The term has become the rallying cry for those who don't want to have to think: they just want to be told something and have an emotional response that somehow, magically, gets turned into their idea of reality. What makes it sad is that it has created a society of morons who don't care to think critically.
On Saturday, as my family and I were enjoying a delicious shawarma lunch at a small restaurant in the far, south-east corner of Fisher Glen, I spied the daily edition of Ottawa's tabloid, The Sun. I saw the headline near the top of the front page and was moved to an emotional reaction.
I was immediately outraged.
But my anger was not directed at the subject of the headline; rather, it was directed at the tabloid itself. And I immediately thought: if ever there was a case to scream "FAKE NEWS," this was it.
In today's political climate, one has to tread carefully. We have seen a polarization in the United States, and there are some who clearly want the same for Canada. Let's look at the reckless statement that this disreputable publication has put out, and sort the falsehoods from the truth.
"Terror Tycoon"—Macmillan Dictionary defines a tycoon as "a rich and powerful person who is involved in business or industry." And while Omar Khadr may be receiving a large cash settlement, he is hardly powerful, nor is he involved in any business or industry in which he profited. And, while many people have called Khadr a "terrorist," it galls me to think how quickly people brush aside the facts that
- he was only 15 years old when he was captured, making him a child soldier, at best
- he was brainwashed by his father, who took him to Afghanistan, where he was made to fight
- he was fighting the Americans, who had invaded Afghanistan, which makes him more of an insurgent than a terrorist
Let's be clear: the Liberal government didn't initiate this payment; the lawyers for Khadr did, after the Charter of Rights was violated in his case. The initial suit called for almost double the settled amount, but the Supreme Court, not the Liberals, came up with the amount to be paid.
Laws were broken, rights were violated, and the court rightly favoured on Khadr's side.
Trudeau wasn't even involved in the apology to Khadr: Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the statement of apology. Of course, Trudeau knew about the apology and approved it, but I don't blame any government for admitting that rights have been denied and for trying to make amends.
Come on, folks, Trudeau wasn't even the leader of the Liberals nor was his party in power when Khadr was finally repatriated.
The references to "grenade" and the U.S. widow are in poor taste. This settlement has nothing to do with her. As unfortunate as her husband's death was (Khadr confessed, under torture, to throwing the grenade, but later admitted that he doesn't remember if he even threw it), he was a soldier in a war zone and knew the risks associated with combat. One government can sue another government over the reparations in war but who honestly thinks one combatant can be sued for another combatant's death?
If that's the case, I hope the families of the Canadian soldiers who were bombed by an American fighter pilot took him to the cleaners.
It doesn't matter what opinion you hold on this Omar Khadr settlement as long as your opinions are backed with facts, that the sources of your information are credible and are not delivered for the sole reason of evoking an emotional, knee-jerk reaction.
This weekend, federal Conservative Party leader, Andrew Scheer tweeted, "
Nice timing on your post - we had a long discussion on this yesterday with some friends. Lots of the usual "we shouldnt be giving money to this terrorist and convicted killer" etc. Which, as you stated, is just a refusal to understand what the settlement is actually based on denial of his rights as a Canadian. Not whether he was a terrorist or not.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hopefully more people will take the time to actually understand this case in more detail.
Derek