First Guantanamo video released

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7507216.stm

Supposedly the video was filmed secretly. I wonder by who and why. Personally I would have thought such interviews would always be recorded as a matter of policy.

Apparently the young man's lawyers released the video because, according to one comment, "I hope Canadians will be outraged to see the callous and disgraceful treatment of a Canadian youth"


Call me a bad person, but this doesn't really seem upsetting to me. Granted it wasn't Charles Graner conducting the interview. I think the person conducting the interview was actually quite nice. As far as his being distressed and crying goes... If I was facing those kinds of charges I'd be distressed and crying too. No need for any "torture" to get me into that state.

What do you guys think?

Btw, if you use Adblock Plus you may need to turn it off to view the video.

EDIT: Apparently that was just a clip. The full version shows him starting out seemingly quite at ease. He was even smiling. That doesn't really fit with the lawyer's claims that he was distressed because of torture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7507991.stm

EDIT: Bah, I'm thinking the "Full Version" actually includes more then one session. He could still have been treated badly between them I suppose. There also seem to be missing pieces. I wonder who did the editing.

This post has been edited by zoomer: Jul 15 2008, 06:03 PM

I think it's BS that he got charged with murder in the first place. He was attacking the enemy. If he gets charged with murder so should every US soldier who shot or dropped a bomb on someone.

I wasn't aware that Canada and the US where at war with each other. Someone needs to send me memos on this stuff.

He was in a firefight in Afghanistan, fighting with the Afghan forces. I can't believe they have held him 6 years without a trial, more BS.

Well, maybe he will get time served off of his sentence should he be tried and convicted. Seems only fair. Of course if he gets life that won't really mean much.

Really and when might that trial be



Because they’ve already held him for 6 years without charge or trial, is that not torture within itself


In fact, even if they were to suddenly decide to charge and make this person stand trial, then what sort of kangaroo court would that be? – considering that 6 years have elapsed since they imprisoned them

By your definition, you are a war criminal and not a legitimate combatant if you are fighting for a country other than your own.

So, every member of the French Foreign Legion who has seen action is a war criminal? What about the Gurkha's fighting for the British, are they war criminals too? What about the American volunteers who fought the Germans in the Lafayette Escadrille and Eagle Squadrons in the two world wars before the US got involved... were they war criminals? What about the International Brigades in the Spanish civil war who volunteered to fight against Franco's fascists? Terrorists and/or war criminals no doubt.

One thing the Americans under Bush (and fox news) have forgotten, is that one can quite legitimately be a combatant AND be of a nationality not involved in the conflict.

I was actually being facetious and who said anything about war criminal? He's facing terrorism and murder charges.

For those of you that don't know much about him and his family take a look at the following link. I've only skimmed it myself but it's very interesting.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/khadr/family/

Murder?

Regardless of the morality of Guantanamo, or whether the Taliban shouldbe treated as normal soldiers (personally, I reckon they should), this just seems wrong. He's a child, ergo he's not morally responsible. If his family brought him up in an environment of terrorist propaganda and forced him to fight, then he needs a nice foster family in Kabul, not a place in a US prison camp. Same goes for child soldiers in Liberia, or violent hoodies in Brixton: they're all just kids, and should be treated as such, they're not adults who've gone into the situation fully informed and mentally developed.

Maybe so. I admit that one of the things that bothered me when watching the video was that he was young. Part of me hates to see anyone uncomfortable or in pain, especially people that are so young.

I recently read something that said that the number of "child warriors" was on the rise. More and more children are being drafted into some asshole's cause then ever before. What should we do about it? If someone 15 y/o points a gun at you with the intention of killing you what should you do? Let him kill you because he's a child and he doesn't really have the maturity to be morally responsible or kill him first and survive?

Immediately? Kill him first: you can't make someone a nice, well rounded, adult in the time it takes to pull a trigger.

Long term? Back to plan 'A': help him be a better person.

I think that really you can take a similar approach to everyone, even the most hardened criminals. When they're in the middle of their badness, and threatening violence, you have to protect yourself and society. But, as soon as you have the chance, you shuld try to find out what;s making them be bad, and try to fix it.

Good intro to children as soldiers, here. I think part of the problem might be Aids, and the long history of civil unrest in some parts of the world. Some countries recently have sees whole generations of adults wiped out. The warlords still want people to fight for them, and orphaned children are easy to recruit and manipulate.

I agree, it's total hogwash to arrest enemy combatants and charge them with murder.

Both sides are shooting, not just one.

Although the lad in this video was treated well, I don't know what all the hullaballoo is about!

The hullabaloo, as you call it, is the fact that he has been held in a foreign country without trial for 6 years. He was 15 when he was apprehended. He is a Canadian national, born in Canada to a family who are without doubt completely fucked in the head. At the very least he should have been returned to Canada for psychological counseling and then released. There is no way this kid knew what he was getting into after being brainwashed by his fucked up family his whole life. I feel physically sick when I realize Omar Khadr is the tip of the iceberg. When you imagine how many kids weren't 'lucky' enough to end up in Guantanamo Bay and instead got blown apart my some gung-ho US military superhero saving civilization as we know it.

Everything about Guantanamo is morally politically and socially wrong it's an illegal prison with unjustifiable made up rules... BBC cuba hoy google just a couple

America supported 40 years of civil war in Northern Ireland paying the PIRA to fight the British ... Funny how it's OK to support terrorism when it's not on ones doorstep..BBC News 1 day it all changes and now Terrorism is bad because a couple of buildings in America got blown up. I'm not advocating what happened on 911 but at least America woke up to Terrorism and what it does to a country especially when it's ones own people.

All the terrorists in N Ireland were released in the the good friday agreement proven murderers allowed back into society in the name of peace, supported by America, but then they didn't kill any Americans or blow up any American property.

The Video to get back on topic, personally I don't think in the interview the lad was treated that badly the fact that he shouldn't be there without a trial is illegal. The end very seldom justifies the means, morally, unless you're American and have had the twin towers fall on you...

In teaching parenting skills, children should never be punished while one is angry. Anger leads to poor judgment, inappropriate punishments ,and overall poor resolutions leading to resentment fear and psychological problems. America needs to let outside adjudicators deal with the detainees at Guantanamo to find a reasonable resolution not based on emotion, but logic and law... To convict the guilty and release the innocent as quickly as possible.

(I realise that America supported terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, Viet Nam etc and still are in Iran and who knows where else, but I'm from NI)

This post has been edited by bigbaldybloke: Jul 22 2008, 12:05 PM