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Drawing a line in the sand

Canada is again at war, as last week, MPs opted in favour for the country’s third combat mission in less than a decade – this time, targeting the crimes and atrocities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL).

Canada is again at war, as last week, MPs opted in favour for the country’s third combat mission in less than a decade – this time, targeting the crimes and atrocities of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (known as ISIL).

The motion to join the international mission with air strikes passed easily with the Conservative majority government supporting it. However, with all the horrors and senseless violence perpetrated by ISIL, and with its promises to launch terrorist attacks on outside countries, it is surprising that Canada’s opposition parties voiced arguments against a combat role.

Canadians should know from the failure of the peacekeeping mission in Rwanda what can happen when men and women are sent into war-torn areas but not given the power to intervene. These Canadians are then forced to watch with their hands tied while horrific atrocities carry on unchecked.

The NDP can be counted on to oppose combat; the Liberals, on the other hand, choose to engage in some instances – the Liberal government supported the mission in Afghanistan, but not the U.S. and Great Britain’s military action in Iraq in 2003. Certain long-time Liberal stalwarts supported the current mission; however, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau vapidly opined on the importance of humanitarian efforts and the need for combat to be better spelled out, even while news headlines of ISIL beheadings of civilians and volunteers should make its own case.

One point that the combat-shy NDP makes holds weight, however, in that combat alone can contribute to instability. Past military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq can leave power vacuums, in which crime, terror and radical elements like ISIL flourish.

Although it is not an easy decision to go to war, it is an even harder decision – and can be a politically unpopular decision - to commit to the long game, to put a plan in place so that when western troops pull out, that the people who remain are not left holding the bag. Only with a commitment to promoting long-term stability can a military role lead to anything other than a cycle of combat, terror and more combat.

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