Difficult to believe Khadr decision faulty
A former Canadian veteran wrote in our local paper that a Muslim Canadian, Khadr, (who was tortured by the West, after involvement in the Middle East as a teenager), was not deserving of his monetary settlement, which the highest court of Canada awarded him.
My response is this: If I truly serve this Canadian system of law, and the highest court in Canada finds this Muslim Canadian innocent and worthy of compensation, then so be it.
This fellow addressed his support for Canada by mentioning his long, dedicated military service. Yet, in the next breath he insinuates that the Canadian Supreme Court is making poor decisions. My own assumptions, and lack of data on the case, leaves me with a skewed viewpoint of the entire affair.
So much hate propaganda is put out regarding Muslims. In my opinion, many ‘terrorist’ stories are put out with incomplete data. In his novel The Whole Truth, David Baldacci explained that ‘mainstream media is a tool to manage the perception of the general population’. In other words, to justify further warfare in the Middle East the mainstream news depict a very “pro-war” stance on the affairs in the Middle East. I.e.: Depict the country or leader as a threat, and the people hearing the news then support the ‘trumped up charges’ being used to justify military aggression.
A Syrian fellow attempted to explain perception management to the listeners in an interview that was aired just once on CBC about two months ago. The Syrian refugee stated that only one per cent of what Canadians and Americans get reported from the mainstream television and radio about the Middle East is accurate.
He said the conflict in Syria was originally not an armed conflict, but then the foreign-backed mercenaries/rebels showed up. The end result, as in the case of Libya and Iraq, is that the area is bombed and pummeled by international military aggression. It is so tragic that even the Syrian people can’t get away fast enough. Hence, Syrian refugees.
So, I admit that the system is questionable from the top down, including the reasons given for Canada’s support for the military aggression in the Middle East.
However, I do find it difficult to believe that the Canadian Supreme Court decision to compensate Khadr is faulty.
Bill Woollam
Duncan