It says something about the polarization over the “war on terror” that you could end up understanding less about its complexities after reading either of these books than you understood before you started. To get any useful sense of the facts and arguments involved, especially as they relate to the saga of Omar Khadr, you’d be better off reading both of these books, or neither.
From my Globe and Mail review of Omar Khadr, Oh Canada, edited by Janice Williamson, and The Enemy Within Terror, Lies and the Whitewashing of Omar Khadr by Ezra Levant.
My take: Sure, the guy was a kid. That doesn't cut much ice with me, but fair enough. And Guantanamo is a legal and constitutional black hole, and yes, Obama has kept it open (what to do?), and Obama has taken to himself the power to order the murder of Yemeni jihadis who also happen to be American citizens (so?).
It's complicated. None of us - not us Canucks, not the Yanks, not the Brits, the Dutch, the French, none of us - were ready for what happened on September 11, 2001. We weren't ready morally, intellectually, militarily, culturally, constitutionally, legally. And we still haven't got it figured out.
Make jokes about George W. Bu$h all you like, smartass. None of you were ready, and you're still not.
You've heard all about Omar Khadr. I bet you've never heard of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. There are tens of thousands just like him.
La lutte continue.
You've heard all about Omar Khadr. I bet you've never heard of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. There are tens of thousands just like him.
La lutte continue.