The Read International For 7/12/10: 5 Years For Doing Nothing Is What They Tried To Give Omar Khadr

Photo from The Red Cross

It is one of those things that's just a wee bit embarrassing for all Americans to know about. The terrific Carol Rosenburg with the Very embarrassing story of how the United States continuing to prefer dubious actions instead of admit its wrong doing.

Alleged ex-teen terrorist Omar Khadr on Monday denounced his coming war-crimes trial as a sham, saying he'd been offered a secret plea deal for release after five years. Instead, he said, he would act as his own attorney at trial and offer no defense.

``I'm representing myself and I'm boycotting,'' said Khadr, 23, who has grown from an adolescent captured nearly dead in Afghanistan into manhood in U.S. military custody. He was wearing the white prison camp uniform of a compliant captive and spoke clearly and articulately throughout a one-hour morning session.

Captured at 15 in Afghanistan, faces a maximum of life in prison for alleging throwing the bomb that killed Sergeant Christopher Speer in 2002.

But why exactly would the United States offer a 5 year plea deal for one of their fallen soldiers for a man (then teenager) who they thought was worth only life in prison?

That shows how devastating and disgraceful the cover up has been and continues to be.

And it is a process that Khadr will continuing to assail against with every fiber of his body:

He faces a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

But he told his military judge, Army Col. Patrick Parrish, that he had spurned U.S. government offers of a secret plea deal that would have him admit to war crimes in exchange for a 30-year sentence of which he would serve only five.

Khadr said he rebuffed the deal because pleading guilty would ``give an excuse to the government for torturing me and abusing me as a child.''

And for sure, the talk of full promised US aid not reaching Haiti yet and this story of Khadr is one that you won't find in our brazen corporate media.