Every day, criminals around the world plead guilty to crimes they've committed in order to avoid a nasty sentence.
In most cases, someone commits a heinous crime, like rape or murder, and pleads guilty so they can avoid a death sentence, or life in prison, or 'real' jail time. In fact, in Canada, people plead guilty so they can do no jail time at all; instead, they perform a community service.
But the guilty plea by Omar Khadr at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba strikes a chord with me.
And not for all the usual reasons, either.
For those of you who don't know, Omar Khadr was born in Toronto, raised in Pakistan and Canada, and at the age 15, 9 years ago, threw a grenade killing American medic Christopher Speers.
Now, he has confessed to the crime, and under the plea deal, it looks as if he will do 8 years in prison, only one year in the US, before he will be allowed to transfer to a Canadian one.
Critics say that he should spend life in prison for the 5 terrorist related charges he faces, or even get the death sentence. They say this plea deal is another reason the justice system fails us.
I agree.
But for a completely different reason.
Like many North Americans, I know of the atrocities and horrors our soldiers go into, but refuse the details. And for the most part, I don't want to know details. I like my sleep and dreams peaceful thank you very much.
But in order to understand the Omar Khadr case, one has to look at the sordid details.
Before the now infamous firefight in 2002, US Soldiers were investigating in a different area, looking for a completely different person, when they got word of someone using a satellite phone a few hundred metres away.
9 Americans, including Sergeant Speer, went to the area to investigate.
When one entered the building, it has been reported there was gunfire inside. The Americans, not waiting to see what happened next, fired on the building, and levelled it.
3 soldiers, including a helmetless Sgt. Speer, entered the building where they believe no one was alive.
Let me say that again. They fired on a building to the point where they believed no one could have survived the barrage. What happened to surrendering? Allowing the enemy a safe escape if they should choose so. Did they know there were women and children inside the building as it was reported?
They walked into the building, and a 15 year old Khadr, who was injured himself, lobbed a grenade at his attackers, with shrapnel striking Sgt. Speer in the head. The same Sgt. Speer who went into a combat zone without his helmet on.
That blast signaled more gun fire from the Americans, who killed a militant Al-Qaida member, who was with Khadr at the time.
It was then, that an injured Khadr bent down over his friend, possibly his mentor; a 15 year old kid who had lost the only person he had left in the world at that time. When your surrounded by your enemy, your only ally is your only friend.
He was likely crying over his dead friend who was shot up so fiercely, he probably wasn't even identifiable.
That's when American soldiers took two more shots at the boy terrorist, striking him through the back. He was alone, wounded, and without any of his own kind around. The officer in charge admitted he was going to order one of his charges to kill the boy; put him out of his misery.
From there, he went to Bagram Hospital where it was reported that he was refused medical treatment at times, and pain medication.
He was then transferred to Guantanamo Bay Prison, and, even as a child, was tortured like many others he was imprisoned with. Forced to stay awake for days at a time, even placed in uncomfortable positions where it has been reported that he soiled himself on more than one occasion.
By base psychiatrists and others, he was labelled as having an acute case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. All this, during a time where most North Americans are beginning to think about highschool prom, and what they want to do with the rest of their lives.
Still, through all this, Khadr is made to plead guilty so he can spend most of his sentence in Canada.
And despite all that he has gone through, all that he has seen and done. All that he has been made to do, Khadr is able to look at the wife of the man that he killed. One of the men that likely killed several of his friends, and adopted family, and say, I'm sorry.
Omar Khadr has already done more prison time inside his own mind then society can hand down. 8 years in jail, whether in Canada or the US, is irrelevant.
