Why I Have Little Empathy for Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr was front and centre in the news this week as tapes of his interrogation were released and Canada's army of bleeding hearts and ultra-liberals called for him to be returned to Canada immediately in light of the "torture" he was enduring in Guantanamo Bay. In truth, the interrogation footage I've seen is mild. There's no screaming or violence. The interrogators are calm. Khadr is fed and has had access to medical care. I see no torture. All I see is a young extremist being forced to lie in the bed him and his family have made.
I admit, Omar Khadr is young, having been captured in Afghanistan at the young age of 15. However, I do not consider him to be a child soldier. Child soldiers are recruited by brutal regimes around the world, from the Sudan to Burma, and they are usually not 15 year old extremists who are sympathetic to the cause. Child soldiers are young children (note: not teenagers) who are forced to fight. Khadr is and has been a willing participant in his families disgraceful and dangerous association with Osama bin Laden and Muslim extremists. There are videos of Omar Khadr helping construct bomb materials for use on Western forces (including Canadian soldiers) in Afghanistan, and he was captured after an hours-long firefight, which ended when one of the two American medics who were checking for survivors was blown up by a grenade tossed by either Khadr or one of his comrades, killing 28 year old Christopher Speer. Khadr was and is an enemy combatant, an extremist and a terrorist. Yes, he was only 15, but he remains those things nonetheless. 15 is not a child. At 15 years, you know right from wrong, and Khadr knew that he and his family were out to fight the Western world, to fight all those who did not follow Islam.
Omar Khadr undoubtedly was shaped and influenced by his parents, especially his father. But does that excuse his actions? Do we let him go, patting the scamp on the head while chuckling "boys will be boys?" No. We must treat him as the terrorist he is, regardless of how he got to this point. Why his family is allowed to live in Toronto to this day, espousing their hatred and doctrine to others is another story. It is a disgrace that the Khadr family is allowed to live freely in Canada, and is allowed to bleed our health care system of tens of thousands of dollars to pay for their other son, Omar's younger brother Abdulkareem, who was paralyzed during another firefight in the Middle East, this time alongside Papa Khadr.
Omar Khadr's story is a sad one. It is terrible that more was not done to prevent the parents of this twisted family from indoctrinating their children and transforming them from innocent boys to Muslim extremists. However, it is now done. Omar Khadr is now a 21 year old extremist sitting in a detention centre for being involved with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Osama bin Laden. No one in Canada should be held without trial or charges or access to a lawyer. Those are rights we hold dear and if this were to happen to any Canadian anywhere in this great country, it should be stopped immediately. But this is an different circumstance. This is war. This is terrorism. And Omar Khadr should have thought of that before he helped kill troops in Afghanistan. Canada should request that the United States proceed with a trial immediately, as those legal rights are fundamental. But it is the United States' jurisdiction to hold the trial, as it was their national who was killed. Beyond that, Canada should not seek to get Khadr returned, as I doubt he would get the severe treatment that he deserves. I can far too easily imagine the image of young Omar being returned home to his family in Toronto after Canada's backwards legal system set him free and allowed him to return to his family of spies, saboteurs and terrorists. Khadr's lawyers, his family, and the bleeding hearts in this country would like to see Canadians, awash in sympathy and empathy, demand that Omar be brought home. But luckily, there are a few too many Canadians who share opinions like mine for that to happen.

The 2008 Electoral Map: 275 - 263

With today being July 14, there are still 113 days until the 2008 United States Presidential Election. But despite that great length of time, during which anything can happen to change the race, I'm prepared to make my early prediction on the shape of the electoral map. In the race to 270 electoral votes, Barack Obama will indeed put some current previous red states in his column, namely Ohio, New Mexico & Iowa. However, there will not be a reshaping of the political landscape as his campaign insists. In fact, McCain will hold most of the Bush states and will pick up both New Hampshire and Michigan, putting him over the top and into the White House.

<p><strong>><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/campaign08/electoral-college/">Electoral College Prediction Map</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the general election. Use the map to experiment with winning combinations of states. Save your prediction and send it to friends.</p>

The electoral map is particularly difficult for Obama, because even if he can manage to pick up say, Montana or Nevada, or if he can hold New Hampshire, McCain still wins. I doubt very much that Obama will pick up any surprise wins for the Democrats. Colorado will stay red, it didn't even vote for Clinton in 1996, when he won his biggest victory. The Carolina's will stay Republican, despite Obama's popularity among black voters. And Obama was trounced in the Appalachian states during the primary, so he'll struggle to win Ohio and Pennsylvania, let alone Kentucky or West Virginia. I suspect Obama will make a lot of states closer races than they have been before, especially in the South, but he will be unable to win more than a handful.
For McCain, I'm giving him Michigan because he is polling a strong second right now, and with native son Mitt Romney becoming more and more likely to be his VP choice, Michigan will flip to red. But even if it doesn't, he still can win if he holds Ohio, which Bush won in 2000 and 2004. A lot rests on Florida for McCain, however, and that is a state he must win. If Florida goes for Obama, McCain could win Ohio AND Michigan and still lose. He must win Florida and Governor Christ, a strong supporter needs to be employed to make sure he does. The only potential coup for McCain is New Jersey, which I predict will be a lot closer than it has been in the past. I don't expect it to go to McCain, but it remains a possibility.

Final Electoral College Result: McCain - 275 Obama - 263
As those 113 days tick away, these predictions may become laughable, but they may just as likely become laudable. We'll see how I do in November.

Are There Alarm Bells Yet?

So the Democrats have had over a month to digest the fact that Barack Obama clinched the presidential nomination. Certainly by now all the wounds have been salved, the hurt feelings have been repaired and the rift with Hillary supporters has been more or less bridged. But unfortunately for the Obama campaign and its ardent supporters in the media and the DNC elite, that doesn't seem to be the case. A recent poll out has shown a widening gap between Hillary supporters and Obama, it shows still falling support for Obama and it shows a resilient commitment to the Clinton candidacy which is all but extinguished. (www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/04/clinton.poll)
A month ago, before Hillary Clinton ended her bid and backed Obama, 60 percent of her supporters said they would support Barack. Now that number is down to 54%. More than 4 weeks ago, just over 1 in 5 Clinton supporters claimed they would not vote at all if their choice was Obama or McCain. Now nearly 1 in 3 say this. And way back in the beginning of June, 35% of all Democrats preferred Clinton be the nominee. Now, after his flip-flopping, his surge to the centre, after the slap-in-the-face hiring by Obama of Patti Solis Doyle, that number has climbed to 43%. The potency and resilience of those voters who do not support Obama is proving to be incredible, if not unprecedented. Can anyone hear the alarm bells ringing yet? Couple these new numbers with the fact that Obama's own internet network of supporters is now becoming a bit disillusioned with his policy changes, especially towards telecommunication spying, (apparently the largest group on his Facebook-style site is committed to getting him to change his mind on this issue) and you've got to expect that there's some alarm in the Obama campaign. And if there isn't, there should be.

The VPs: Joe and Claire

It's likely to be weeks or months still before Obama and McCain annoucne thier vice presidential running mates. But The Fledgling Blog has the scoop: these are the two people who will be on the tickets come November:

Barack Obama: He will choose Claire McCaskill, Senator from Missouri.Barack should be deciding between two politicians from swing states: Governor of Ohio Ted Strickland and Missouri's Claire McCaskill. Ohio would be the bigger prize to take on election day, but Strickland may not have the power to deliver the state the way Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell delivered his for Hillary during the primary. In the end, Obama will choose McCaskill, who will help him carry Missouri in November, will strengthen his message of "change" and will go a long way to helping him with women who may be distant after Clinton's defeat. Come November, I predict an Obama-McCaskill ticket.

John McCain: McCain's running mate should be Joe Lieberman. Nothing will blunt Obama's message of change and bi-partisanship more than having a Democrat turned Independent on the ticket. When Obama claims to be ready to 'reach across the aisle' and work with Independents and Republicans, McCain will be able to point to Lieberman and say "Done." He will be able to counter a major theme of the Obama candidacy if he makes this VP pick. Additionally, Joe Lieberman is Jewish, which may be able to help McCain win support of that ethnic group. There has already been rumblings of trouble between Obama and Jewish Americans, and putting Lieberman on the ticket could turn that group to McCain. With sizeable Jewish populations in the swing state of Florida as well as in several Northeastern states (including the potential swing state of New Jersey) this could be a big electoral windfall for McCain. When voters head to the polls in November, I predict there will be a McCain-Lieberman ticket.

The Residential Schools Apology

As a rule, I do not favour governments issuing formal apologies for past deeds. It does us no good to drag up past mistakes and grievances. For the most part, we all know certain things were done by governments of the past that were inappropriate and sad: the persecution of the Dukhobors, the internment of Japanese Canadians in WWII, the Komagata Maru incident. But the years that have passed allow us a perspective not available to the people at the time, and to condemn those who made such decisions is to ignore all context and history. Yes, what was done looks horrible to us today. But some of our decisions will likely appear barbaric or idiotic to future generations and no good comes from bashing those who came before you. That being said, the aboriginals who were sent to government supported residential schools absolutely deserve an apology. Children were ripped from their families and their culture and were emotionally, physically and in some cases sexually abused. Instead of welcoming First Nations into the broader society, we sought to viciously assimilate them by means of abuse and torture. This was not a single act perpetrated years and years ago, nor was it a policy thought up during war time like the examples above. The residential schools remained open well into the 1980's. The schools ran for decades upon decades, pushing tens of thousands of aboriginal youth through their process of cultural erasure. And now there are generations of First Nations who do not know their culture, their language, their customs, or in some cases their family. It is understandable that the government wanted to bring aboriginals into the greater society, to welcome them into the fold like we do with so many immigrants today. But they did not integrate them, or welcome them, or work with them. Instead, they attacked and abused them for decades. The results of this exercise are grim and are present in today's society. Canada's treatment, even today, of some of its aboriginal peoples is an embarrassment for us all. This apology will go a long way to reconciling Canada with its aboriginal population, it will expedite the healing process, it will begin to bring aboriginals back into the rest of society, and this apology will help us bridge the wide gap between our violent past and an eventual bright future.