Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Let's see... how did that go again? "States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world." (G.W. Bush: State of the Union Address, 2002) He was talking about Iraq, Iran and North Korea. We may need to remind our American neighbors that just because their national game gives every player 'three strikes' before they must 'step away from the plate' doesn't mean that they can assume that we Canadians will agree to give them another chance to come up to bat. We are a nation of hockey fans. We understand that a game can end 0-1, irrespective of whose considered the 'home team'. Most of us believe that the game has been played, and while we stand 1-0 in military terms, it was a Pyrrhic victory when we assess the real losses our team suffered in terms of 'career ending injuries and deaths.' It was like this weekend when poor, battered Vancouver won but got mugged when they played in...

And now the war chant begin to build to a casus belli, the opening movement of a symphony that will climax with the kettle drums of war. I wonder how many people understand what's happening: that they are being seduced by a siren song that will lead again to spilled blood and coin , leaving both they and us weaker whether we win or lose? We almost participated in this dance once before to our regret when the US tried to convince us to join in the invasion of Iraq. We indirectly assisted the US by taking up their legitimate enemy in Afghanistan, freeing their forces for Iraq. Do we honestly believe that we will enjoy this performance any more than the last time if we join the US into another Middle Eastern country? Just because we label it as a war against terrorism doesn't mean that we should all dance off to war against other countries. Neither Iran nor Syria have done anything to threaten Canada. Unless they do, we have no grounds to wage war against them. Yet, the signs a...

Omar Khadr has suffered more than enough for the 'crime' he committed. First off, he was a child when he participated in a Taliban attack, killing one Marine in the process. His father, a member of the AlQuaida hierarchy brought his son into the Afghanistan theatre were he was himself was killed. As a minor, brought into the situation he faced when he threw the fatal grenade, he should have not have been subjected to being held in Guantanamo Bay as an 'enemy combatant' as both the USA and Canada are signatories of the convention of child soldiers; a convention that details how such children are to be dealt with. Further, the conditions he had to endure for the past eight years were far more brutal and harmful to his welfare than even the most hardened criminal in Canada would ever have to face. If the assessment of this Lieutenant is favorable towards Khadr's disposition and situation, then I pray they would sentence him to 'time served'. Then, let him ...