| Subject: Re: On International Law... |
Author:
Miek Redmond
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Date Posted: 14:43:24 03/25/03 Tue
Author Host/IP: NoHost/209.17.158.14
In reply to:
Garnet Shoup
's message, "Re: On International Law..." on 13:42:54 03/25/03 Tue
Actually Garnet, I am quite capable of appreciating the positions of both those who oppose the war and those who support the war. Both positions can be supported by principle, and surely we can appreciate that reasonable people looking at the same facts and applying reasonable principles can still come to different conclusions as to what the best course of action may be in a particular case.
I personally think the decision to go to war in this case was unwise and unnecessary. There are clearly occasions in which a country must be willing to exercise force, in defence of its own interests, in defence of the liberties of its allies, or in pursuit of some greater good. We were right to use force, however much we may have wished to avoid it, to defeat Hitler, to defend South Korea, to liberate Kuwait, to stop genocide in Kosovo and the balkans, and to strike back at terrorism in Afghanistan.
I hope any of the men who wish to become leader of our party would be wise enough to know when to use force in the defence of our interests and when not to.
In the period leading up to this current war, I think our party took a principled and sensible position. There was insufficient reason, I believe, to consider that Saddam, however evil, constituted a current danger to stability that could not be contained by other means. On the other hand, the launching of a war against him necessarily involves, not just the moral issue of directing our soldiers to kill, and be killed, but the creation of great uncertainty. While the victory of the allies in this initial operation is not seriously in doubt, the consequences for the stability of the region, the possibility of increased anger at the "west" and other uncertainties made a decision in favour of war at this time unwise. It would have been far better had the US and UK pursued a patient attempt to either force Iraqi disarmament by weapons inspection and the threat of force, or, failing that, had taken the necessary steps to obtain approval from the Security Council for their actions.
But now that the path of war has been chosen, what should our position be? Unwise as the decision may have been, it cannot be undone. A victory for Saddam would be as disastrous as it is unlikely. All it would accomplish would be another round of murder and oppression in Iraq, and a validation of his defiance of the United Nations.
We must, therefore, determine what Canada's position should now be. Simply stating what we wished had happened is not sufficient. Our government, when it is capable of articulating a coherent position, appears to be taking the position that the war is justified, that Saddam must be removed, yet we will not take an active part, or approve formally of the war without Security Council permission, permission which will clearly never be given.
Is this right, or principled? To approve of a war, agree with its justification and its end goal, but then rely on a technicality to refuse to assist in achieving that goal?
As I said, I think this war is unwise, and should not have been launched when it was. It carries great dangers for all of us, and threatens to put the world into a period of greater instablity than we have seen for a long time. But the answer now does not seem to me to be that we stand on the sidelines, further isolating our allies and hoping for a solution without contributing to it.
Reluctantly, it may be that we now should shoulder our burden in this case, not because we want to curry favour with our trading partner, or prevent them from retaliating - no government should make decisions of life and death based such grounds. But we may now be able to help control the course of future events by standing with our allies, and by working to the ends that are now the only acceptable ones - the defeat of Saddam and the establishment of an independent and free Iraq that no longer poses a threat to its neighbours.
The present government has allowed Canada to slide into irrelevance on the world stage. Standing aside with a look of disapproval as our allies do the work that now needs to be done will no advance the cause of peace, or allow our voice to be heard in the world. If we wish to preserve peace in the future, and if we wish to minimize the damage that this war will cause, I reluctantly think we must take part.
To get back to your original point, I think both Mr Orchard and Mr Mackay have put forth principled positions. We should listen to all the candidates on this matter,and offer our respect to all who have to grapple with such a matter.
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