Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist?

(CBS)  Omar Khadr seems an unlikely poster boy for the war on terror. Khadr is a Canadian citizen, he likes Harry Potter, and he was only 15 years old when he was captured by the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. And that's what makes his case so controversial: his age.

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?

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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.

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[eniap57071]

i am really shocked that you even remotely imply we feel sorry for this thug. he can rot in that prison for the rest of his life as far as i am concerned. eliminate the chance that he may perpetuate his ilk. i wonder what americans would feel sorry for him. probably ones who have a deep seeded hatred for the u.s.

[artcampbell1]

My apologies for the repeated messages below

[artcampbell1]

Arabs have not attacked us. They retaliated. We attacked Arabs by supporting Israel. The Jews, well justified in wanting a country of their own, chose Palestine. The extremists (Zionists) announced they wanted all of Palestine as a Jewish only state. Arabs were to be killed or transported (exiled). The Arabs retaliated first against Israel and then against the US which supported Israel massively. 9/11 was retaliation. Britain, Spain and Australia suffered similar fates. Our attack on Afghanistan was part of the retaliation for retaliation. The Afghan supporters, including Khadr resisted. Perhaps if we stopped attacking Arabs, they would stop attacking us.

[artcampbell1]

Arabs have not attacked us. They retaliated. We attacked Arabs by supporting Israel. The Jews, well justified in wanting a country of their own, chose Palestine. The extremists (Zionists) announced they wanted all of Palestine as a Jewish only state. Arabs were to be killed or transported (exiled). The Arabs retaliated first against Israel and then against the US which supported Israel massively. 9/11 was retaliation. Britain, Spain and Australia suffered similar fates. Our attack on Afghanistan was part of the retaliation for retaliation. The Afghan supporters, including Khadr resisted. Perhaps if we stopped attacking Arabs, they would stop attacking us.

[artcampbell1]

Most of the comments suggest that Afghans/Arabs attacked us. Not true. They retaliated. We attacked them first. The establishment of Israel on land claimed by Arabs resulted in the Arabs/Palestinians retaliating. The US supported Israel massively and the Palestinian suporters retaliated by attacking a navy ship and embassies, and the US retaliated, attacking caves in Afghanistan. The Palestinian supporters retaliated with 9/11 leading to 9/11. We attacked Afghanistan. Khadr and other Afghani/Palestinian supporters resisted. I wondeer if we stopped interfering in Middle East affairs if the Arabs would stop interfering with us?

[joenavy6]

To see stories about Joint Task Force Guantanamo, visit http://www.jtfgtmo.southcom.mil

[mctimm61]

I''m a Canadian who hopes the U.S. locks this miserable creep up for the rest of his unnatural life. Perhaps the U.S. would be willing to incarcerate the rest of his family who are no doubt surviving on the misplaced generosity of the Canadian taxpayer. What''s really galling about the publicity given to this case is the fact every month it seems Canadian soldiers are dying in Afghanistan defending the rights this terrorist and his family have so readily denounced.

[toolmangler-2009]

Their "us" and "we" doesn''''t include Canada unless it benefits them.
Posted by sapidity at 06:02 PM : Nov 19, 2007


I hate to confirm your suspicions, Yep! its your turn next, you don''t think CAFTA, NAFTA didn''t include you Canadians did you. Welcome to the club!! I wonder what feely is going to do now, No more Americans to curse and Canada will not fight as hard as we did so they will be easy.

[sapidity]

I live in Canada and so have the dubious benefit of hearing about the Khadrs more than people in the US. Basically they''re a bunch of thugs who would be quite happy to turn Canada (and the U.S) into an Islamic dictatorship but meanwhile want all the benefits of Canadian democracy and whine if they think their rights are being impinged in the slightest way. Their "us" and "we" doesn''t include Canada unless it benefits them.

[likeablunchs]

'' .. i acquired such piles of such stuff, that my co-workets became so envious that they entered a state of such diminished capacity as to reduce their ability to produce goods and services, thereby reducing my ability to acquire piles of stuff .. so i compiled, with their assistance, 244,140,625 catalogs of stuff they could shop for with free catalog dollars (1 shopping ''mall'' / catalog for each 625 folk) .. and so i re-enabled them to do more business with the outside world and the inside world as well .. ''