Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist?

Was Only 15 Years Old When He Was Captured In Afghanistan

(CBS)  Asked if there's evidence that Omar or that his family has connections to al Qaeda, Altenburg tells Simon, "There's evidence that he was fighting with people from al Qaeda, which would arguably make him a part of al Qaeda."

Evidence like images caught on a videotape, found in the rubble after Khadr was captured. A man seen in the video is teaching the other men how to attach detonation wires to land mines. Also seen on the tape is a young man who appears to be Omar Khadr, helping put together a firing device.

Later in the videotape, you can see the land mines being planted in the ground, in the dark, most likely aimed at American soldiers.

Abdurrahman Khadr, one of Omar's older brothers, says Omar was in that compound that day because his father had sent him there.

Abdurrahman Khadr lives in Canada. He, too, was brought up as a Muslim extremist but, he says, he switched sides and worked with the CIA after 9/11. In spite of the videotape, he believes Omar went to the compound to act as a translator, not a fighter.

"He was sent there by my father and as an obedient kid and he said okay," Abdurrahman Khadr says.

And that is the heart of Omar Khadr’s defense, his lawyers say: that he had no choice because he had been indoctrinated since earliest childhood to be a good soldier for Allah and an obediant son.

"When you look at the strict culture he's from, you don't challenge your elders," Edney says. "So when his father tells the 15 year old boy, 'You’re going with these three men and you’re going to be a translator,' that’s what the boy does."

That, and everything else his father tells him to do. His father was Ahmed Said Khadr, a radical Muslim who had fought with the Mujahadeen against the Russians.

He was born in Egypt, then emigrated to Canada, and in 1993 moved his family to Afghanistan, where he ran a series of orphanages for Afghan children.

He brought up Omar the way he brought up a group of orphans, to believe there is only one way, the Muslim way, and that the dream of every young man should be getting to paradise by dying as a martyr. A video of Ahmed and the orphans was made in 2001, when the late George Crile, a 60 Minutes producer and author, went to Afghanistan to report on the world of extremist Muslims.

By this time, Omar Khadr's father was not only a well known relief worker, he was on a U.N. list of those associated with terrorism.

Asked if he was a terrorist, Ahmed Khadr told Crile in 2001, "I am not a terrorist."

Not a terrorist, he said, but he fervently believed that Afghanistan should be a Muslim state and that the United States was the enemy of Islam. "It looks like after we have removed the Russian Empire, we’ll have to end up removing also the American Empire," Ahmed Khadr told Crile.

He said that just three weeks before 9/11, an event Omar's father claimed he didn’t take part in, but didn't seem to feel sorry about, either.

"When September 11th happened, my dad was like, 'Yes, we attacked the enemy,'" Abdurrahman Khadr recalls. "For him, when he says 'We,' he doesn’t mean we, our family, he means we, Islam."

"It was Islam taking revenge against the United States?" Simon asks.

"Yes. And that's what he believed," Abdurrahman Khadr explains.

The six Khadr children grew up among other Arabic speaking families in Afghanistan, including the bin Ladens. They knew Osama bin Laden's children and sometimes played together. They even lived on and off in the same compound as Osama.

Asked if he looked up to Osama bin Laden, Abdurrahman Khadr tells Simon, "It was amazing to meet the person who was the most wanted person in the world. The minute he walked into the room and I was like, 'Wow, I just saw this person in the magazine and now he’s right here in front of me.' It was like a superstar, I think."

Some of the Khadr boys also went to summer training camps run by bin Laden,
something Abdurrahman says all the Arab kids in Afghanistan did. "Going to the camps, training camps is, like, for kids here to go to a hockey camp," he says.

He describes his family as sympathetic to the Taliban and al Qaeda, but not hardcore members of either. "We socialized with them more than had like business. My dad had some business deals with Osama. But not the rest of the family," Abdurrahman Khadr says.

But he acknowledges that they were brought up to fight for Islam.

[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 .. ''

[denn034]

Age doesn''t matter. If they''re a terrorist, then, treat them like terrorists.

[hubrod-2009]

speakinup you are the ignorant one here. The Family was moved to afghanistan in the 90''s because the boy was born in canada, does not make him canadian. He grew up in afghanistan, he was and is an afghanie.

[hubrod-2009]

I love this talk of murder. All of these detainees at gitmo are prisoners of war. this kid was in a compound that had been bombed, they didn''t expect anyone to survive. when the bombing stoppet he threw a grenade, this is something you do in a war. in a war you try to kill your enemy. Do we call all soldiers murderers for doing their job, which is to kill the enemy. are all our war heros to be considered murderers now. If you call these people murderers, and unlawful combatants, can not the enemy do the same to our guys. think before you listen to the bulls*** from dubya and the gang. We are at war, how we treat prisoners of war defines who we are. stop the silly trials, enforce the geneva convention and treat these people as what they are Prisoners of war.

[krazykat2525]

Bush could not go to war without Congresses backing. they were given the same facts he was. Look to the archives and find out who voted 4 the war. Any teenage boy with out of control hormones given the fantasy he will get 72 virgins to make him happy will do just about anything to make this fantasy come true. A lot of adult men do. Hence the suicide bombers. The head of the cia was fired due to the misinformation given which lead to the war. Get the facts b/4 u start bashing Bush. Whatever he has done, not done, he is far better than having had Kerry who flip flopped like a fish (and still does).He wanted $6.54 tax on your gas b/4 gas prices even went up.

[peachsurpriz]

I think the guy was lured into trouble when i researched his families name for a terrorist report, i had never heard the name before and searched for more info. Everyone i look up gets charged somewhere.
Morons were hired into the CIA by the corrupted officals who hired a 9-11 plotter and gave her immunity. She works on your tax dollars.. thats why im monitored. I know this to be a fact.
Pam Toll Park Forest IL USA

[peachsurpriz]

I think the guy was lured into trouble when i researched his families name for a terrorist report, i had never heard the name before and searched for more info. Everyone i look up gets charged somewhere.
Morons were hired into the CIA by the corrupted officals who hired a 9-11 plotter and gave her immunity. She works on your tax dollars.. thats why im monitored. I know this to be a fact.
Pam Toll Park Forest IL USA

[peachsurpriz]

I think the guy was lured into trouble when i researched his families name for a terrorist report, i had never heard the name before and searched for more info. Everyone i look up gets charged somewhere.
Morons were hired into the CIA by the corrupted officals who hired a 9-11 plotter and gave her immunity. She works on your tax dollars.. thats why im monitored. I know this to be a fact.
Pam Toll Park Forest IL USA

[mpsanch99]

I have a son and daughter teaching in two countries with a significant Muslim population. I don''t give a *** how old he is, keep him locked up! And does anyone honestly believe the family recantation? Please keep a close eye on all of them, especially the 14 year old - wheelchair or not!

Now can we address the real problem here - what some ADULT Muslims are teaching their children? How do we change this? Because until we do, we will continue to see children used as weapons! Not our choice but our reality.

[speakinup]

"I wonder what a young American would do if his country is invaded and people are shot at? Not defend himself? I doubt it! Posted by nirak2

Hey ignorant jackass - do you know how to read ?

This 15 year old dimwit was in Afghanistan, yet he is a Canadian. Spare us your diarrhea of the fingertips unless you read the facts first.

[speakinup]

"Absolutly ridiculous. Bush and Cheney should be in prison not this little Canadian boy. When do the war crime trials start for the real criminal regeim?
Posted by zoltaric

Yeah - ridiculous - they shuld have shot him for the spy he is 5 years ago. Zoltaric - you are an idotic ignornat ingrate that has been listening to his own far left viewpoint for so long that you need to be medically treated for inbread thoughts.

To bad it wasn''t your father, mother, son, or daughter this piece of human trash shot.