This week, in answer to a Conservative question about why the Liberal government was taking its time to examine its role in the war against ISIS, Defence Minister Harjit Sajan told the House of Commons, “I want to make sure we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Because every single time we make these mistakes as political leaders, we send our men and women into harm’s way for no reason.”
That brought a request from Canada's pudgy former defence minister, Jason Kenny, to have an English to English translation of what Sajan said. It was a typically nasty response from Kenny. But, Tom Walkom points out, things have gotten worse in the Middle East:
Slowly, inexorably, the war against the Islamic State is widening.
It has moved into Afghanistan, where both the U.S. and the Taliban are taking on ISIS militants.It is moving into Libya. There, the U.S. is reportedly contemplating airstrikes. Italy is said to be looking at the eventual dispatch of ground troops.In Iraq, the U.S. has already found itself enmeshed in ground combat — in spite of President Barack Obama’s stated aversion to the notion.
American special forces have also been sent into Syria
Mr. Sajan was a soldier in Afghanistan. Mr. Kenny and his equally pudgy former boss have only played soldier.
Ten years have proven that the Harper government was a ship of fools. We would be wise to book passage on another vessel.
12 comments:
That Kenny made a comment which on the surface seems quite racist, Owen, suggests that the Conservatives are doubling down on appealing to their base. As well, Conservative James Bezan's accusation of the defence minister as belittling Canada's soldiers when he suggested that sometimes political leaders send them into harms's way for no good reason also appears to be appealing to that same base.
The Conservatives seem intent to keep on fighting yesterday's battles.
harper's warmongering has cost Canada the lives of 159 of our children in his military morass and more than that from subsequent horror of war related suicides.
We can only imagine how many innocent civilians have been deemed 'collateral damage' from our bombing sorties in their lands.
We usually assume that we win if the casualties inflicted outnumber those taken.
We lost on so many levels that we can never reconcile any of it in conscience but we can do something to not continue or repeat the carnage.
harper should be jailed for so much more than just his environmental dereliction of duty but like his benefactors he has thus far avoided any real censure let alone prosecution even from or by Canadians...yet.
As Jim Morrisson said " the whole shithouse is in flames" We are wise to get back to the old Canada who only did UN.
No matter who is the Captain of the ship it will be sailing into uncharted and stormy rock strewn waters, it would be foolish to assume that we can return unscathed.
No one ever gets through a war unscathed, Rural. But we'd better think carefully about where we go from here.
We invented peacekeeping, Steve. And we did it well. We can still do it well.
We can certainly resolve not to do things Harper's way, ron. The evidence of the damage which results from doing things Harper's way is now indisputable.
It's just more evidence, Lorne, that the Harperites have learned nothing from their defeat.
There exists no plan to eradicate ISIS. Yes, we can cause them to relocate from one hotspot to another but we've never been able to restrain them much less defeat them. In the process the group has expanded its operations into Libya and across Asia from Afghanistan to the Philippines and Indonesia. Now they're moving into Chinese held territory.
If you can't put out the kitchen fire what can you do to the flames sweeping the rest of the house? We're at the point where we don't even know what victory would look like much less how we might achieve it.
If you don't have a viable plan, an effective strategy, you're reduced to waging "whack-a-mole" warfare. This is an experiment we've been running, over and over again, for the past 15-years and everytime we come up empty handed. There are lessons being learned from this - just not by our side.
"Our side" has been fundamentally dense, Mound, convinced that what those desert dwellers needed was shock and awe. They have been neither shocked or awed.
ISIS can not be eradicated anymore than the Talikban, Al Queda or any other CIA creation. Take a look at the drug cartels in Mexico. Who is fighting who?
That's the central question that we should ask whenever we get involved in the Middle East, Steve.
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