Committed to Fundamentalist Jihad

"They have said things that was not very smart — that they shouldn’t have said. They’re very opinionated."

"I think that they are good people. (But) they haven’t been able to deal with the past and the present. They’re really struggling. Some of my siblings have completely cut off their pasts and some of them are living in the past and not accepting the present."

Omar Khadr; verbal exercise in mind-boggling understatement

"We are aware of a Canadian citizen being detained in Turkey. As with any case where Canadian citizens request consular support, Canadian officials in Ankara, Turkey, are providing consular assistance."

"To protect the privacy of the individual concerned, further details on this case cannot be released."

Tania Assaly, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson 

"If carrying my father's beliefs -- and I believe that my father had great beliefs and he did not do anything wrong -- is supposed to be poison, then maybe all of us need to have poisoned heads."

Zaynab Khadr 

Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS file photo

It's unclear whether turkish authorities have charged, or are planning to charge, Zaynab Khadr

Canada's infamous Khadr family in the news yet again. The Khadrs are of Egyptian origin, they emigrated to Canada and became citizens of the country. Grandparents, parents, offspring. Ahmed Khadr was involved in 'charitable enterprises', raising funds for his good friend Osama bin Laden. He eventually moved his family to Afghanistan where he sent his sons to Al-Qaeda training camps. There, Omar Khadr, the second youngest of five brothers, learned to shoot and to make explosive devices.

He was arrested and taken to Guantanamo Bay as a jihadist fighter after he took part in a firefight, in rural Afghanistan, shooting two U.S. Army medics, one fatally, the other losing an eye, and was himself seriously injured. American medics saved his life, and an exchange was later agreed on, to return him to Canada to be incarcerated for the remainder of his prison term. He is now at large in the custody of his lawyer with plans to integrate back into Canadian society.

If his sister's and his mother's statements are any indication of how well they have integrated into Canadian society, we may yet continue to see and hear more about this family of incorrigible Islamists than we really care to. Turkish authorities several weeks ago detained a dozen Egyptians who were attempting to cross into Syria to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Several days ago the Toronto Star broke the news that Zaynab Khadr has been detained in Turkey.

Canadian intelligence services have extensive files on brothers Abdullah, Abdurahman, Ibrahim, Omar and Abdulkareem. The family also has another sister, Maryam, besides Zaynab. Married off by her father whom she faithfully venerates, to men he chose for her when she was still in her teens, she has in total had no fewer than four marriages, all of which have failed. One was to a convert to Islam, son of a federal tax court justice.

That husband was kidnapped with his current wife near Kabul in 2012 and remains a hostage. Another husband was arrested in Pakistan, extradited to Egypt for a terror trial and ultimately sent to prison. Another husband was a Yemeni fighter and it was at this marriage that Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri were present, to wish the newlyweds a long and fruitful union.

In February 2005, RCMP officers stopped Zaynab on arrival at the Toronto airport from Pakistan. A Toshiba laptop in her possession was replete with Al-Qaeda videos, weapons information, video clips of the Chechen war zone with Russia and the bombing of a British/American civilian compound in Riyadh Saudi-Arabia in 2003, along with songs such as I am a Terrorist, and Strike and Kill the Infidels.

She had shipped from Pakistan to Toronto luggage that police discovered to contain a mobile hard drive with propaganda videos along with a terrorist training manual, but no charges were laid at the time. She is a committed jihadist, as is her mother and some of her brothers, although one has recanted. She and her family represent a blight on Arab Muslim immigrants to Canada.

Their presence in Canada is a travesty, but the universal medical and hospitalization and other social benefits are irresistible, even to, particularly to, jihadists.  And Canadians are too polite to agitate much over the presence of such Western-democracy-inappropriate Islamist fundamentalist in the country.               

Entitled Insouciance : Well Congratulations ... And Still in Denial

"My release and reintegration into the community have been going great. I have not gotten into any trouble of any kind with the authorities."
"I am now an adult and I think independently. Even if the members of my family were to wish to influence my religious or other views, they would not be able to control or influence me in any negative manner."
"None of my family members are involved in any illegal activity."
Omar Khadr, formerly of Guantanamo Bay, convicted al-Qaeda terrorist

 
Omar Khadr, whose father Ahmed Said Khadr was a personal colleague of Osama bin Laden, and who acted as banker and fund-raiser for al-Qaeda, was taken along with his brothers to live in Pakistan where he could be enrolled in mujahideen camps for training in assembling bombs, and learning how to use weapons with some degree of accuracy. His father was killed in a fight with Pakistani troops, after his release from jail on charges of having been involved in a bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Pakistan.

Like his brothers, Omar Khadr was expected by his father and his mother to become a fervent and skilled jihadist. At age 15 he proved his mettle by engaging in a firefight with American forces in Afghanistan, throwing a grenade that killed a U.S. medic and severely wounding another American soldier. He was himself grievously wounded in the fireback, and it was American medics that saved his life. Thereafter he spent years growing into adulthood, in Guantanamo Bay prison.

He was returned to Canada ten years later to serve the remainder of his prison sentence. A Calgary judge ruled he could be granted early release on bail, which the Government of Canada is in the process of appealing. The conditions of his release include that he be remote from his family, well known to disparage the Canadian way of life, and to hail the superiority of Islamist values. He was to be under curfew, and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet, and converse in English under the supervision of his lawyer with whom he has been living.

Now, claiming that his elderly maternal grandparents, Palestinians who live in Toronto are ill, he is asking leave to visit with them, on his own, not in the presence of his surety, and in a language other than English. He has expressed his desire to see in person his mother, his siblings and other relatives through permission from the court for a two-week visit to Toronto. He wants to have the electronic monitoring bracelet removed, as an intrusively unwarranted embarrassment, and that his curfew be eased as well.

The condition of his bail denying him leave from Alberta, and communication with family in English only along with additional conditions were what allowed him from May 7 forward to enjoy the freedom from incarceration that a Calgary judge awarded him. Months later he is agitating for full release from all imposed conditions. In essence, he is saying that it is true that his family members retain their al-Qaeda convictions, but he is no longer vulnerable to their imposing their views on him.

It seems reasonable that his bail should be revoked, since it came with strict conditions meant to be  honoured. What he wants does not reflect the conditions that the justice system imposed on him. And the relaxation of  his prison term while reflecting goodwill on the part of a presiding justice, does not reflect the will of the government. The negative influence of his family is one thing, the consequences of his own actions in a conflict situation resulting in death and injury to others, another altogether.

Omar Khadr does not seem to feel remorseful for his actions in the past, and does feel entitled to his requests being granted, because he doesn't appear to feel that he has committed any actions for which he should feel regret. And nor does he believe that his father was anything but a good man. That being so, the Islamist jihadism that al-Qaeda foments not only represents what he was taught to believe, and taught to take part in, but also how he views the situation at the present time.

The Public Pulse

"What we see is Canadians taking a harder line, a harder stance when it comes to public safety and the domestic terror file -- and yet it softens when it comes to Omar Khadr."
"They cannot find consensus ... whether this is a reformed young man who means what he says around doing right and how he doesn't harbour violent tendencies or radicalized tendencies anymore."
Shachi Kurl, senior vice-president, Angus Reid Institute

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette   Omar Khadr speaks to his lawyer Dennis Edney outside his new home after being granted bail in Edmonton on Thursday, May 7, 2015.

Well, now, let's see; Canadians are polarized over their opinions and attitudes with respect to Omar Khadr, and why might that be? Perhaps because Canadians are typically given to insisting that people get a second chance to redeem themselves. Perhaps because a public relations initiative was launched to convince Canadians that the 'young man' was only a 'boy' when he was taught to handle firearms, and how to improvise explosive devices.

And as a young boy of fifteen involved himself as a fedayeen in Afghanistan. As a loyal Islamist whose family was close to Osama bin Laden, Omar Khadr's father famously/infamously being a fund-raiser for al-Qaeda, choosing to remain and to fight alongside more seasoned Islamists. But it was he who threw a grenade that killed a U.S. Army medic and half-blinded another. And it was American medics who saved the life of the badly injured young man.

His family, Egyptian-born but two generations having settled in Canada and attained citizenship, detest Canada for its democratic and pluralist values, while esteeming its social welfare system. Which still wasn't enough of a draw to keep them in Canada; instead responding to the call of Islamic jihad. So with this background, and a mother and sister who still spit vile invective at Canada while remaining resident there, we are to believe that Omar Khadr is a new man.

Some do believe that. According to the latest poll conducted by Angus Reid, Canadians appear just about evenly split over the decision by an Alberta court to approve bail for Omar Khadr who is now living happily with his lawyer, a man who prefers to slander the Prime Minister of Canada, and laud his client as a decent and likeable young man.



Of the decision to release Khadr, 38 percent of respondents agreed, while 39 percent disagreed, and 23 percent were uncertain. Manitoba and Saskatchewan were least supportive of his release, while B.C. and Alberta were stronger in their support for his release. A majority, albeit slim, of 55 percent agreed that Khadr "remains a potential radicalized threat", while 52 percent agreed he "served his time -- 13 years is enough".

And, the ahah! moment: 67 percent agreed that Khadr was a "child soldier", who should have been treated accordingly.

The Innocent Terrorist

"I don't think I had a choice in my life to regret anything, because I didn't make any choice to regret them."
"I know my father and I don't accept anybody saying that he's a bad person."
Omar Khadr, convicted murderer

Handout/U.S. Defense    This image released by the U.S. Defense Press Operations on October 31, 2010 shows Omar Khadr constructing an improvised explosive device. 

 

Islamists believe that whatever they do, it is done on behalf of Islam, and in honour of Islam, and in obedience to the precepts of Islam, and therefore whether it be setting off explosive devices to kill non-Muslim military or civilians, or crucifying Muslims worshipping the wrong sect, or beheading foreign journalists or aid workers, or Christians living in the Middle East, they are only obeying instructions readily found in the Koran.

If the Koran reads: [Sura 9] "Fight and slay the Pagans wherever ye find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem (of war)", they are completely justified in prosecuting such a war as mujahideen, fearless jihadists prepared to die as martyrs for Islam. Omar Khadr, at age 15 in Afghanistan, was part of an al-Qaeda group fighting the presence of American troops. He threw a grenade that killed a U.S. military medic and half-blinded another medic.

His own life was saved by American military doctors. The fact that he was fifteen at the time of the gunfight when he committed himself in a way he could have evaded but chose not to, in recognition of his father's wishes for his sons including the youngest to be mujahideen, to fight alongside other al-Qaeda terrorists, pulls at the heartstrings of Western sensibilities. Who don't understand and don't wish to understand that in societies from which Omar Khadr's father came, 15 is the age of majority.

Young Arab and Muslim men are meant to demonstrate their mettle on the battlefield. Islam prepares them psychologically to take their place as jihadists, and their jihadi leaders prepare them physically for the task at hand, arranging for weapons and explosives-manufacturing training. This is what Omar Khadr's father did for his sons, accustoming them to living in Osama bin Laden's compound, and fund-raising for the cause.

And this is what Omar Khadr venerates, his memory of his father as a 'good man'. Which is to say from his perspective as an unregenerated Islamist. Although Omar Khadr now denies what he admitted in a 2010 plea deal whereby he received a maximum of eight years for acknowledging his guilt in the death of Christopher Speer, the mantle of guilt fits him very well; he did toss the grenade killing the combat medic.

He spurned the opportunity he had to leave the area of conflict but chose to remain and to take part in the fighting that ensued. He admitted he had converted and placed ten landmines whose purpose was to kill as many Americans as it might be possible to do. At age 24 he was interviewed by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Weiner who had been hired by American prosecutors.

Dr. Weiner described Omar Khadr as charming, but "conniving, unrepentant, as radicalized as ever". A young man who views himself as a victim, and someone repidiating that his late father had anything to do with terrorism. Jihad is honourable, after all, a dedicated task taken up by the faithful on orders of Islamic principle. This is what is taught in Pakistan and in Afghanistan, and this is what Omar Khadr imbibed throughout his formative years.

His lawyer however, views the young man tenderly, through the rose-coloured glasses of compassion and understanding for someone wronged by the society in which he was born, has citizenship in, and whose legal structure by government insistence, will honour the sentence handed down to Omar Khadr by an American court. Dennis Edney, lawyer for the erstwhile terrorist, speaks fondly of him as a bright, intelligent and likeable young man.

While the lawyer vilifies the government and specifically Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he and his wife are themselves happily prepared to give living haven to Omar Khadr, as part of the Alberta court-ordered bail release, acting as surety, prepared to supervise him, as the law decrees. It's hard to figure out which of the two is more loathsome; the 28-year-old whose pledge of normalcy fronts unrepentant Islamism, or the lawyer dedicated to rescuing a young Islamist from Western justice.

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.

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.

Turning The Other Cheek

"People who have demonstrated their ability to damage our country significantly ... and who have shown no ability or willingness to change, we would be foolish to turn those people loose on us once again."
Sgt. Layne Morris, U.S. Military, Afghanistan war casualty

"Canadians will see and meet a different Omar Khadr than the one wrongly portrayed by the Harper government."
Dennis Edney, lawyer for Omar Khadr

"Omar Ahmed Khadr pleaded guilty to heinous crimes ... we have vigorously defended against any attempt to lessen his punishment for these crimes."
Steven Blaney, Minister of Public Safety, Canada

"We realize there's probably a very slim chance of ever receiving any compensation."
"He's never publicly stated any remorse for anything he's done ... it's a principle matter, rather than a money matter."
Laura Tanner, lawyer for Speer and Morris families

Omar Khadr

Canada's notorious Khadr family never seems to quite leave the news. They go and they return. They are Canadian citizens. Their notoriety has been well earned, their Islamist credentials out front for all to scrutinize and admire or loathe, as the case may be. Born in Canada to Egyptian parents who had emigrated from their country of origin, father Ahmed Khadr was a close associate of Osama bin Laden.

He was a fund-raiser in Canada for al-Qaeda, and righteously so, as a committed Islamist fanatic who took his family out of Canada and into Afghanistan to live amongst uncorrupted people for whom modern mores of casual alcohol and drug consumption, free sex could destabilize what the Khadrs taught their offspring; the tenets of Islam rejecting the way of the West and democracy.

In Afghanistan their faith could be re-affirmed and the young men of the family given the privilege of jihadist training, learning how to handle firearms, how to construct bombs, how to be Islamist jihadists spurning the falsity of Western-inspired values which have no value whatever in Islam. Jihadists use all means required to champion Islam in defeat of other cultures and other religions.

And Omar Khadr is an alumni of those Afghanistan jihadi training camps. He and his siblings had the honour of knowing Osama bin Laden personally. But all is forgiven. "Omar is excited to begin a normal life, continue with his studies, explore his new hometown of Edmonton and spend time with friends" a statement from his supporters, Free Omar Khadr Now claimed.

Well he once did have a life normal to Islamist jihad; his education consisted of bomb-making and guerrilla action. It was what brought him to throw a grenade at American troops, killing a U.S. medic and wounding others. Now, his lawyer is happy upon Khadr's imminent release on bail, to have the lad live with him. Failing that, he has an offer from Green Party leader Elizabeth May to "stay with me".

King's University, a Christian college in Edmonton, has offered to embrace Khadr as a mature student, if he is free on bail and able to pay the tuition fee. However, "for the safety of our students, we don’t see him coming on our campus for a long time, if ever," added the university's vice-president VanKeeken. Wot!?!!!

In his Afghanistan days Khadr had employment as a translator for al-Qaeda, and he helped to construct roadside bombs targeting U.S. convoys. Those same 'roadside bombs' known as IEDs -- improvised explosive devices -- were of course, responsible for the deaths of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

That experience may be useful to him in passing on his rather unique knowledge to any others he may come across professing an interest in the Khadr lad, still a boy at heart. His myriad supporters would have nothing but contempt for the families of the American soldiers that Khadr's experience in a conflict zone killed and wounded.

They have the unmitigated gall, those families, to launch a civil lawsuit against the boy who became a man for over $45-million in reflection of their grievous loss.