This week we have Parliamentarians convulsing over Canada’s future role in the war against Islamic extremists. On one hand we have Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives willing to commit to a military engagement that has no clear objectives (at least publicly stated) and no clear end-game strategy. For the PM, it is a moral imperative that Canadians stand up for our values and against the savagery of ISIS.
On the other hand, we have the NDP and Liberals who are against Canadian military intervention and instead support a robust humanitarian intervention. The Opposition are dead set against Canadian involvement in the war against ISIS. (On this issue there is a clear political split between the country’s conservatives and progressive socialists – one that just might play an important sub-text in the federal election.)
On the eve of this significant debate, By George Journal is providing a few links to draw this ISIS conflict and Canadians’ choice to enter the fray or not into clearer focus. Shall we start with the springboard used in an Ottawa Citizen weekend opinion column from Andrew MacDougall: Trudeau taking punches from all corners
To which I say: Alan Henning.
Henning was a taxi driver from Manchester who was so moved by the plight of suffering Syrian children that he went to the region to drive aid convoys. He came back in a pine box after fellow Brit Mohammed Emwazi – a.k.a. Jihadi John – cleaved off his head in a snuff video. Given that others have also lost their heads for these same “sins”, I’ll wager ISIL isn’t interested in our charity.
Remember Alan Henning? Here is a BBC news report and video purporting to show 47-year old Alan Henning, loving family man and father of two, being beheaded by Islamic State militants.
Time Magazine did a feature on Henning’s killer – “From S Club 7 and Manchester United to Islamic fundamentalism and murder”: Everything We Know About ‘Jihadi John’
Still wondering what all this ISIS madness is all about? By George suggests you take 30 minutes and read a gripping and informative cover feature story from The Atlantic: What ISIS Really Wants
In this article, Graeme Wood explains that the Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse.
So, what choices do Canadians have when these atrocities are occurring each day, at an increasing rate? Wire news out of Ottawa tonight is that our Parliament voted in favour of armed conflict in Syria.
Canadian legislators on Monday voted to back the government’s plans to bomb Islamic State positions in Syria, a move that opposition parties say threatens to drag Canada into a long war.
The House of Commons approved the plan 142-129. The result was never in doubt, since the ruling Conservatives have a majority in the chamber. The vote also approved the extension of Canada’s six-month mission by a year to the end of March 2016.
Given the chaos in Syria and inhumane killings throughout northern Africa, is it not surprising this vote by Canadian legislators was not unanimous? Horrifically, the evidence is mounting with every day we sit back and watch…
Time: Tunisia reels from a terror attack possibility linked to ISIS
CBC: How ISIS is different from Al Qaeda
NY Post: ISIS uses child soldiers to lead prisoners to beheadings
