by WorldTribune Staff, July 10, 2017
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s rewarding of $8 million in cash and a formal apology to a terrorist who attacked a compound in Afghanistan where Americans and Canadians were serving is “something a traitor would do,” a U.S. soldier who was wounded by the terrorist said.
Layne Morris, who was blinded in the 2002 grenade attack by Al Qaida terrorist Omar Khadr that killed Sgt. Chris Speer, says Trudeau should be charged with treason.
Morris told the Toronto Sun on July 8 that Trudeau’s decision to reward Khadr, who spent 10 years in prison at Guantanamo Bay, feels “like a punch in the face.”
“I don’t see this as anything but treason,” said Morris, a former U.S. Army special forces sergeant. “As far as I am concerned, Prime Minister Trudeau should be charged.”
Khadr’s lawsuit claimed Canada had violated his rights and was complicit with the United States when he was detained at the U.S. base in Cuba, denied access to a lawyer and tortured.
Trudeau said the apology and settlement payment to Khadr was a basic matter of following Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Trudeau said the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects all Canadians, “even when it is uncomfortable.”
“When the government violates any Canadian’s Charter rights, we all end up paying for it,” the prime minister said.
Morris said Khadr’s life was saved by American medics who could have left him to “die like a dog.”
“We were fighting the terrorists. They were the bad guys. Something is really off here,” Morris said. “I can’t believe any government would get involved in something like this.”
“The fact is Chris Speer and myself were fighting with Canadians in Afghanistan. We were alongside the PPCLI [Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry]. There was a Canadian flag flying along with the American flag at our base there, so it’s quite a thing that now Canada is giving millions to a guy who would attack a compound where Canadians were serving.”
Morris also slammed Trudeau for delivering the “compensation” money to Khadr in secret so that the settlement would be unknown to any U.S. court.
“It feels like a dirty deal to me,” Morris said, noting that Khadr was also removed from Guantanamo Bay in secret by then-President Barack Obama and sent to Canada.
Morris, along with Speer’s widow, Tabitha Speer, were awarded $134 million in a civil suit aimed against Khadr.
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