I find this thread very interesting and indicative of North American politics today. I thought I would add a twist away from the student/thesis angle we are working now.....so here goes.....
Miss MolsenIndy wrote: "I disagree with the both the conduct and reasoning behind the war. I believe that fear has been, and continues to be entrenched into the minds of millions, in an effort to mask a hidden agenda, and I also believe that the citizens of America have given extended meaning to the phrase: "Ignorance is Bliss." I think that the United States perpetuates more global terrorism than could ever be received, and I remain skeptical of the course of the world, over the next few years. When the Star Wars Campaign, under the leadership of the United States, shifts into gear, I beg Canada to live up to the ideals of democracy, empower the people, and stay out of it. I plan to forward my paper to various institutions within Canada, and keep tally of how many turn a blind eye to me."
I am a professional soldier and I have served overseas on a number of operations. I have a right of centre bias by virtue of my career. ;D I have my opinions on the war in Iraq but I think there is an overriding issue here. Where does Canada fit in the world? We as Canadians don't know and are struggling to figure out our place. It is at times a polarizing discussion. In some cases we want to be with the big boys and project military power and have seats at the big tables. In some other cases we don't and don't even want to talk about what is happening. We claim to hold high moral principles but often let them fall if it is not convenient or we are politically distracted. We hold the myth of "peacekeeping" as our own invention but often don't do as much as we could in the world. Or should we be sending our troops overseas at all? We critic the US on its foreign policy when we lack a definable foreign policy. We lack the means to control our own borders and are selling off all our over snow military vehicles. Should we not have our own borders secure? We often fail to make the hard calls, often not taking a decision being our response to crisis in the world. Our parliament is ineffective in representing the people outside of party lines. To be critical of ourselves, should we not have our house in order before we start criticizing another country? We put 1000 troops every six months in Bosnia for almost 10 years but won't do the same for other countries in more need. We don't seem to be very consistant in our concern for the needy. We didn't start the war in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Croatia, but we sent troops to those countries. We sent them to protect the innocent and help the people rebuild. Why are we not sending troops to Haiti, a number of countries in Africa, or Iraq? Are the people in Iraq less worthy of our support because we don't like the politics that started it? If our principles and moral values say we should help the less fortunate then why are we not doing that? If we are not interested in sending troops to rebuild other countries in need, how do we provide continued support to the needy? How do we value which country is more deserving of our support? Should we disband the military as it stands now and rebuild it into something conducive to our values and principles? How do we define our values and principles? Are our values and principles sufficient to form the basis of our foreign policy and defence policy. Will these values and principles guide us through the challenges of the future? It is very complex and full of political pitfalls, not to mention the emotional issues associated with this polarizing debate.
I think it is a complete waste of your energies to argue the war. The war has happened, you can not change that, nor can Canadians. It is here and now, it is a question of what the future holds for Iraq. If your concern is Canadian values, should there not be a more lively debate on how we can help the people of Iraq? If the answer is we don't want to help them because we disagree with the US on their reasoning for the war...I would argue our principles, our compassion for those who need help in rebuilding their lives is secondary to politics and the decision to go to war, and not to our desire to do the right thing for the people of Iraq. If that is so then we must accept that are value and principles are not firm but guided by politics and emotion. It is hard for us to stand up and demand action when we ourselves are unwilling or incapable. Our inaction in Rwanda and Sudan speaks volumes.
I would like to see a clear foreign policy and a clear articulation of our "values". I would like to see us remain fast to our principles as we see them. If Canada decides it wants to be a sovereign nation and do what is in the best interest of Canada, we should also be aware the US will likely do the same. The US can decide not to buy our beef or close the borders to other goods or not allow a US company to operate in Canada. It is all part of the big game. If we decide we don't want to participate in Missile Defence, no worries, just don't be surprised when the US asks us to leave the room in NORAD when they have a meeting or say no when we request support or better yet develop some defence plan that will effect Canada and we don't have a chance to discuss it. We often like to have our cake and eat it to. The question is where does US interests stop and Canadian interests start? In terms of our active involvement in the world, if we decided that we would only send teams like the DART to the world hot spots, we could do that very well and focus on the task. Right now we have to run around and train to do everything with no foreign policy to guide our defence policy.
I think we think too highly of ourselves and often place ourselves on a moral high ground when it comes to the US. Our actions and inactions on issues and our lack of a concrete foreign policy makes us very inconsistent in our role in the world. For example, aggressor in Afghanistan during Operation Apollo on one hand, then three months later, "Peacekeeper" the next during Operation Athena. How about a thesis on Canadian Foreign policy and the lack there of? Or how we should hold our principles and value (whatever they are) over politics when it comes to foreign policy and foreign aid?
That all being said. If you would like to chat for your interviews to discuss my personal opinions and not that of a member of the CF, please feel free to drop me a line. Cheers
Jeff
