Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Monday, September 22, 2014

Is Canada on the precipice of war?

The Prime Minister is holding a rare emergency debate Tuesday evening to decide Canada's next steps into what could be an international war in the Middle East.

Canadians were recently shocked by the news that some 130 Canadian citizens -- many from Calgary -- have been drawn into an extremist Islamic military movement, called ISIS, according to a new federal report on terrorist threats to Canada.

The movement -- also known as ISIL -- has some 80,000 members in Syria and northern Iraq who are seizing control of the region, in pursuit of establishing an Islamic caliphate—or state.

The fear is, Canadian ISIL militants could become radicalized and return to this nation, Parliament was told Tuesday.

“Our fight is your fight also,” a high-ranking Kurdish official told the Canadian Press during Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird’s visit to Iraq last week.

ISIS is the same militant organization known for beheading two American journalists and a British human-aid worker.

Kurds now want weapons from Canada and its western allies in what is expected to be a long fight.

“We are fighting a terrorist state that has roots in various countries…many ISIL fighters come from abroad, including Canada,” said the official.

The requests for assistance come just months after a war-weary Canada formally ended its 12-year engagement in Afghanistan, which killed more than 150 Canadian soldiers.

The federal government is debating how many troops to send to the Middle East.

In Parliament, the prime minister proposed to send 69 troops to Iraq.  

The NDP called that a "slippery slope" toward another another Afghanistan-style engagement.

"A small number of special forces, a promise that it was just for a short while and it wound up being the longest war we’ve ever been involved in and it cost lives, 160 brave Canadian women and men in uniform," said Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair.

"So yes, we’re very very concerned about the slippery slope that we appear to be on."

Canada's role in Afghanistan eventually involved many thousands of Canadian soldiers.

Following Tuesday’s question period, Minister Baird said the Canadian government is joining the civilized world to combat the monstrous groups who are trying to take over large areas of the world.

“Their goal is to take over from southern Spain to India and obviously we can’t sit by and allow that type of evil to succeed. We think it is imperative that we stand with the civilized world to try and combat and defeat this evil,” said Minister Baird.

In respect to Canadians' safety—Minister Baird said cowering in a bunker in Ottawa isn’t an option for Canada.

Canadians will learn about their country's involvement in the ISIL crisis after Tuesday night’s emergency debate, which the NDP said will be followed by a parliamentary vote.

Original Article
Source: vancouverobserver.com/
Author: Janice Dickson

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