The Boy Jihadist: The 'Normal' Man

"The federal government is defying legal tradition [in going to the appeal court to proceed with their intention to block the release on bail of Omar Khadr]."
"Khadr states that he was waterboarded, which included him sitting upright with his face covered by a cloth while water was poured over the face, simulating drowning ..."
"I'm just thinking how he wants to ride a bike, go swimming, ordinary things in life."
Dennis Edney, lawyer for convicted jihadist-murderer Omar Khadr

Omar Khadr, shown in this supplied photo from 2014, stands to be released on bail May 5 — the very day Albertans go to the polls.

Dennis Edney finds it heart-wrenching that the 28-year-old Khadr, whose entire family is dedicated to Islamist jihad, yearns for ordinariness in his life; the predictability and assurances that accompany a 'normal' life. Normal for the Khadr family was a burning, viral contempt for the degraded life of ordinary Canadians whose values were as far removed from those that Islam teaches its faithful to venerate, as could be conceived.

Yet the family migrated from Egypt to Canada, ostensibly to take advantage of the social and practical advantages to be found in the country; universal health care, social welfare, subsidized housing. And the opportunity to operate an Islamic madrassa where the Wahhabi style of Islam was taught and practised, generating new waves of potential jihadis for the cause. And where fundraising from among the faithful could be undertaken, to fund the activities of al-Qaeda.

Until the elder Khadr took his brood of boys, his wife and daughter to Afghanistan, introducing them personally to Osama bin Laden, and packing the Khadr boys off to jihadi training camps in Afghanistan, where they learned the extremely vital tools of combat; how to use automatic rifles, how to assemble incendiary and explosive devices, how to comport themselves as fearless warriors of Islam on behalf of Islam.

Omar Khadr fought alongside the mujahadeen, as one of them, and threw a grenade in a close fire-fight with U.S. military, causing the death of a U.S. army medic and the partial blinding of another. And then the U.S. medics took the injured Omar Khadr under their healing wing, and ensured that he would recover from his wounds, saving his life. And at the same time charging him with war crimes.

Now, he is back in Canada, after undergoing a trial, and having lived at the prison at Guantanamo Bay for a decade or more. Held in Bowden Institution, a medium-security prison in Innisfail, Alberta, he is half through the eight-year sentence agreed upon in a 2010 plea bargain that permitted him to be released from an American prison, and transferred to a Canadian penal institution. In the bargain he had agreed to accept that eight-year sentence, but he has since reneged.

His lawyer considers him to be a 'good kid', with a good heart, a credit to his family, and a future credit to Canada once he is integrated into Canadian society and after he has completed his formal academic education. Corrections Canada has reclassified him as a minimum-security inmate, based on his having been noted to have been an exemplary prisoner.

The issue now is that Alberta Court of Queen's Bench Justice June Ross granted bail to Mr. Khadr on the basis that he is not considered to pose a threat to public safety, and that his lawyers have lodged an appeal of his sentence in U.S. courts. And Federal lawyers have been authorized to contest that decision. With an aim to keep Omar Khadr imprisoned until the federal challenge to allow him bail has been heard.

His lawyer has invited his client to live with him in Edmonton while he completes high school and begins courses at King's University. And there he plans to stay in touch with his family through the Internet and by telephone. All is lining up nicely for this unrepentant jihadist who claims to embrace the notion of 'normal', yearning to join society in a useful capacity.

Riding a bicycle, going swimming, that kind of thing.