Omar Khadr is Canada's most famous prisoner. Thousands of stories have been written about him all over the world.So we know how the former child soldier was victimized by his family, the American military, and even his own government.We know he was horribly wounded, then tortured, and that he has
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Why has Canada failed Omar Khadr?
The first responsibility of the state is to protect its citizens, particularly its children. The Canadian state has utterly failed that responsibility in the case of Omar Khadr. Omar was the classic child soldier, formally identified as such by the head of the United Nations child soldier program. Indoctrinated in
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: The Realities Of The Child Soldier
I suppose I might feel differently about Omar Khadr if I hadn’t read a particular book, A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah. It provided indelible insights into both the realities of the child soldier’s world and the possibilities of redemption and rehabilitation. It should be read by everyone who
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Are Foreign Funded Canadian Charities Soft on Child Terrorists
Analysis by the Canadian Press shows that the three of the top four Canadian charities that received the most foreign funding were Care Canada, World Vision Canada and the Canadian UNICEF Committee, all known for helping starving children, many in war torn areas. Many of these children were victims of
Continue readingA. Picazo: Child Soldiers: The Other Taliban and Al-Qaeda Militants
“A poignant reality of contemporary conflicts is that increasingly children are being used as cheap and readily available weapons of war. From Colombia to Sri Lanka, from Sierra Leone to Uganda, thousands of children have been used in armed conflict situations. In Afghanistan, our forces are seeing the increasing use
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