When I was 11 years old my family moved to a country that had significant tensions between the various people groups living in the country. By the age of 15, the country was approaching a full-scale civil war.
On three occasions I had a rifle or shotgun placed into my hands and I was told to shoot back if anyone started shooting at us. This happened once when we were in imminent danger of attack, and twice when we were driving through particularly unstable areas.
Fortunately I was not involved in any direct conflict. But what if I had been? Should I have borne the responsibilities for my actions? Or should there be exceptions for children who get caught up in armed conflict? In 2002 the UN banned armed conflict for individuals under the age of 18.
So what should the U.S. and Canadian governments do in the case of Omar Khadr (pictured above left)?
Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen who was shot and captured during a conflict in Afghanistan with U.S. Marines. One U.S. Marine, Sgt. Christopher Speer, was killed in the action. Omar was 15 years old at the time of his capture, and since then has spent six years at either the Bagram prison or Guantanamo Bay.
Read his story. There is a very detailed version of it on Wikipedia. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think. This story has been weighing on my mind for the last several days as I have felt that, in the words of Bob Dylan, “There but for fortune go you and I”.
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners – Isaiah 61:1
Michael Bell
Joshua Hearne
Tim Melton
Joel Black
Jul 19, 2008 at 10:46 pm
Update: I will not publish comments on this story that:
1. Do not attempt to answer the questions asked.
2. Do not stick to the facts contained in the very comprehensive Wikipedia article. (Unless a creditable source is given.)
3. Are cut and pasted multiple times on the web.
For the record, contrary to what I have been accused of in non-published comments, I have in fact:
1. Followed this story for several years.
2. Volunteered for military service (the third generation of Bells to do so), and proudly served my country.
3. Strongly support the Canadian, U.S., British, and other forces who are currently serving in Afghanistan.
Nov 13, 2009 at 11:28 am
The question you ask is very broad considering all the varying circumstances of Child Soldiers. As for the question you ask more specifically applied to the case of Omar Khadr:
I am in the middle of reading the book written about Omar (Guantanamo’s Child by Shepard). I have also followed the story closely through other sources. What should the US & Canadian government do regarding Omar? Hold him accountable for his actions. He was a boy when he was captured, yes. But he is not mentally handicap nor was he forced. He knew what he was doing and he was eager (according to his family) to join the jihad and follow in the footsteps of his fathers extreme ideas of Islam. He wasn’t forced to be in the compound with known terrorists on July 27, 2002… This situation is not like the situation in some African countries where young boys are kidnapped and forced/brainwashed into becoming child soldiers. He had anxiously been asking his father to be allowed to participate in the jihad.
Choosing to join a war at 15 doesn’t mean that he is exempt of the tragedies and consequences that come with war. It is heart wrenching to think of Omar, a young man but still just a boy, wanting to be in the situation he was in. He’s now been in custody for a very long time. If he were to be released from Gitmo would he would go back as an adult and live a life of terrorism with a goal of killing Americans and all who support America in the war against terrorism? I don’t know. But clearly we do know he was already on this “path” (according to direct interviews with his family) and that is how he was captured to begin with.
Many articles and the book (Guantanamo’s Child) talk about how “good” and “sweet” Omar was as a child. He was always smiling and pleasant to be around… Please tell the family of the person whose appendages he is flaunting with a smile on his face that he was “good” (Google images will bring up the picture of Omar walking down the street carrying a severed white foot and hand with a smile on his face…). The case of Omar Khadr is very sad…but so is the case of Tabitha, Taryn and Tanner Speer whose Husband and father will never come home.