As the ‘defense of Israel’ conflict rages on the middle east, I feel we find ourselves in a perfect timeframe for our country to step back and re-assess our thoughts on terrorism, occupation and war. Our government (Canada) has now ‘taken sides’ in 3 separate and unrelated recent global conflicts - Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon. In the latter, our country is currently deeply divided on our government’s unequivical support of Israel. Both sides certainly already have a voice, however, to outline how I understand the conflict, let us consider a hypothetical (yet certainly biased) situation:

Your sworn enemy (With whom you have been at war with for several years) walks into your neighbour’s home, grabs three of their loved ones, and stands behind them while pointing a gun at you. You are also armed with a gun. Do you shoot through your three neighbours to kill the intruder? Is shooting of the enemy through them a ‘measured response’?

I would like to believe that most Canadians would answer that question as ‘no’, yet our Prime Minister does not agree [1].

Unfortunately, the last twenty years in world history have been filled with global conflict - and I believe that very few problems have been resolved as as result. As responsible and moral citizens, we must soon begin to ask ourselves questions such as:

  • When is war (And the destruction and pain it creates) justified? When is it not?
  • Does the end justify the means in this specific case?
  • What reactions will this action cause? Will they create a better or worse global situation?

As a further exercise in self-assessment, I would propose that you, humble reader, also pose yourself the following multi-topic questions;

  1. Afghanistan
    • What was the series of events the led to our involvement in the military deployment to another country?
    • Why is the reason for Canadian soldiers being stationed in Afghanistan? How many soldiers have died? What ’cause’ are they dying for?
    • Does you feel that military action in a country decreases or increases the level of support for ‘terrorist’ fanaticism towards the occupying force?
    • What is our ultimate goal in Afghanistan? When is our ‘Mission Accomplished’ point?
    • How many innocent Americans died in the 9-11 attacks? How many non-terrorist Afghani civilians have died as ‘collateral damage’ since 2001?
    • Has the hatred that led to the 9-11 attacks been elimiated in the middle east? What problems have been solved?
  2. Iraq
    • Did Iraq or any of it’s leaders have any involvement in the planning or execution of the 9-11 attack in New York?
    • What were the reasons given initially for the ground ‘misson’ in Iraq? What goals does the mission currently have?
    • How much of a threat was Saddam Hussein to our way of life in the west? Has the threat level decreased since his capture?
    • Does providing support for a conflict (Yet not physically involving soldiers) absolve a country of blame if anything were to go wrong?
    • Who do you feel benefits more from the proposed outcome of the Iraqi occupation - The Western or Eastern world?
    • Is Democracy the answer to many of the problems that an Iraqi civilian faces daily? On average, has our involvement made his life ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than it would have been without?
  3. The Conflict in Lebanon
    • What groups are involved in this conflict? What religious affilliations do they hold? Have they ‘clashed’ before?
    • What percentage of Lebanese are Muslim? Christian? How many support Hezbollah?
    • How many non-terrorist, non-military Lebanese civilians have died since July 12? How many Israeli?
    • At what point do you believe that Israel will remove it’s ground forces? Do you think that point is within reach?
    • What stance does the United Nations have on the conflict? Do any countries not agree with this stance?
  4. General Topics
    • Do you feel that we recieve the ‘whole story’ regarding the three above topics through the western media?
    • (Repeat Question) Does Military action help curb fanaticism?
    • How else could the above three situations have been approached?

I do not have answers to all of the above questions, nor do I believe many people will.

It is imperative that as citizens that we start questioning our government’s global actions instead of consistently turning a blind eye to these world issues. It’s not the easist task, yet, remember - our Government is the representative of us as citizens, and when we are silent, it implies our passive support.

In the 1960’s, our Prime Minister Lester Pearson’s fantastic work with the United Nations set us apart as the stand-out world leader in peacekeeping and global diplomacy. We were respected and envied for all the RIGHT reasons. And if we are not careful, the small shreds of that reputation that still remain will be entirely gone before we realize it.