A Canadian rant on Iraq
War is coming and my country will not be participating. My country's deficient government has decided to turn its back on our closest allies in their hour of need. In the past, my country's once proud army stood side by side with American, British, and many other countries' armed forces to root out evil in the form of one man, Adolf Hitler. This parasite reneged on the Treaty of Versailles prohibiting his country from building an offensive army. When Winston Churchill pleaded with his government that trouble was brewing, he was scoffed at by his leaders. Countless meetings were held with Hitler, imploring him to stop his invasions, ceding countries and territories with no regards to the will of the people concerned, in the hopes to appease this monster. Of course, we all know what happened later, with Neville Chamberlain claiming victory over the German despot when the Blitzkrieg was weeks away. Are the parallels obvious yet?
Saddam Hussein is an evil man. Many people seem to have difficulty comprehending this simple statement. Many of those people were seen marching for peace and expressing views that were nothing more than thinly veiled anti-American diatribe. Hussein's climb to power is drenched in blood, violence, torture, and murder. He has butchered over 500,000 of his own citizens, and tortured countless others. Amnesty International writes that his favourite trick is to pop people's eyeballs out with his thumbs. The question of whether or not this man would use weapons of mass destruction needs no answer.
This war is not for oil. The USA gets about 6% of its oil from Iraq. The countries with a real financial interest in Iraq? France, Germany and Russia. The same nations blockading a UN vote that would open the door to a UN-led force to displace Hussein, disarm Iraq, and begin reconstructing this once free nation and save the Iraqi people from the massacres perpetrated by a madman. Once the war is won, the oil will be claimed by the UN, not the USA. Isn't it ironic that PEACE would be for oil?
The UN resolution is not some recently concocted excuse for troops to overrun Iraq. Resolution 1441 has been in place for 12 years. It's been long enough. Those claiming that the inspectors need more time, please answer me this: how easy would it be to hide a half dozen 45-gallon drums of chemicals or Anthrax or Seran gas in a country the size of Iraq?
My country, Canada, has been undergoing a slow, digressive slide towards socialism during the last decade. Corruption in the Liberal party is running rampant, the elected members of parliament are powerless or unwilling, the opposition parties cannot reach an merger agreement, one party in particular whose only raison d'etre is to break up my country be seperating Quebec. Voter interest is at an all-time low: about 35% of eligible voters didn't bother showing up at the vooting booths. As a consequence, we a majority government ruling my country with only 40% of the popular vote. Now, our lame-duck Prime Minister, scheduled to retire in about a year, has expressed his government's unwillingness to participate in any armed conflict not endowed with UN approval. In effect, we are letting France dictate our foreign policy, which usually consists of doing the opposite of whatever the US are doing simply to give a semblance of being able to stand up to the Americans. The province of Quebec massively objected to the draft in the second World War, and heavily object to the Iraqi war. By following France's sheepish stance on this issue, Chretien only hopes to garner support in this French-speaking province in view of the next elections. This, of course, is very convenient for our quasi-dictator Chretien. He's never been able to make a decision on his own and this one only adds to his shameful track record. His party has let our armed forces fall to a level of irrelevancy that no enemy could. Decrepit equipment, green fatigues for a desert theatre, a politically driven brass afraid to stand up to Chretien, all now reflect the state of our armed forces, our soldiers betrayed by their leaders. Just a few weeks ago, our government sneaked through the back door sending whatever troops were ready for battle to Afghanistan, therefore removing the need to make a decision on whether or not we'll back our friends and allies - how cowardly, how shameful.
Unfortunately, anti-American sentiments have spread not only from parts of our population, but is now plaguing the governing Liberal party. From calling President Bush a moron, to saying that "Americans, I hate those bastards" to ridiculing President Bush's religious beliefs, the Liberals are damaging our relationship with our biggest client and our closest ally and we are rapidly nearing the point where the damage will be irreperable. Canadians all know that we count on the USA for protection, and our economy depends on the health of our neighbours. The fact is, those who share our government's view about the USA are rife with envy. It's that simple.
The peaceniks seem to be ignoring two more things: War can be avoided by Saddam leaving Iraq. Sounds simple enough to me. And what of the rights of the Iraqi people to live in a society free of tyranny, torture, murder and genocide? I am a Canadian and proud of it. I am embarrassed and ashamed of our government and some of my fellow Canadians. I support the US and all the other nations that have expressed their willingness to assist them in their efforts to oust Hussein from Iraq. This notion that the war will be "unilateral" is complete bullcrap. Some 30 countries have said "you can count on us" to the Americans. Sadly, my country is not on that list. Damn the Liberals for putting my country in this position! I know of the atrocities of war, I know that innocent civilians will end up dying in this war. The alternative, I fear, is worse.
To wrap this rant up, I wish godspeed to the troops that will be involved in any way in this conflict. I'm with you, if only in spirit. And this Canadian loves the United States of America . God Bless you all!
