Layne Morris admits the “sneakiness” of the Canadian government to shield Omar Khadr from having his sweet cash settlement being exposed to an American court order felt like another terror attack.

“Like a punch in the face,” Morris said. “We didn’t understand the deal but we didn’t think that the government would do a behind-the-scenes move like that.”

After all, where Morris comes from, the government does not fraternize with the enemy trying to kill their soldiers, let alone reward them with a $10.5-million payout and apology.

“It feels like a dirty deal to me.” said the 55-year-old special forces sergeant, who was there when Omar Khadr threw a grenade that killed fellow Sgt. Christopher Speer.

His wife Leisl made the comparison to Sept. 29, 2012 when Khadr was released from Guantánamo Bay: “It was just as secretive. President Obama moved him in the middle of the night back to Canada and nobody even knew. He sure gets special treatment,” she said.

Morris said that special treatment goes all the way back to Afghanistan when wounded by American army fire he was saved by medics who could have early let him “die like a dog.”

But they were bigger than that. “We were doing our duty honourably,” he said.

Morris wonders just what in the name of good God the government of Canada thinks it is doing right now.

“We were fighting the terrorists. They were the bad guys. Something is really off here,” he said. “I can’t believe any government would get involved in something like this,” he said.

In fact, if it was a solider like himself or Speer who made such a deal with a member of the enemy trying to kill them and their pals, they would end up in jail. “You don’t ever do anything to aid and abet the enemy,” Morris added.

Khadr, on July 27, 2002 was the enemy in Khost province in Afghanistan.

“I am still in shock about this,” Morris said.

He asks “why” so much money?

“Is it going to fund a Harvard education?” he said. “Will it help feed starving refugees around the world?”

Morris says Canadians should ask. It’s their money.

“Is nobody concerned about where that money could end up? I mean, it’s well-documented that Omar Khadr’s father was a chief fundraiser for Osama Bin Laden,” he said. “I hate to be the one to ask but is anybody going to keep tabs on Omar’s movements, now that he has this money? Is anybody going to track where that money is hidden?”

His questions are rhetorical, but legitimate.

“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.”

Canada, he predicts, will regret this dark deal.

“As a general rule, and in every other case that I have ever heard of, you keep money out of the hands of people who build bombs or would throw hand grenades at our soldiers,” said Morris.

The fact that Canada didn’t, he said, raises red flags for him.

“I don’t see this as anything but treason,” said Morris. “It’s something a traitor would do. As far as I am concerned, Prime Minister Trudeau should be charged.”

If he or Speer had done anything similar to what the PM did, he said, they certainly would be.

jwarmington@postmedia.com