Layne Morris
{{Short description|American special forces operative}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = SFC
| name = Layne Morris
| honorific_suffix =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| image = Layne-Morris-411x576-214x300 (1).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1962}}
| death_date =
| birth_place =
| nickname =
| birth_name =
| allegiance = {{nowrap|{{flag|United States|name=United States of America}}}}
| branch = {{flagicon image|Flag of the United States Army.svg}} Army National Guard
| serviceyears = 1983–2002
| rank = Sergeant First Class
| servicenumber =
| unit = Utah Army National Guard
| commands =
| battles = {{tree list}}
{{tree list/end}}
| battles_label =
| awards =
| relations = Leisl (spouse)
| laterwork = Community Preservation Department Director (West Valley City, Utah)
| signature =
| website =
}}
Layne Morris (born 1962) is a retired American special forces operative. On July 27, 2002, he was wounded and blinded in one eye during a gunfight in Afghanistan that left American combat medic Christopher J. Speer dead, allegedly at the hands of the Canadian accused terrorist Omar Khadr.
{{blockquote|"A piece of the hand grenade shrapnel cut the optic nerve, so I'm blind in one eye."|Morris to 60 Minutes, 2007{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omar-khadr-the-youngest-terrorist/ |title=Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist? |publisher=CBS News |access-date=2012-09-30}}}}
Khadr, a Canadian child soldier of Egyptian and Palestinian descent, was captured by American troops at Ayub Kheyl shortly after the gunfight; he was alleged to have thrown the grenade that had killed Speer and wounded Morris, and was subsequently detained at Bagram Airfield. By late 2002, he was transferred to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, where he eventually pled guilty to killing Speer. Khadr's lawyers allege that he was tortured into confessing.
{{cite news |date=2008-07-16 |title=Gitmo trials rigged, PM should push for Khadr's return: U.S. military lawyer |publisher=Canadian Press |url=http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iaYzt-LYZZGZL1fQzvXzcqDmZqBw |url-status=dead |access-date=2008-07-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080719142440/http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5iaYzt-LYZZGZL1fQzvXzcqDmZqBw |archive-date=2008-07-19 |quote=Kuebler called that scenario 'a complete figment of his imagination,' noting a wounded Morris had been taken from the immediate battle scene before Speer died.}}
In 2012, Khadr was released from American custody and handed over to the Canadian government. Morris, along with Speer's widow, filed a civil suit against Khadr's father, who allegedly had close ties with al-Qaeda. Their claim held Khadr's father responsible for Khadr's actions, as the latter was a legal minor — aged 15 at the time of the incident.
Morris retired from the military. He returned to his home in Utah, where he became a housing director in West Valley City.{{cite news|author=Leigh Dethman |url=http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635159806/Utah-vet-may-yet-get-justice-in-attack.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219081737/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/635159806/Utah-vet-may-yet-get-justice-in-attack.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |title = Utah vet may yet get justice in attack | publisher = Deseret News | date = 2005-11-09 | access-date = 2012-09-30}} He lives with his wife Leisl in South Jordan, a suburb of Salt Lake City.{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/article/208502--khadr-goes-on-trial |title=Khadr goes on trial |publisher=Toronto Star |access-date=2012-09-30 |date=2007-04-29}} He appeared in the National Geographic Society program U.S. Army Special Forces in 2003 and also interviewed on 60 Minutes in 2007.
Civil suit against Omar Khadr's family
The American government alleged that Khadr's Egyptian father Ahmed Khadr had been a close associate of Osama bin Laden and actively worked with members of al-Qaeda. In 2004, Ahmed was killed by Pakistani security forces in a gunfight near the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. Morris joined with Speer's widow Tabitha to file a civil suit against Ahmed's estate. His argument, then, was that since Omar was only 15, he could not be held responsible for his actions — but his father could.
Normally, "acts of war" are not subject to civil suits. However, Morris and Speer successfully argued that Khadr was a terrorist and not a soldier, so his actions were not exempted from civil suits.
{{blockquote|"The family was all in Pakistan, I thought, all right, you made your choice, fine, have a nice life and I was okay with it. It was when they pulled out the Canadian passports and started waving them around to come back and take advantage of their free everything because it hadn't gone well for them – that was the point when I said, you know there's something additionally I can do."|Sgt. Layne Morris}}
On February 16, 2006, American district judge Paul G. Cassell awarded Morris and Tabitha triple damages, totalling US$102.6 million. An article published in the June 14, 2007, The Salt Lake Tribune said that Morris and Tabitha might collect funds via the U.S. Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.
{{cite news
|url=http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6140530
|title=Judge clears way for wounded soldier to collect judgement against terrorist
|publisher=Salt Lake Tribune
|date=June 14, 2007
|author=Dawn House
|access-date=2007-06-14
}} An official from the U.S. Treasury Department had acknowledged that Ahmed's assets had been frozen, but said it was up to Morris and Speer to locate them. American senator Orrin Hatch had been asked to intervene and was "very interested" in the case.
In January 2008, an American attorney claimed that the federal government had "sovereign immunity" over the seized funds, asserting that it did not have to comply with a judgement in a civil suit:
{{cite news
| url=http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8083722
| title=Feds fight order to turn over terrorist funds
| publisher=Salt Lake Tribune
| author=Dawn House
| date=January 26, 2008
| access-date=2008-02-06
| quote=Federal officials have frozen the funds, but the U.S. government cannot hand over any money because it is not subject to rulings in civil lawsuits, says U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Taylor.
}}
{{blockquote|"Although sovereign immunity may be waived, there is no waiver in this case."|Motion submitted by Jeffrey A. Taylor, U.S. attorney}}
Guantanamo military commissions
{{main|Guantanamo military commission}}
Omar Khadr was named as one of ten detainees who faced charges before special military commissions. These commissions were not courts-martial.
Guantanamo military commission chief prosecutor Morris D. Davis said, on January 10, 2006, that he planned to call Morris as a witness against Khadr; Morris was to testify that he knew he was injured by Khadr. On June 29, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling that the commissions were unconstitutional because they had not been authorized by the U.S. Congress, and violated both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the United States' obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
Morris told interviewers he was disappointed that the military commissions had been overturned:
- "It is justice delayed. I don't think that's a good thing ... I think those tribunals could have provided a trial viewed as fair by most of the world. In that sense, I think it is unfortunate,"[http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=3eec4f23-3b4e-4e6c-850d-861913496989&k=16603 Wounded soldier miffed tribunal for Canadian detained in Guantanamo is off], National Post, June 30, 2006, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929145500/http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=3eec4f23-3b4e-4e6c-850d-861913496989&k=16603 mirror]
- "I guess I don't agree with giving these people all of the legal rights that citizens have,"[http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29385753.htm US ruling won't close Guantanamo camp-Pentagon], Reuters, June 30, 2006
- "I think everyone on both sides of the political aisle just wants to see some sort of resolution to their status and I guess it's just going to take longer now to figure out how that process is going to work."[https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1151617836797&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724 Send Khadr home, lawyers urge U.S.: Top court deems tribunals illegal Toronto teen held at Guantanamo], Toronto Star, June 30, 2006
In 2008, a five-page statement from an American soldier who shot Khadr said that the youth had not been the only occupant of the compound to have survived the American aerial bombardment. He said further that Khadr had been shot in the back; he was sitting upright with his back to the skirmish. This cast doubt on assertions that Khadr had thrown the grenade that killed Speer.
{{cite news
|url = https://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/301161
|title = Injured U.S. soldier 'shocked' Khadr wasn't alone: 'Everyone told me from the get-go that there was only one guy in there,' ex-Green Beret says
|publisher = Toronto Star
|author = Michelle Shephard
|author-link = Michelle Shephard
|date = February 6, 2008
|access-date = 2008-02-06
|quote = A document inadvertently released to reporters here Monday disclosed that after the grenade was thrown, a U.S. operative killed another suspect and then shot Khadr twice in the back. The revelation casts doubt on the Pentagon's assertion that Khadr threw the grenade that fatally wounded Delta Force soldier and medic Christopher Speer.
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080612053403/http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/301161
|archive-date = June 12, 2008
}}
In a telephone interview with Michelle Shephard of the Toronto Star, Morris insisted: "That was a total shock to me. Everyone had told me from the get-go that there was only one guy in there." He thought there was evidence that "Omar was the grenade man."{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/khadr-was-the-grenade-man-u-s-soldier-maintains-1.713324 |title=Khadr was the 'grenade man,' U.S. soldier maintains |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |date=2008-02-06 |access-date=2012-09-30}}
{{cite news
|url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/khadr-was-the-grenade-man-u-s-soldier-maintains-1.713324
|title = Omar Khadr was alone in bunker, U.S. soldier maintains
|publisher = CBC News
|date = February 6, 2008
|access-date = 2008-02-06
|quote = A U.S. soldier said he was shocked to hear a new witness account that Canadian Omar Khadr wasn't the only one who could've lobbed a grenade that killed his military colleague, but maintains there is evidence it was him.
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080611151007/http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/02/06/khadr-morris.html
|archive-date = June 11, 2008
}}
- "Instead of surrendering and calling it a day, he made the decision to wait until personnel got close enough that he could restart the battle, pop up and throw a hand grenade."
- "I'm fine with this dragging on for another five years before there's a trial as long as they stay locked up."
Canada's settlement with the Khadr family
Morris criticized the Canadian government for paying out CA$10.5M to Khadr, describing it as “outrageous” in a letter.{{Cite web|url=http://tisdalerecorder.ca/|title=The No.1 Online Casino Canada Guide 2023|website=tisdalerecorder.ca}} He called for Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to be charged with treason,{{cite web| url = https://torontosun.com/2017/07/08/trudeau-should-be-charged-with-treason-morris/wcm/d167b350-ca58-4211-aa14-2ca5d65f9c1c| title = Trudeau should be charged with treason: Morris {{!}} Toronto Sun}} accusing him of being a "groupie" and "supporter" of Omar Khadr.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/omar-khadr-payment-layne-morris-interview-1.4198620| title = Former U.S. special forces soldier calls Justin Trudeau an Omar Khadr 'groupie' {{!}} CBC News}} He asserted that "it was wrong" for the Canadian government to settle Khadr's lawsuit, and that it should have been taken to court instead.{{cite web | url=https://globalnews.ca/news/3607099/injured-u-s-soldier-says-canada-should-have-taken-omar-khadr-lawsuit-to-courts/ | title=Injured U.S. Soldier says Canada should have taken Omar Khadr lawsuit to courts | Globalnews.ca }}
References
{{Reflist|2|refs=
{{cite news
| url = http://utahstories.com/2014/12/utahs-national-ability-center/
| title = Utah's National Ability Center
| publisher = Utah Stories
| author = Alison Lafazan
| date = 2014-12-30
| access-date = 2017-01-02
| quote = Morris recalls the moments just before his life changed forever. His command unit had been tracking a terrorist cell and had them cornered them in a compound. "They did not come out. They waited until we got close enough so they could throw grenades at us," says Morris. "One of their grenades went off, I didn't see it. To make a long story short, I zigged when I should have zagged."
}}
{{cite news
|url = http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3522572
|title = GI injured in Afghan war wins lawsuit: Unique case: Court awards default judgment to man blinded in one eye
|publisher = Salt Lake Tribune
|author = Dawn House
|date = 2016-02-16
|access-date = 2017-01-02
|quote = Sgt. Layne Morris, of West Jordan, and the family of Army medic Christopher Speer, killed in the 2002 gunbattle, have been awarded triple damages of $102.6 million.
|url-status = dead
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170103003243/http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3522572
|archive-date = 2017-01-03
}}
{{IMDb name| nm5272113 | Layne Morris }}
{{cite news
|url=http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C595082341%2C00.html
|title=Utah GI filing suit to put bite on terror
|publisher=Deseret News
|author=Angie Welling
|date=2004-08-06
|access-date=2017-01-02
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817020004/http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0%2C1249%2C595082341%2C00.html
|archive-date=2004-08-17
|quote=Sgt. 1st Class Layne Morris is expected to file a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court against the estate of Ahmed Said Khadr, an accused senior al-Qaida leader and father of the teenage boy who allegedly caused Morris' injuries and the death of his fellow soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Speer.
|url-status=bot: unknown
}}
}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050119092000/http://www.cageprisoners.com/articles.php?aid=4177 a brief account of Layne Morris's civil suit].
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050411054352/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1091798117326_38?s_name=&no_ads= U.S. woman sues dead Khadr dad for $10 million], CTV, August 6, 2004
- {{cite news
|url=http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/transcripts/layne_morris_1.html
|title=Layne Morris interview
|publisher=CBC News
|author=George Strombolopolous
|author-link=George Strombolopolous
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240524054435/https://www.webcitation.org/5ZO4W6qSf?url=http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/transcripts/layne_morris_1.html
|archive-date=2024-05-24
}}
- {{cite news
| url=http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/thehour_player.html?20051109-Khadr_soldier
| title=Interview with Layne Morris
| publisher=CBC News: The Hour
| date=November 2005
| access-date=2008-07-17
}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20110131190253/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=XwAL_ehXmgg you-tube mirror]
- {{cite news
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/us/03gitmo.html?pagewanted=all
|title=A Legal Debate in Guantánamo on Boy Fighters
|work=New York Times
|date=2007-06-03
|access-date=2008-07-17
|first=William
|last=Glaberson
|url-status=bot: unknown
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122144622/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/us/03gitmo.html?pagewanted=all
|archive-date=2011-11-22
}}
- {{cite news
|url=http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=656852
|title=Khadr 'earned' Guantanamo stay, says soldier
|publisher=National Post
|author=Stewart Bell
|date=2008-07-15
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129185028/http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=656852
|archive-date=2013-01-29
}}
- {{cite news
| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20041112/ai_n11486258
| title=Veteran lost eye but sees world clearly
| publisher=Deseret Evening News
| author=Lee Benson
| author-link=Lee Benson
| date=2004-11-12
| access-date=2008-07-17
}} [https://archive.today/20240524054515/https://www.webcitation.org/5ZOIquktD?url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20041112/ai_n11486258/print%3Ftag=artBody;col1 mirror]
- {{cite news
| url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060109/ai_n15989251/print?tag=artBody;col1
| title=W.V. man yearns for closure
| publisher=Canwest News Service
| author=Sheldon Alberts
| date=2006-01-09
| access-date=2008-07-17
}} [https://archive.today/20240524054554/https://www.webcitation.org/5ZOJ34Gmf?url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4188/is_20060109/ai_n15989251/print%3Ftag=artBody;col1 mirror]
- {{cite news
|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/omar-khadr-the-youngest-terrorist/
|title=Omar Khadr: The Youngest Terrorist?
|publisher=CBS News
|date=2007-11-18
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511215040/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/16/60minutes/main3516048.shtml
|archive-date=2008-05-11
}}
- {{cite news
|url=http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/pdf/2008/05/18/press_release_50392.pdf
|title=Salt Lake City Injured Veteran Given Bed to Help Sleep
|date=2008-05-18
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006110302/http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/pdf/2008/05/18/press_release_50392.pdf
|archive-date=2008-10-06
}}
- {{cite news
|url=http://michellemalkin.com/2005/02/10/the-story-behind-omar-khadr/
|title=The story behind Omar Khadr
|author=Michelle Malkin
|author-link=Michelle Malkin
|date=2005-02-10
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529160938/http://michellemalkin.com/2005/02/10/the-story-behind-omar-khadr/
|archive-date=2008-05-29
}}
- {{cite news
|url=http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2003/11/12/News/Utah-Special.Forces.Speak.Of.Experiences-555389.shtml
|title=Utah Special Forces speak of experiences
|publisher=Daily Utah Chronicle
|author=Cara Weiser
|date=2003-11-12
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20080718000751/http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2003/11/12/News/Utah-Special.Forces.Speak.Of.Experiences-555389.shtml
|archive-date=2008-07-18
}}
- {{cite news
|url=http://www.utah.gov/governorwalker/newsrels/2002/newsrel_080802.html
|title=Layne Morris Hailed as Hero, Example of "American Spirit"
|author=Olene Walker
|author-link=Olene Walker
|date=2002-08-08
|access-date=2008-07-17
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324215637/http://www.utah.gov/governorwalker/newsrels/2002/newsrel_080802.html
|archive-date=2009-03-24
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Layne}}