October 26, 2010

Anger vs. Justice

now, I’m not the brightest bulb on the string,

seldom shedding brilliant light and

sometimes seeming not to glow at all

but even to one like me it seems unjust

to arrest a man involved in war

for killing, however wrong or right,

on land he called his home,

with the charge of war crimes done

in the heat of battle

it is unjust

to call one thing

an other thing

to satisfy a need

for vengeance

it seems absurd to say this

and I’m sure I don’t know it all

but how can one be charged a crime

for killing those who killed his friends

amid the heat of war, no less,

when those killed were unwelcome guests

upon his own declared and native soil

terrorists themselves, according to some views,

and as culpable as he

I tend to support this war against terrorism and believe Khadr is a

terrorist and a danger. I don’t believe that all that happens in the

war is above the board; right and wrong belong on either side.

Regardless of whether Omar Khadr is right or wrong, it looks like

he has been unjustly charged and held. Especially when what has

been done to him while in captivity is itself not above suspicion.

With apologies to those who have lost because of his actions, this looks

more like the venting of anger on an available target than the practice

of justice. Accuse him of terrorism or hate, there’s enough evidence

for both, but his being a war criminal seems a reach,

regardless of his hate he was fighting people who were fighting him.