Sympathizing With Jihad

"[Out to] prove to Canadians that I am better than they think of me."
"I will show Canadians I'm a good person. All I ask is to give me a chance, get to know me and make an informed decision."
"I am very happy and grateful."
"I'm going to have to disappoint him [Prime Minister Stephen Harper]. I'm better than the person he thinks I am."
Omar Khadr, former Taliban/al-Qaeda functionary

Omar Khadr smiles outside the Edmonton Law Courts Buildings on Thursday May 7, 2015 after Alberta's highest court released the former Guantanamo Bay detainee on bail pending the appeal of his convictions in the United States. (Tom Braid/Postmedia Network)

"My view is very clear. Mr. Harper is a bigot. Mr. Harper doesn't like Muslims. Harper 'wants to show he's tough on crime and who does he pick on? A 15-year-old boy who was picked up and put in a hell hole in Guantanamo."
"I look forward to Omar Khadr letting the Canadian public see who he is, to challenge the lies of this government who has not allowed him to be seen or speak to you [the public]."
Dennis Edney, lawyer for Omar Khadr, convicted terrorist, murderer

"We are disappointed with today's decision and regret that a convicted terrorist has been allowed back into Canadian society without having served his full sentence."
Steven Blaney, Public Safety Minister

"In fundamentalist Islam, you're an adult at the onset of puberty."
"You don't have to dig too hard to find there are few Canadians who have any sympathy for him whatsoever. ... I would hesitate to say his contrition is real."
"A lot of people have invested so much in him that, one way or the other, the individual has been submerged [undeserved sympathy for a terrorist ideologue]."
John Thompson, Strategic Capital and Intelligence Group 

"I'm not convinced that any other government, having been in power, would have necessarily handled this appeal any differently than the current government did."
"I do not think that the primary motivation here is driven by political ideology."
Christian Leuprecht, political scientist, Royal Military College of Canada/Queen's University

All over the Muslim world where Islamists operate in the various guises they take passionately espousing violent jihad, juvenile males are trained to be fighters. Omar Khadr's father Ahmed, a fund-raiser for al-Qaeda, personal friend and erstwhile companion to Osama bin Laden, had his sons trained in jihadist camps in Afghanistan, and expected them, like good Islamists, to fight for the cause of universal jihad.

To compassionately refer to the man as a 'boy' when he was involved in fighting for al-Qaeda and the Taliban, is to bypass the reality in the world of violent Islamist jihadis sworn to destroy the West and to enable Islam to swamp and overtake all systems of government in the West in achieving its universal caliphate. In the process of spreading terror through the jihadist commitment to bloodshed recruiters convince young Muslims living in the West to either kill where they are, or travel abroad to fulfill their duty to jihad.

Omar Khadr travelled abroad. Now he is back in the country where his Egyptian parents, committed jihadists, gave birth to him, taking advantage of the country's welfare and universal health care when it suited them, while they raised funds for al-Qaeda through their charitable enterprises in Canada. Omar Khadr's father was killed during battle, but not before a previous Canadian prime minister, Jean Chretien, convinced Pakistan's then prime minister to release  him from imprisonment.

Omar Khadr's mother and his sister have been clear in their contempt for Canada and Canadian values which, to them, are debased, not to be compared to the sterling values of Islam. But they remain in Canada because they have Canadian citizenship, and the welfare system buoys them satisfactorily. Omar Khadr's grandmother tried to sue the Department of Foreign Affairs for not adequately protecting her grandson's rights as a Canadian citizen.

This is the typical arrogant entitlements expressed by Islamists who defy Canadian values but are quick to take advantage of leniency in the law, of generous welfare systems, of their rights under the equality charter while seeing no requirement themselves to respect anything about democracy and fairness and reciprocal obligations incumbent on migrants living in an immigration-based pluralist society priding itself on its equal treatment of all its citizens.

Omar Khadr's lawyer is a disgrace to his profession, but in that context he shares much in common with many others of his profession. The man is despicable in his slanderous accusations against the Prime Minister of Canada. He is fixated on characterizing a terrorist as a misunderstood and helpless child, albeit one with a deplorable upbringing, exposed and encouraged to violence in an intolerant, reprehensible ideology.

A study of polling numbers between 2006 and 2012 cited a decrease in pro-Khadr sentiment in Canada, matching an increase in anti-Khadr sentiment. Former diplomat Scott Gilmore reached the conclusion that Canadians have become less sympathetic to Omar Khadr's 'plight' as more has been revealed about his 'treatment' while incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay.

Now 28, the former 'boy' jihadi is free on bail thanks to the brilliant discernment of Alberta Appeal Court Justice Myra Bielby who must have relished stating: "Mr. Khadr, you are free to go". The U.S. army medic that the grenade thrown by Omar Khadr killed was also 28 years of age. He was raised and given professional training to do good in the world; others just like him, American army medics saved the wounded Omar Khadr's life.