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Even as every other Western detainee at Guantanamo was repatriated — adultdetainees, that is — Ottawa proclaimed itself perfectly happy to let a teenager stand trial as an adult for killing a soldier in a war. After his conviction, the government dragged its feet as long as it could before allowing him to return home to serve out his sentence, where his temperament and prospects for success could properly be monitored. “Unserious” is the only word for it.

There are those who insist Khadr is but a harmless lamb; there are those who insist he is a terrorist in waiting; and there is every opinion in between. The fact is the public has no idea what to expect — he hasn’t even been allowed to speak to journalists. Far more troubling is that at no point has any Canadian government, Liberal or Conservative, seemed the least bit interested in what to expect. They’ve seemed perfectly happy to let him rot.

The Khadr case provides excellent step-by-step instructions of what not to do

Absolutely nothing about Omar Khadr’s life thus far would tend to produce a well-adjusted human being. But he has worked on his high school equivalency in prison; he has an offer of a post-secondary placement; his long-time lawyer, Dennis Edney, will take him in to live with him. Crucially, should he be released on bail, he would likely be subject to very strict conditions — potentially helpful to Edmontonians’ peace of mind, and much more difficult to impose once his sentence is officially up.

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One way or another, Khadr will get his chance at freedom. For all these reasons, now is the time to offer it to him — and for Ottawa to pledge never to behave in this way again. In the unfortunate but hardly unforeseeable event another Canadian minor jihadist is some day captured behind enemy lines, the Khadr case provides excellent step-by-step instructions of what not to do.

National Post