The Guano Courts Are Now Open!

Today, the US Military will try a young man for "crimes" committed when he was 15.

I wish I could say that it was a trial - it's not. It's what George Bush has euphemistically called a "Military Tribunal". The impartiality of such a structure is suspect at best - the panel hearing evidence can contain his accusers; his "lawyer" is a young military lawyer (therefore subject to military law himself...) - appointed to the case. (The accused is not permitted their own legal representation) The standards of evidence are much lower than they would be in a civilian court, making evidence obtained by coercive means such as torture admissable.

While the Khadr family's ties to al Quaeda are indisputable, that doesn't justify the US Government's heavy-handed approach here. Even if Omar Khadr was "a fully trained terrorist", he was in a combatant in a war zone. No more, no less. If a US soldier had done the same thing in a similar circumstance, he would have been rewarded. Mr. Khadr, is being tried for "war crimes" - in this case - lobbing a grenade in the vinicity of a US army medic. Somehow, I think there are bigger fish to fry than this guy.

These courts are a farce, and like the handling of the whole Guantanamo Bay prisoner issue, a continuing example of a government acting extra-territorially, and ignoring its own legal process and laws.