Thomas Mulcair : Regarding Canadas role in Iraq: As you know, just four weeks after deploying Canadian Special Forces to Iraq—with no debate or vote in Parliament—Stephen Harper and his Conservative government are seeking to approve a major escalation of Canadas involvement in that war, with no clear end date. In doing so, the Prime Minister will be sending young Canadian women and men to fight, and perhaps die, in a foreign war without answering the most basic questions on the nature and breadth of our commitment, such as: - What are this missions objectives and how do we define success? - What rules of engagement are in place to prevent civilian causalities? - How much will this mission cost? - How many years are we willing to be embroiled in Iraq? - How can we effectively contain ISIS without deploying substantial ground forces or expanding into Syria? - What is our exit strategy? - Do we have a plan to take care of our veterans after we leave Iraq? These are not hypothetical questions. Like Iraq, Canadas mission in Afghanistan began with only a handful of Special Forces. In the end, more than 40,000 Canadian soldiers served there over 12 long years—160 would never return home, more than 1,000 were wounded, and thousands more still suffer from PTSD. Watch my speech here tinyurl/mk9k8fs to hear more about why the NDP cant support this combat mission. When George W. Bush gave his now infamous Mission Accomplished” speech less than two months after his initial invasion, he arrogantly proclaimed that major combat operations in Iraq had ended. But tragically, this was only the beginning of a horrific sectarian insurgency that laid the groundwork for the crisis we see today. While the name ISIS” may be new to most Canadians, the group was first formed in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion and has since rebranded itself from al-Qaeda in Iraq” to the Mujahideen Shura Council” to the Islamic State”—and now the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (Syria).” Everyone agrees that ISIS brutal actions utterly shock the conscience, but the lessons of the past decade must not go unheeded in our response to such an evil. Simply put: there is no reason to believe that six months of aerial bombardment will succeed where more than ten years of occupation by the worlds largest and most sophisticated military failed. As author and journalist, Jeffrey Simpson, has noted: The least that can be said for this mission is that everyone associated with it knows – or should know – that air power alone cannot win a victory, presuming the bombing powers can define victory.” Mr. Harper insists that this war will not be allowed to become a quagmire,” but his reassurance is cold comfort given that this is precisely what weve seen in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. The Conservative governments own Foreign Affairs Minister—in a moment of uncharacteristic candor—acknowledged that there are no quick fixes” in Iraq. He called the fight against ISIS, and groups like it, the struggle of a generation.” Indeed, that may well turn out to be an understatement. Terrorist organizations have thrived in Iraq and Syria precisely because those countries lack stable, legitimate governments capable of maintaining peace and security within their own borders. Canadas first contribution should be to leverage every diplomatic, humanitarian, and financial resource at our disposal to strengthen political institutions in both those countries and to respond to the overwhelming human tragedy unfolding on the ground. Its often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Thats why Canada, for its part, should be wary of any response that will further destabilize an already volatile region by alienating the very civilians we seek to protect. Peggy Mason, Canadas former UN ambassador for disarmament and special advisor to Joe Clark, has warned that: Harpers plan to send Canadian warplanes to join the U.S.-led coalitions bombing of Iraq may just make matters worse.” The struggle against ISIS wont end with yet another Western-led military intervention in Iraq and Syria. It will end by helping the people of Iraq and Syria build the political, institutional, and security capabilities they need to achieve lasting peace themselves. With the credibility Canada gained by rejecting the catastrophic 2003 invasion of Iraq, we are well-positioned to take a lead in this initiative and we should not squander that opportunity. Again, thank you for your message on this important issue. Sincerely, Tom Mulcair, M.P. (Outremont) Leader of the Official Opposition New Democratic Party of Canada Follow Tom on Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr facebook/ThomasMulcair twitter/ThomasMulcair flickr/photos/ndpcanada
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 21:05:59 +0000