Deuce

Yikes

In before Michael complains about this thread, 5, 4, 3, 2, .... I consider myself a non believer so I'm not sure if I can shed any true light on this discussion but I look forward to seeing others debate - it seems like an interesting topic.

There's nothing to believe about him being a figurehead for the owners. That is by definition his job. He is the collective voice of 30 franchises. Anybody who believes he comes up with decisions and implements them based on his own accord is out to lunch. I'm not a Bettman fan by any stretch but he has done some good for the NHL and I can admit it despite being sour over numerous lockouts.

His father signed him (as well as his other brothers) up for AQ training camps. He moved him into a compound where he and his family lived with Usama Bin Laden. Or are you suggesting that Omar, as a six year old was able to travel freely and independently without cost between Canada, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Looking forward to it, thanks for all the continuous effort guys. One quick question, not sure if its easily implementable but when I drag my cursor over a thread on some invisionfree boards you can get a preview of what the first post is, in said thread. Possible to get that going on here or nope?

If you were a child who was forced to go overseas by neurotic family members and still a child at the time of your capture, yes I would support you. You are 18+ and go overseas on your own accord, your own free will.

When these witnesses use terminology like "probably" and "most likely" and "it was reasonable to assume", excuse posters like eyeball and I for being a little bit skeptical.

I'm not a Foreign Affairs minister, with that being said, we could have done more than we did, especially considering Optional Protocol that both America and Canada had signed 6 months prior to his capture. Maybe we couldn't have secured his release but lets keep in mind the USA "pawned" him over to us eventually and the Canadian Govt dragged their feet as long as possible before sticking him in Millhaven. Rehabilitation programs, certified doctors and support groups potentially with other ex-child soldiers with whom he could connect with on a certain level. But he wasn't the only "POS" alive as you so elegantly stated in point 2. Any person with a brain can realize the numerous inconsistencies. Have you ever considered the possibility of friendly fire? The US Govt would never cover up an instance of friendly fire though... would they? *cough pat tillman* If you bothered to read the links I posted you'd save me a lot of time from having to go back to them, reread and then copy and paste here for you but anyways, Nobody is claiming that Al Qaeda is as militarily savvy as the US is, they have way less technology, funding and are just rudimentary in the way they do things. I don't buy for a second here that when the IED's are planted by AQ that they are aiming to hit native Afghans (unless they were associated with the US soldiers) - its just the cost of war.. No different than the US targeting insurgents but killing woman and children in drone strikes, they both have "good" intentions so to speak. If he was over 18 at the time I doubt you would see as much grief for his case. I just don't think that we should have wrote him off early into his stay at GBay as children/teens who commit crimes can be rehabilitated under the right cirumstances, unfortunately for all of us sitting with radical muslims in a military prison probably wasn't the "right circumstances".

Why bother posting "link" if its just going to take me to Wikipedia? Yep, now I'm convinced.

I believe the reason that the current media consortium that had the previous two Olympics didn't even bid this time was because they lost money, and one of the Olympics was IN Canada. It's not an actual bidding process unless there are two competing entities. In this case I believe the IOC just named their price and waited for a network to come along, if two of them came they probably would've raised the broadcast rights until one of the competitors bowed out. The CBC is where the Olympics should be though IMO, they broadcast lots of amateur sport year round, I think their experts and viewpoints are more interesting to people who don't have a grasp on most of the Olympic sports.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1264831--justin-trudeau-to-kick-off-liberal-leadership-campaign-in-quebec-b-c-and-ontario Getting to see some of the leadership platform now.

The US also signed the agreement. Ottawa could have put some pressure on at the time of his capture, they were notified 10 days after. Instead they decided to be complacent, and when they were tired of being complacent they decided to interrogate Omar themselves all while violating his charter rights, but I digress. Where's your misinformation coming from? source: http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/300329 You can pick your nose, you can pick your friends, you CANT pick your family. By that definition drone strikes should be considered terrorism, they are targeted to hit "insurgents" yet many civilian casualties are hit. Posting a piece of the Neil Macdonald article that I think sheds a little light on the situation,

Canada failed to up hold its agreement to an international treaty, as was covered earlier in this thread. I'll repost it for the benefit of yourself and anyone else who may have missed it

His brother (Abdurahman) was older when he he split from the Khadr clan then Omar was when he was captured. Abdurahman attended numerous AQ training camps, including bomb making, hand to hand combat as well as sniper training. His father signed him up for these. It was just after 9/11 when the US invaded Afghanistan that Abdurahman was split from the Khadrs and was rounded up by NATO forces. There Abdurahman had time to reflect on what his father (tried to make him a suicide bomber) had been trying to brainwash into his head for so many years, he realized that he had valuable information and decided to turn "informant" for the CIA. He didn't choose to split from the Khadr clan, they lost track of each other in the melee that was the US led invasion. Omar/Abdurahman's father is now dead. Abdurahman lives in Toronto currently... Where's the rightwingers crying for his deportation?

He was convicted in a kangaroo court... But assuming Omar did lob the grenade, Has the US ever apologized for their actions? Nope. Why? Because, it's all fair in love and war. Why should Khadr apologize in your opinion? The friends/family around him were getting killed and it was a "them (soldiers) or me" situation. In all honesty I don't see how you would have acted any differently in his shoes, but pray tell.

Unless your crime was so heinous that they may consider trying you as an adult.

So when you enter these types of threads and repeatedly make the same type of comments such as "Is this thread really necessary?", you are in case and point trolling. Strike 1 for you, Facilitator.

I'm glad somebody else finally noticed this. Define "trend towards the unacceptable"... if by unacceptable in your mind than I understand where you are coming from. No, unfortunately you're drifting the thread.. Just like the other 3 "muslim" threads you thought were trending towards the unacceptable --------------------

I've been following the GTHL & OHL closer this season as I doubt the NHL is going to get their act together anytime soon. It's especially disconcerting that the lockout had to take place this year as I won the ticket lottery to go to the Winter Classic on NYD in Detroit. Now it seems as if the game as well as the season will be cancelled any week now. What do you hockey fans plan to do to pass the time?

Well I don't agree with your view on this particular topic I can definitely see where you are coming from and that you got to that view on a logical road based on fact. That is all I can ever ask for when discussing something with somebody. I don'd mind disagreeing with somebody in the end, it's when they try and force their views or use straw man arguments that I start to get annoyed.

Sorry I mistyped I meant the article date.. TRUDEAU: CANADA'S GREAT HELMSMAN By Eric S. Margolis 8 October 2000 Check the math again, wiz. Typical rightwing grief arguing semantics

I had just assumed you came here to post "The liberal party is dead" or something to that effect so I was going to point out that the thread was almost 12 years old.. You fooled me.

You seem fairly intelligent based on the limited amount of posts I've seen so far, surely you understand that you can't sit back and wait for the information to find you. You must be proactive and diversive when it comes to finding stories about current events, especially politics as each outlet will have a spin.

There are a lot of mitigating circumstances in this situation. I think it is fair to say that he isn't a regular PoW. It's very complicated when you take into consideration the country he is born in, the country or group his parents may have coerced into thinking he must fight for, which countries have allies with which countries. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that a terrified young Omar simply did what he was guided to do by those influential around him.. It doesn't exclude him from his actions but it at least gives some reason to them. When I say I think it's unfair that he arbitrarily be locked up for the rest of his life, I didn't mean that he should be walked out of Jail this moment - given a key to the city and a condo downtown. Just that if he were to pass psychological examinations by certified professionals for an extended period of time, seemed contrite and remorseful and was willing or had a desire to work in a field where he might be able to help other "child soldiers" get over the acts they have committed he would be serving himself, society as well as Canada far better than being behind bars for eternity.