Canada moves foreign policy from Parliament Hill to Capitol Hill in D.C.; plus two related letters

And so the prophecy was true. It's not like we didn't see it coming. Canada no longer has a foreign policy of its own. In the wake of the biggest Middle Eastern crisis in decades, the lack of Canadian action and leadership is flagrant. The turmoil now engulfs Israel, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. Some say it's only a matter of time before Syria and Iran are pulled into direct confrontation. Add to that the ongoing clashes in Afghanistan and the unofficial civil war raging in Iraq, and you would have the perfect recipe for a catastrophic regional confrontation. Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent declaration during his official visit in London was nothing reassuring, and marked a drastic departure from the traditional Canadian rationale in terms of foreign policy and conflict resolution. Our new Conservative leader declared that Israel's response to Hezbollah's actions was "measured." Destroying power plants, roads, bridges, airports and other civilian infrastructures of a fragile and recovering country is "measured"? Even Condoleezza Rice didn't think so. Clearly, Israel is in its right to defend itself against the rocket attacks and recover their captured soldiers, but it seems those only served as the perfect pretext to launch a premeditated attack against a country and not against a terrorist organization. They did the same with Gaza a few weeks back. Who remembers the 19 year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit who was abducted by Palestinian militants? Hardly anyone. A brave young boy defending his country became the perfect pawn for greater geopolitical interests. I think it would be safe to say that the rhetoric claming this military campaign will eliminate terrorism is flawed, and false. Viable peace through superior firepower never was a currency in the Middle East, and it never will be. Prime Minister Harper's blind statement towards Israel's actions against Lebanon truly shows us the slogans against the Conservatives during the last election campaignâ€“qualified of "smear and fear"â€“were true. We have moved our foreign policy from Parliament Hill to Capitol Hill. We are giving up the most precious tool we have on the international scene for the sake of sanitizing Canadian-U.S. relations. It is a dangerous rope to walk on. I couldn't imagine any moment where Canadian leadership would be needed than now. We are one of the countries with the best reputations in the Middle East. We could have done so much more, like to call for Israel to use restraint in its actions and deploy the necessary resources and personnel to negotiate the release of the hostages, reinforce the UN interposition force on the border between the two countries and establish Canada as a permanent interlocutor. That would prevent a degeneration of the situation like we are seeing right now. Instead, the new government is content with a copy-paste of the United Statesâ€šÃ„Ã¶ foreign policy, the thing Canadians always feared above all: a blind commitment to The Star Spangled Banner, the rejection of our goodwill and rational spirit in a world of nonsense. This is not the Canada I know. Alexandre T. Gingras Gatineau, QuÃ©. (The letter-writer is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.) * Why is it necessary for nations to evacuate their civilians from Lebanon but not from Israel? Sean Ledwich Winnipeg, Man. * I'm appalled at the Prime Minister's refusal to condemn Israel for the murder of seven Canadians. Under Stephen Harper's rationale of self-defence, which he indicated justified Israel's non-stop bombing campaign that has killed hundreds of Lebanese people (and now Canadians), Canada should be responding to Israel killing Canadian nationals by sending Canadian troops to attack Israel until Israel stops killing and endangering Canadians. Of course, this rationale of tit-for-tat violence is insanity. Yet the Prime Minister has sanctioned this violence in his comments, and he now has the blood of an entire Canadian family on his hands. I'm ashamed to be a Canadian under this sort of leadership, and even more ashamed that voters like myself supported the Conservative Party, and are culpable in this sorry state of affairs. Never again. Peter Mailor QuÃ©bec City, QuÃ©.

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Canada moves foreign policy from Parliament Hill to Capitol Hill in D.C.; plus two related letters

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