A frustrated Dallaire Makes his Case in D.C.

This is from embassymag.
The media spotlight has definitely turned away from Omar Khadr at the moment. Dallaire was no doubt correct that he would get nowhere in Ottawa. It would be interesting if Dallaire were actually able to get the Americans to offer to send Khadr back to Canada. That is about as likely though as his having success in Ottawa.

A Frustrated Dallaire Makes His Case in D.C.
By Jeff DavisFrustrated that his efforts north of the 49th are being met with government indifference, Senator Romeo Dallaire has brought his fight to free Omar Khadr from Gauntanamo Bay prison to Washington. Mr. Dallaire told Chatter House that after Supreme Court decisions, Senate motions, parliamentary committee reports and letters urging Mr. Khadr's repatriation to Canada failed to force the government's hand, he felt he had exhausted all options in Ottawa. But Mr. Dallaire said he found many a sympathetic ear last week in D.C. He said American lawmakers expressed shock, disappointment and dismay that Canada would leave Mr. Khadr at Gitmo. These days, he said, the only folks in Washington who support the military prison are the isolated remnants of the Bush Administration. "They demonstrated absolute surprise," he said. "Surprise at the fact that Canada has not asked to get that guy back. They want to close the goddamned place. Even the presidential candidates want the place closed. "Their parliamentarians are surprised at what the hell we're doing: they expect us to be better than that," the former UN peacekeeping general continued. "They interpret it as going along with the Bush Administration's illegal process of prosecuting the war on terror and they are against it, and that's what they're trying to stymie." During his two-day visit to the marbled capital, Mr. Dallaire met with Mr. Khadr's U.S. Navy lawyer Lt.-Cmdr. William Kuebler and officials at the State Department. On the congressional side, the senator touched base with Democratic Massachusetts Representative William Delahunt, chair of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, and Democratic New York Representative Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee. Since the Harper government is hesitating, Mr. Dallaire said, he urged the Americans to "offer him up." He said that a plea bargain could clear the way for Mr. Khadr to be returned to Canada to face charges under Canada's anti-terrorism laws. To help press his case, Mr. Dallaire will be testifying before the two aforementioned committees sometime in September. Mr. Dallaire says he will make the case that the international laws protecting child soldiers are at stake.