Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
WRITTEN BY EDITOR KALAHAN DENG
Just for your foreknowledge, in this article, I’m not blaming , pointing a finger, or piquing (trying to make any of the two leaders angry or escape goat); rather I’m presenting the facts as they were stated by the two leaders to the media in the past. Also try to remember that in my previous thought, I laid out the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s clear strategies if re-elected to the office; on how he would deal with the Canadians who travel to areas controlled by the terrorist groups for the purpose of joining the fight; and how he can help in resettling the persecuted religious minorities in Syria and Iraq to Canada. And in this argument, I would like to further the topic to include the opposition political leaders such as the federal Liberal leader Mr. Justin Trudeau’s perspective on ISIS threats to Canadians and his plans in helping the minorities who are being persecuted in the above mentioned areas of the conflict in the Middle East. I also would include the other federal opposition leader Mr. Thomas Mulcair of the New Democratic Party.
Let me begin with the Liberal leader Mr. Trudeau who assumed the party’s leadership in April 17, 2013. Unfortunately, on his first few months in leadership, he collided with his own party’s noblemen who disputed his plan of action against the terrorist threats here at home and in overseas. Especially when he made his famous statement,” I will oppose a Canadian military mission against the ISIS.” Unfortunately, the response was swept as lightening from his own; the former Liberal leaders such as Mr. Lloyed Axworthy, a former Liberal foreign affairs minister, who aimed to put “human security” at the heart of foreign affairs, said on CTV, “If you really want to stop the terrorist groups known as ISIS, you’re going to have to give up a full-court press.” The former Liberal official went a head and said, “The genocides’ Jihadist, including Canadians and other Westerners, who fight under the banner of ISIS have to be whacked, and whacked good.”
The fact is that, this former government official was not alone in supporting the action Mr. Trudeau has vowed to reject, or in undermining the leader’s rhetoric before he used.Former interim Liberal leader Bob Rae, for example, totally refused the comparison made by the new leader Mr.Trudeau. Furthermore, the former Liberal Senator Romea Dallaire dismissed a campaign of air strikes without ground troops as pointless and former Liberal cabinet minister Mr. Ujjal Dosanjh called for “Robust” Canadian military action.
But the interesting part was that, all these comments were made by the former Liberal members before Mr. Trudeau vowed to oppose the Canadian government motion for the ISIS mission. But by accusing Prime Minister Stephen Harper of using “overheated and moralistic rhetoric to justify a war,” Mr. Trudeau has chosen a strategy that was likely to colour his political fortune for a long time. To conclude Mr. Trudeau’s position on war against ISIS, he favoured purely humanitarian action over military force and was either quiet or said nothing about the persecuted religious minorities in Syria and Iraq. He also seemed to have broken with many of the party’s opponents.
Therein, if such a rift is already apparent, it could well go deeper, especially if the party wins the upcoming federal general election which is due on October 29, 2015 .On the other hand, the federal New Democratic Party leader Mr. Thomas Mulcair was clear on his intention by saying that, “If his party wins the upcoming federal election, Canada has got nothing to do with this conflict and his party does not think Canada should be involved in a U.S.-led war.” Mr. Mulcair took issue with the fact the mission against ISIS falls under the U.S. leadership.
Here is the question, are the ISIS terrorist groups threatening the American people only without Canadians? With my little knowledge about politics, I thought the terrorist extremists are targeting everyone and every country including Canadian people whom you want to be their Prime Minister tomorrow. Do you really mean what you said by, “When it is a UN mission, when it is a NATO mission, we are open to it? But here, this is an American-led mission,” you also said, “It’s wrong for Canada to be involved.” Maybe you have forgotten that the terrorist groups have drawn the line on the sand by putting Canada on their menu (target).
Can you tell the Canadian people on any war that the U.S.-led without Canadians full participation? To conclude, while the NDP leader said it, he is “NOT Supporting this mission”, the Liberals have not been clear on their position, but they fully admitted in the past that they do not have a clear plan for this war against the terrorist groups whether here at home or abroad. Retired Canadian Maj-Gen. David Fraser, who commanded troops in Afghanistan, told the media that the Canadian Forces have the ability to expand its role in the fight against the ISIS in the region.
