What's Khadr's Confession Worth?

Omar Khadr has admitted to a litany of offences, including murder and being a member of al Qaeda. But given the nature of his trial, some are doubting his confession is genuine.

The National Post’s Lorne Gunter is an opinion writer without an opinion today, and takes up most of his column describing how he doesn’t feel about Omar Khadr. “I can work up no genuine concern for Omar Khadr — nor, conversely, any real animosity,” he writes. “I don't wish him dead, but I don't want him free, either ... I don't blame Khadr fully for how his life has turned out, but I don't absolve him of all personal blame.” The only statement Gunter is willing to make is, “while there must never be different classes of citizen, I suspect Khadr is more a jihadi than a Canadian, so my concern for his fate is weak.” Which is sort of another way of saying there are different classes of Canadian citizens.

It looks like once Khadr’s repatriated to a Canadian prison he’ll be freed, sooner or later. Probably sooner. The Globe and Mail’s Norman Spector writes that this fact will likely be used by Republicans to attack Barack Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo Bay, especially as some reports say 20 per cent of prisoners repatriated from the prison have gone free and re-entered the terrorist fight.

The Ottawa Citizen’s Dan Gardner is surprised that the media has been so willing to accept Khadr’s guilty plea at face value. Under normal circumstances, guilty pleas are the last word on the innocence of the accused, but “do I really have to note that these are not ordinary circumstances?” asks Gardner. Khadr was 15 when was captured, denied legal council for two years, denied his rights under the UN Convention on child soldiers, aggressively interrogated and threatened with gang rape. “There isn't a civilian court in the western world that would have” made the results of those interrogations admissible, says Gardner. “The handling of Omar Khadr's case more closely resembles justice in China or Iran than it does justice in Canada.” Facing a near certain conviction and life in jail, “on Monday, after eight years maintaining his innocence, Khadr confessed. Sure. He's a terrorist. Whatever.”