The John Babcock analogy

Lawyer and Macleans.ca commenter Howard Anglin writes at length in defence of the government’s position on Omar Khadr’s child soldier status.

Understanding Khadr’s legal status does not answer the question of what Canada should do about him. That difficult decision is ultimately a diplomatic and moral problem. But sound decision-making should take account of the law as well as the facts and, in this case, the law is clear. The prime minister’s offhand statement might not have captured the nuances of international law, but his conclusion is bluntly correct: Khadr was not a child soldier.

In other news, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff says only a couple dozen of the 800 men held at Guantanamo are legitimate terrorists.