This is just getting stupid

First, go read POGGE.

Get it? Omar Khadr was engaged in a combat action against another soldier. The PMO talking point, copied from the Bush administration, which is now nothing more than sewage, that Omar Khadr intentionally killed an individual with Geneva Convention credentials which protected him is an outright lie.

Those who repeat it are liars. Worse, is that they know they are lying.

Secondly, there is no conclusive evidence, (in fact there is evidence to the contrary), that Khadr actually threw the grenade which killed Sgt 1st Class Spears.

Thirdly, the United States had invaded Afghanistan, with full justification, and was now a belligerent party in a war. On the day, at the time and, at the moment that Khadr allegedly threw a grenade which killed Sgt 1st Class Spears neither party had surrendered. Since Spears was not wearing the appropriate insignia nor acting specifically in a manner to enjoy protection under the Convention, he would be deemed to have been a hostile combatant.

Fourthly, since it was a battlefield, under the Convention, murder is extremely difficult to prove, if not impossible. One combatant killing another in combat is not murder. Both have the same hostile intent unless one side has clearly and unequivocally shown and demonstrated the act of surrender. An enemy which has been defeated in the field but which does not purposely give themselves into the hands of the enemy, without arms, remains a hostile enemy. It doesn't matter if the winning side thinks it's over. They haven't won until the vanquished declare themselves the loser by accepting their own surrender and then displaying recognized symbols to communicate their acceptance of defeat.

That never happened.

Omar Khadr, when captured, was a child soldier. It doesn't matter how he came to be there. It matters that he was one. His age today is irrelevant. At the time of his capture he was under 18. Additionaly, he was governed by his father who he was expected to obey.

Sixth, this is the tough stuff. Nothing is simple when it comes to repatriating a Canadian accused of a heinous crime. But you wanted power and now you're afraid to use the sovereignty of this country for fear of pissing off a regime which was as close to Hitler's Germany as we have ever come.

But we elect governments to handle the tough stuff. Instead, we have posse of clowns who shun the most difficult of issues in order to appease a US administration which no longer exists.

And to keep the racist, mouth-breathing morons which constitute their political base marginally happy between assaults on 24s of cheap beer.

The worst part is the part you have not yet gathered in.

The government of the United States of America has told the government of Canada that they are willing to release Omar Khadr to Canadian custody on Canadian soil. All that has to happen is that the Canadian government officially request repatriation. That's the only condition.

Think I'm making that up? Then ask them. I know it's a fact. The US, as a matter of saving face in four different directions, wants to rid themselves of Omar Khadr but they need to do it under the proper optics. All that needs to be done is to have the Harper government make a public request. No back-channels.

Think I'm wrong?

Ask them. Ask them, if the Canadian government made a formal request to the government of the United States for the repatriation of Omar Khadr would he be returned to his country of birth?

Because if that happened Khadr would be on his way to Canada, in custody, but at least where the rule of law still has some meaning.

So, why won' Lawrence Cannon do that?

Because the "conservative" voting base would go ape-shit.

And the Harper government doesn't do tough stuff. They're a pack of fluff merchants, racist to boot, and would rather fill their "pending" baskets instead of clearing their "out" trays.

I don't like Khadr anymore than the next person, but he's Canadian and should be dealt with here.

That's the tough stuff and it's something the Authoritarians in the Harper government have never been able to handle.

Cowards.