The General has a point

General Roméo Dallaire (that's Senator Dallaire to you civvies) is upbraiding the Conservative government over the case of Omar Khadr. (In all fairness, the Liberals didn't do any better when they were in power, which may be why Stéphane Dion is threatening to discipline the senator, in yet another stunning example of Dion's lack of political and good sense.)

Dallaire's central point - and whatever you think of the General or Khadr or any of the political parties, it's a very good one - is that Khadr was only 15 at the time he was taken into custody and sent to Guantanamo. Someone that young is normally considered a victim of indoctrination and/or intimidation and is rehabilitated, not charged. He asks what makes this case different. And he's right. You cannot have two sets of standards, applied according to the political winds of the times. Either we stand for human rights and justice equally applied, or we don't.

Dallaire said Canadian soldiers have helped rehabilitate more than 7,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan. None of them have been prosecuted, he said.

"What is the political reason? What makes [Khadr] different from the others?" said Dallaire.

Technorati tags: Romeo Dallaire, Omar Khadr

Gleanings from the blogosphere, Aug. 15

Thomas Sowell has some interesting thoughts on discrimination and gay marriage. He contends that laws exist precisely to discriminate against certain actions. And that the laws on marriage are a restriction of individuals' rights, not an expansion of rights to be aspired to. Some very tight, interesting reasoning here. Hat tip to Booker Rising.

Eteraz makes a plea for a "regular Islam", distinguishing between theological Islam, with which he has no argument, and social Islam, about which he has plenty to say.

Previous post on the topic of Homosexuality

Technorati tags: Marriage, Discrimination, Islam