Khadr fans to list. But Judy Rebick’s blog entry from this summer is outstanding. Change the name “Omar Khadr” to “Justin Bieber,” and it could have been ripped from an issue of Teen Beat. “My heart aches for Omar Khadr,” wrote Rebick, comparing him to Mandela, and lauding his “courage and dignity.”
A CBC commentator and former NDP candidate, Rebick once led Canada’s state-funded women’s lobby. How a Jewish feminist could have a crush on an anti-Semitic, misogynist murderer is baffling. When hostages sympathize with their captors, psychologists call it Stockholm Syndrome. What’s Rebick’s excuse?
Reportedly, Khadr has struck a plea bargain with the Obama administration for an eight-year prison term — one year in U.S. jails; the rest in Canada. But anyone who knows Canada’s liberal parole laws knows he’ll get out immediately. Our “statutory release” policy requires offenders serve the final third of their sentence “in the community.” But Khadr won’t stay in even that long.
Canada gives criminals credit for time in custody before trial. The eight years he has been in Guantanamo Bay means he’ll be out by next Christmas.
He’ll be busy: Hitting the campus lecture circuit; strategizing against CSIS with his lawyers; maybe driving slowly by Jewish synagogues and schools.
He’ll become a CBC pundit. Maybe a star candidate for the NDP.
It’s certain he’ll be the first murderer nominated for the Order of Canada. It’s less certain that nomination will be denied.
— Read Levant’s blog at ezralevant.com
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