Nov. 18, 2007
Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist?
Was Only 15 Years Old When He Was Captured In Afghanistan
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Minor Tried As Terrorist
Omar Khadr is the only person in modern history to be tried for war crimes that he allegedly committed as a minor. Bob Simon reports on the controversy surrounding his case.
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Omar Khadr (CBS)
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War On Terror
Complete coverage of the military's battle against terrorism.
As correspondent Bob Simon reports, Omar Khadr is the only person in modern history to be charged for war crimes he allegedly committed while a minor.
60 Minutes got a rare glimpse into a Guantanamo case -- one of the first that will be prosecuted. Consider this: is Omar Khadr a hardened terrorist -- a bad seed, or an obedient son, led astray by his family?
The U.S. accuses Omar Khadr of murdering an American soldier, conspiracy, spying and more, all done, they say, when he was just 15 years old. Khadr has been detained in Guantanamo Bay for five years, much of it in a maximum security prison, in a cell with no windows, awaiting a military trial. His lawyers say that due to his age when he was taken prisoner, he should have been considered a child soldier and shouldn't be there at all.
As is, the U.S. calls him an unlawful enemy combatant, a euphemism for terrorist. 60 Minutes was not allowed to speak to Omar Khadr. But Dennis Edney, one of his lawyers, has visited him in Guantanamo several times.
"He's been in confinement for five years. Think of that. Think of locking a dog in a cage for five years. That's what’s happened to Omar Khadr," Edney tells Simon.
But Omar Khadr faces serious charges and, if convicted, could face up to life in prison. He was captured in eastern Afghanistan, a region notorious for harboring members of al Qaeda and the Taliban. In July 2002, U.S. Special Forces were patrolling the area when they got a tip that some al Qaeda members were holed up nearby.
Back then, Layne Morris was Sergeant Layne Morris. When his unit approached a walled compound, he says al Qaeda gunmen opened fire, killing Morris' interpreters.
"These guys just shot them point blank in the face," Morris says.
He says two interpreters were killed instantly. And then Sgt. Morris felt something hit his right eye.
"A piece of the hand grenade shrapnel cut the optic nerve," he says. "So I'm blind in one eye."
The fighting went on for hours. By the time it was over, the compound was completely destroyed by 500 pound bombs.
Morris didn't think anybody inside the compound could still be alive. "The assumption was that everybody's dead in there," he says.
But when soldiers went in, someone threw a hand grenade at them. One of the medics, Sergeant Christopher Speer, was killed. Then they found Omar Khadr, barely alive, lying in the rubble and blinded in one eye, just like Layne Morris.
"He's lucky," Morris says. "Because he killed one medic. The second medic saved his life."
Asked if the medic described the kid, Morris tells Simon, "All he said was, 'Man, we got up on that kid and he begged us to kill him.' He said 'Just kill me.'"
And he said it in perfect English.
The U.S. Department of Defense declined to give 60 Minutes an interview about the Khadr case, so Simon spoke to retired General John Altenburg, a lawyer who reviewed the initial evidence against Khadr and counseled the military to put him on trial for war crimes.
"I understand that the evidence reveals that a grenade was thrown over a wall, but that nobody saw him throw it," Simon remarks.
"I think it's fair to say that no person saw him actually throw the grenade," Altenburg replies.
So why the charges?
Says Altenburg, "Because there is circumstantial evidence that would indicate he was the one who threw the grenade."
Meaning no one else was found alive who could have thrown it.
Produced By Catherine Olian and George Crile
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 79 CommentsBush is the real terrorist. He has terrorized our nation into abandoning its principles. Bush is a war criminal.
It''s not enough that we imprison without charge, torture, rape, soddomize, and execute people, in secret prisons and illegal detention centers like Guantanimo. We have to engage in this sub-human behavior against children as well.
What a disgraceful nation we have become.
Re: "Says Altenburg, "Because there is circumstantial evidence that would indicate he was the one who threw the grenade."
"Meaning no one else was found alive who could have thrown it."
So we have circumstantial evidence against a child that has been held for years, in this disgraceful and illegal detention center.
What more proof do the craven terrorists presiding over this illegitimate kangaroo court need to convict and execute this child?
What a disgraceful nation we have become.
Posted by FeelFree1 at 09:47 PM : Nov 18, 2007
+ report abuse
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I would not be suprised that you think that way..its well documented that you think that this country is evil and islam is the next best thing since sliced bread.
(did you even read the topic?)
Re: "The fighting went on for hours. By the time it was over, the compound was completely destroyed by 500 pound bombs."
"Morris didn''t think anybody inside the compound could still be alive. "The assumption was that everybody''s dead in there," he says."
Sounds like ***. If the structure was "completely destryoed", how could there be an "in there"? Wouldn''t it be simply a pile of rubble?
The U.S. has no case against this boy, otherwise he would not be waiting for 5 years for his day in a sham trial.
U.S. soldiers had no legitimate business in Afghanistan in the first place.
Even if the claims against this boy were true, which is highly doubtful, this could easily be dismissed as a case of self defense if the building was being attacked by the U.S. forces, as appears to be the case.
What a sick joke.
Google ''Krongard 9/11''
Re: "Out of the 305 detainees in Guantanamo, Omar Khadr''s case will be only the second to be prosecuted."
Obviously they have no case against these illegally held detainees, and obviously they are not the "worst of the worst", as has been claimed, since so many of them have already been released, without charge, folowing their torure and lengthy detension at Guantanimo."
Re: "The U.S. says an eyewitness has recently provided new evidence that could bolster Khadr''s defense."
If this boy was the only one found alive, how could there be any eyewitnesses?
This case is obviously garbage, even if it wasn''t being conducted at an illegal detention center by a kangaroo court of fascistic cowards.
U have been reading the wrong history. Never, Never has the US went to war from a UN resolution or word of another country.The last war when there was a vote taken was WW2, by F D Roosevelt. The whole world INCLUDING THE UN WAS AGAINST ATTACKING IRAQ.
nyckate,
If a child of yours were held for years without being charged, in an illegal prison, and his captors told you over and over again that he or she was a "terrorist", would that be enough to satisfy you of their guilt?
Aren''t these terrorists even younger?
www.informationliberation.com/files/192642682_2fea4cce66_o.jpg
www.informationliberation.com/files/192642681_c4903905bd_o.jpg
Re: "Khadr is a Canadian citizen, he likes Harry Potter, and he was only 15 years old when he was captured..."
Harry Potter, eh?
Seems like if they would simply turn him over to the 700 Club, or some other Christian Taliban organization, rather than bother with a sham trial, and had him executed on live TV, they could get a few more votes in the next election cycle.
'' ... what''s the difference in ruling forever because one wants to, and because one will be damned not to? whatever difference one chooses ... my soul spans forever, and i get a bad dream here or there now or then and chaos seems to rumble round till i calm inside and out and remember it was all my fault and i never truly cut anyone but myself ... i only glance at you cruelly because you are not the one i wish that i could be; though, i''m sure to be again ... ''
The label terrorist is similiar to the communist label given to many for supposed unAmerican activities. THese are prisnoers of war. and Omar is a child soldier. As such he should be tried as child soldier who was influenced by a fauly paradies with 42 virgins awaiting hime (lured by ***).
There is no evidence showing he threw the grenade that killed the medic. It could have been thrown by one his dead counterparts. This is a sad day in America. Holding a child in prsion for 6 years without a trial is a shame. We will be hated even more by Islam.
The Bush administration has tarmished our human rights record with Guantanamo, ruined our credibility with lies of the war, placed the US dangerously in debt where we can''t provide for our own children and severly ruined international ties for decades to come. Bring this trrops home and forget this unhumane war that has cost lives and enriched Bush''s buddies.
Sober up.
Posted by FeelFree1 at 11:48 PM : Nov 18, 2007
Like it or not he''s a terrorist, got nothin'' to do with the 700 club, Karl Marx, Groucho Marx or Captain Kangaroo. It''s all about the 00 and 04 elections with you still, get over it.
Because he is not an American citizen in our criminal justice system. You contradict yourself; you call him a POW, which he technically is not of course since Al Qaeda nor the Taliban were ever signatories to Geneva and their "soldiers" do not wear uniforms and routinely target civilians. But, assume he was a POW (and I advocate TREATING them as such even if they are not legally), that means we can and SHOULD hold him and the others until the conflict is over; they should NOT be tried, especially in our civilian courts! When Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri surrender or Al Qaeda is killed into oblivian, then the war will be over and POWs released. POWs are released during wartime only when hostilities have ceased or in a prisoner exchange, and we know there won''t be one of those because while we give their prisoners good meals, recreation time, copies of the Koran, medical care, and prayer mats; they have no prisoners of ours because anyone they get their hands on is beheaded on the internet!!
www.poconocommunitynews.com
A 15 year old killer! Now what would a 15 year old Canadian be doing wandering around eastern Afghanistan throwing grenades at U.S. forces. Try him and lock up the TERRORIST
Posted by fredgrad2000
The extremism of their ideology will not end with their capture or demise. How many more Omar Khadr have been brainwashed into believing the justice of their cause that will carry it on? One has to confront and dismantle the ideology in order to end it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYjQpFAGUrQ
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