Getting It Wrong in Guantánamo

I was at Guantánamo Bay prison on Halloween. In a ghoulishly fitting coincidence, that was the same day a former child soldier was convicted for war crimes for the first time since the end of World War II. Eight years and one day after Omar Khadr arrived at Guantánamo, his military commission case concluded with … Continue reading “Getting It Wrong in Guantánamo”

Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts ‘Publicity Nightmare’

With tongue in cheek, constitutional experts congratulated the U.S. government Tuesday for negotiating a plea deal with Guantanamo prisoner Omar Khadr, thus avoiding a trial in the military commission “puppet theater” of a defendant who was just 15 at the time of his offenses. Details of the plea deal are not yet fully known, but … Continue reading “Guilty Plea for Child Fighter Averts ‘Publicity Nightmare’”

The Curious Case of Omar Khadr

As a child, I sometimes browsed magazines in my doctor’s waiting room. One day while flipping through the pages I came across a photograph of a beaming young woman enjoying a picturesque view of a meadow. Underneath the photo in a small box was a message in black and white — issued, I thought, by … Continue reading “The Curious Case of Omar Khadr”