Friday, May 29, 2015

Omar Khadr: A Powerful Refutation Of The Harper Narrative

If you saw last night's documentary on Omar Khadr, like me, perhaps you came away feeling some awe at the remarkable resilience of the human spirit. Unless you believe Khadr is a master actor manipulating all of us, you could not have seen the film without a resulting deep respect for his maturity, intelligence, and remarkable insights that one could only hope to see in a much older person; I daresay many of us (me included) cannot claim such insightful equanimity. That those qualities could have emerged out of the crucible of his horrendous years in Guantanamo almost defies understanding.

Toward the end of the interview, Khadr reflects on a question he is often asked: if he could change the past, would he? His answer was that except for the firefight (in which he may or may not have killed Christopher Speers), he is not so sure he would change things, as it was through his years of imprisonment that he learned about himself and became the person he is today,

All of which stands as a powerful refutation of the Harper narrative of the former child soldier as an irredeemable terrorist who poses an ongoing threat to the Canadian public.

It occurs to me that Omar Khadr serves as a kind of personal Rorschach test; to reject him out of hand is perhaps to mirror something cold and dark within one's own psyche; to admit the possibility of his redemption perhaps points to something powerful and positive that resides within.

The former child soldier also challenges us as a country. Do the values that have traditionally made Canada such an enviable country still reside here? Are tolerance, acceptance and compassion still some of the markers of our national character? Or have they been fatally subverted by a federal government all too content to demonize, divide, and stoke hatred and intolerance of "the other'?

My own description of the documentary has purposely been brief; watch it as time permits and form your own view of Omar Khadr:

10 comments:

  1. If you want a good characterization of Harper's Canada, and his psyche, it can be seen depicted on the primary face of the 'Memorial for the Victims of Communism', where the artist has raised, in relief, a monolithic, open grave, of decaying corpses. All of this sitting along Confederation Blvd, our country's ceremonial thoroughfare.

    http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.2230054.1423609517!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpg

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    1. Thank you, Anon. I checked out your link - a powerful and disturbing image that says a great deal about Dear Leader's psyche.

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  2. Off topic, Lorne, what do you make of Peter MacKay's decision to "punch out" of federal politics?

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    1. All I can think to say, Mound, is a paraphrase from Macbeth: "Nothing in his [political] life/ Became him like the leaving it.”

      May his profound incompetence become fully apparent in the private sector.

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    2. I love that quote, Lorne. You made my day!

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    3. I'm glad yoiu enjoyed it, Mound.

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  3. Lorne, love your post. I have recorded the interview and intend to watch it tonight. I agree with your conclusions.

    Interesting comments by Mound and you on Peter MacKay. I think he had it with Harper. Chances are that Cons will lose upcoming election and MacKay may be thinking of running for leadership. October elections are going to be interesting.

    I am still don't know why Baird resigned so suddenly. Is it possible that he had it with Harper?

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    1. Hi, LD. It is hard to know why Baird and MacKay left, although I read that the former is joining a prestigious law firm, so perhaps for him it was a matter of wanting to start making some real money; given his widespread contacts, i can see where he might be a desired addition to boards, etc. Regarding MacKay, that is an interesting speculation you have of future leadership aspirations. After all, he did give up the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives when he merged with Reform, having betrayed his promise to David Orchard that he would never do such a thing.

      In any event, I think public life will be the better with his absence, especially if it is permanent.

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  4. Lorne, I watched Omar Khadr documentary last night. Amazing. Very bright man. He endured all the tortures and came out as a very wise man. Not very many people will survive such sufferings or keep their sanity intact.

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    1. I'm glad you got the chance to watch it, LD. I share your assessment of Khadr. Rather amazing, isn't it, that he could have emerged from such suffering to become the man he is.

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