FROLITICKS

Satirical commentary on Canadian and American current political issues

Nov 11

When Will We Stop Young Men From Going To War?

by bcurry

Years ago, I read somewhere that old men begin wars and send young men to fight them.  This was certainly true of the multitude of wars fought during the Twentieth Century.  Today, it would appear that nothing has really changed.  Look around the world, and you cannot help to witness the continuing atrocities caused by wars and the loss of not only young soldiers, but also, and most importantly, the loss of civilian lives.  There is no need to once again recount the statistical losses of war, for what matters most is the real human suffering that one sees among the individuals and families affected by war.

I had family members who fought in both World Wars, and gratefully had survived to return.  Born shortly after WWII, I lived through the Cold War period and the West’s battles with the then Soviet Union.  I lived through the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent struggles of East European countries for independence.  I lived through the Vietnam conflict, which one must remember like the earlier Korean conflict, was never officially declared a war by Congress. Then came the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 toppling the long time dictator Saddam Hussein and leading to the subsequent decade occupation of Iraq.  Fortunately, the then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien refused to send Canadian troops to fight in Iraq.  However, Canada did join the NATO mission in Afghanistan where in over ten years of fighting, Canadian combatants loss their lives and several were seriously injured.  With the war in Afghanistan going poorly and in light of the gains being made by the Taliban, the U.S. couldn’t wait to get out of that country, much in the same way the Vietnam conflict ended.  And for what?

Now, we have the Ukrainian-Russian war being initiated by 73 year old Vladimir Putin, a former KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years and de facto dictator of Russia since 2000.  To date, while supplying Ukraine with weapons and financial support, no NATO country has boots on the ground in Ukraine.  However, there is little doubt that NATO’s European countries are deeply concerned about Russia’s incursion into Ukraine and potential future threat.  The result is that they have begun to build up their military forces and to expend a larger proportion of their budgets on defence.  Canada, as a NATO member, has also agreed to significantly increase its military spending to meet its continuing commitments to the alliance.

In the Middle East, Israel’s conflicts with Hamas in Gaza, its attacks on Iranian nuclear weapons facilities, and its most recent attack on Hamas negotiators in Qatar, represents a long period of wars and deaths and destruction on both sides.  Indeed, there have been multiple wars with Israel, including those in 2008-09, 2012, 2014, 2021 and an ongoing one since 2023, which began with the infamous October 7 attacks.  According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the U.S. spent almost $18 billion on military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024.  While the U.S. continues to provide this massive support, do date President Trump has not indicated that American troops could become directly involved in Gaza.  Time will tell!

People in the Trump administration like to describe the president as a president for peace — this despite the recent change whereby his Secretary of Defense is now the Secretary of War.  In addition, the Trump administration is building up its military presence in the Caribbean, especially off the coast of Venezuela.  Drone attacks have been carried out on boats in international waters, with the administration declaring that these are drug smugglers originating out of Venezuela and supported by the country’s president Nicolás Maduro.  However, some current and former U.S. officials contend that the unspoken goal is the goal is to force Maduro from power.  In other words, regime change.  As of November 6th, the U.S. Senate has twice failed to pass resolutions that would limit Trump’s authority to continue military action against Venezuela or airstrikes against alleged drug vessels.  After long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the combination of the words America and regime change raises alarm bells, both inside and outside the U.S.  Let’s hope that this aging American president isn’t once again ready to sacrifice American young lives in another worthless war.

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Oct 11

Iraq: The Other Somewhat Forgotten American Combat Mission

by bcurry

With all the news today concentrating on what is happening in Afghanistan during and after the withdrawal of American and Allied troops, it is little wonder that the media has somewhat forgotten about the U.S. continued involvement in Iraq.  By January 2021, the U.S. had reduced its presence to 2,500 troops in Iraq.  However, as of March 2021, 11 U.S. soldiers had died in Iraq in 2020.  Iraq is still a very unsafe place to operate, particularly because of Iran’s influence.  Among countries where terrorist attacks are frequent, the number of terrorist attacks in 2019 in Iraq ranked fourth behind Afghanistan, Syria and India.  Of course, in previous years, many of the terrorist attacks were carried out by the followers of the Islamic State.  In April 2021, the U.S. Central Command stated that there were no plans for a total withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, citing continued threats posed by the Islamic State insurgency and Iran-backed militias.  However, in July 2021, President Biden announced that he would end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq by the end of the year, although the U.S. will continue to train and advise the Iraqi military.

Earlier this month, Iraqis voted in parliamentary elections meant to herald sweeping change to a dysfunctional political system that has dragged the country through almost two decades of deprivation.  Unfortunately, Iraqi politics is still dominated by the three sectarian groups, the majority Shiite population, the Sunnis and the Kurds in the northern region of Iraq.  Critics believe that the U.S. shares some responsibility for the failure of governance in Iraq.  After the 2003 invasion by coalition forces and with the country in the grip of a bloody sectarian civil war, the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council established a system of sectarian apportionment, which continues to this day.  This quota system divides cabinet roles and ministries and their resources between the ethno-sectarian parties.  The results of the current election will likely once again be followed by months of negotiations between the main players.  Meanwhile, Iran’s influence in Iraq’s government grows, and Tehran continues to strengthen the power of Shiite Iraqi militias it backs.

According to political analysts, the current parties in power — many backed by militias involved in attacks that killed some 600 demonstrators — appear once more to be poised to dominate.  Sweeping anti-government protests had forced out Adil Abdul-Mahdi, then the allegedly incompetent prime minister, in May 2020.  While this led officials to push the vote up by a year, Iraq’s system of dividing up government ministries among political parties along ethnic and sectarian lines will remain unchanged.  Almost every major political faction has been implicated in corruption, a major factor in Iraq’s poor public services.  Electricity in many provinces is provided only for two hours at a time.  In the sweltering summers, there is no clean water.  And millions of university graduates are without jobs.  Unfortunately, given the current state of Iraq’s economy and political divisions, many young Iraqis say they don’t see much if any future for themselves in their country.

By October 2018, beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ensuing occupation, insurgencies and civil war, 4,550 American service members and 3,793 military contractors had died.  Although estimating war-related Iraqi deaths pose many challenges, we know that the number of violent civilian deaths has been in the hundreds of thousands and the amount of property damages due to the war, insurgencies and subsequent terrorist attacks — especially by the Islamic State — has cost Iraqis and Americans hundreds of millions of dollars.  Up until the end of 2020, it is estimated that the Iraq War has cost the U.S. nearly 2 trillion in current U.S. dollars, much of it to pay military contractors.  In the end, one has to seriously ask whether Congress or the American people got value for their investment in Iraq, in light of the tragic loss of American lives or the hundreds of millions of dollars paid out?

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Jan 13

American Assertions of Imminent Iranian Threat to Attack U.S. Embassies Appears to be Questionable

by bcurry

Trump’s claim made to justify the decision to kill Iranian general Qasem Soleimani that attacks were being planned to attack four U.S. embassies has not been verified by actual intelligence. Even his Defence Secretary Mark Esper stated that he ‘didn’t see’ evidence of an Iranian plot to attack four U.S. embassies. Kind of reminds you of another President’s rationale for invading and occupying Iraq after 9-11.

16 years ago on February 5, 2003, then Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered his infamous presentation at the United Nations making the case for war with Iraq. Remember that Powell insisted that the Iraqis, and in particular their dictator Saddam Hussein, were behind the attacks on 9-11 and had “weapons of mass destruction (WMD)”, including tons of the deadly nerve agent VX. This despite the fact that Iraqi insiders and American intelligence sources had confirmed that the Iraqi regime had secretly destroyed the nerve agent soon after the Gulf War in 1991. Indeed, legitimate sources concluded that all WMDs — biological, chemical, missiles, nuclear — were subsequently destroyed.  Following the occupation of Iraq and an extensive search, the Americans did not find any WMDs. The result was that over four thousand Americans and coalition troops died and almost 32,000 were wounded in action in the Iraq War.  In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that about $1.9 trillion would be the long-term price tag for the war.

Unfortunately, Congress never investigated Powell’s use of the intelligence he was given. Furthermore, based on misinformation regarding the actual intelligence, most members of Congress supported the decision by President George W. Bush to invade Iraq. Now, history may have just repeated itself.  President Trump decided to kill a top Iranian commander without providing clear and unquestionable facts to justify the action.  On top of which, Congressional leaders were not consulted beforehand because Trump has accused some as being “corrupt”.  We have also now learned that Trump reportedly okayed assassinating Soleimani seven months ago.

Whether or not you agree that Soleimani should have been assassinated is not real question. Let’s face it, he will most likely be replaced by one of his underlings.  However, we now have increased the instability in the region and raised the risks to Iraqis, Iranians and foreigners.  This is unfortunately demonstrated by the tragic shooting down of the Ukraine International Airline flight 752 by an Iranian missile, resulting in the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew.  Hopefully, all sides will attempt to deescalate these new tensions and Congress will do a better job of overseeing the President’s actions then it did in the past.

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Jan 7

Trump Is Completely Out To Lunch When It Comes To Iran

by bcurry

Here we go again! Hasn’t the American administration learned from past mistakes in the Middle East?  Remember supporting the former dictator, the Shah of Iran, against the Iranian people who suffered terribly under his regime.  Remember the flimsy excuses given by Bush Jr. to invade Iraq based on false intelligence about  Saddam Hussein’s supposed “weapons of mass destruction”.  Remember how the American occupation of Iraq and failure of subsequent Iraqi governments led to the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIL) and subsequent years of terror in the region.

Now, we have an American President ordering the assassination of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who the Trump administration claimed to pose a “clear and present danger.”  One can always ask “why now”?  Seems all too convenient as a distraction for a President who is smack in the middle of the impeachment process.  Now, U.S. and NATO forces and Westerners in the region are at real risk from Iranian reprisals.  The Iraqi parliament has voted to kick American and foreign forces out of the country, despite Trump’s threats of placing stiff sanctions on Iraq and making the Iraqis pay for the al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq.  This important base hosts many U.S. troops and was a strategic key in the war against ISIL.  Indeed, the U.S.-Iranian conflict may have just opened the door for the reemergence of ISIL in the region which is a much greater threat to everyone.  Remember that Iranian-backed forces fought against ISIL in Syria.

The actions by Trump carried out by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo  and Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper may have just complicated what is already a dangerous situation in the region.  As was the past case in Iraq and Afghanistan, the current administration appears to have no strategy to deal with the likely escalation of U.S.-Iranian conflict that will most definitely follow.  Iran on the other hand has been given an opportunity by the American actions to distract the Iranian people from recent protests and uprisings within Iran against the regime driven by the country’s poor economic conditions.  In addition, the Iranian regime now has an excuse to recommense its nuclear arms program by withdrawing from the current accord which, under Trump, is no longer recognized by the U.S.

Canada, which has hundreds of military and other personnel in the region, has helped in the training of Iraqi security forces. With the recent events, they have been told to stand down.  The Americans have unfortunately paused their counterterrorism operations and are now focused on ensuring their security on bases throughout the region.  Some retaliatory moves by Iran are bound to happen, leaving Westerners throughout the region in a very dangerous position.  Trump’s further threats of potential reprisals, military or economic, may only add to what is already a very volatile situation.  Indeed, I would advocate that all Canadian personnel be withdrawn immediately and entirely from the region, in particular from Iraq.  Once again, why should Canadians pay with their lives for U.S. mistakes in the region?

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Oct 8

Trump’s Foreign Policy Is A Complete And Utter Flop

by bcurry

Just hours after President Trump declared that American troops were being withdrawn from the Syrian border, he warned Turkey that he would “totally destroy and obliterate” the economy of Turkey if he’s unhappy with how the country carries out its planned assault on Kurdish fighters. Indeed, what Trump has done is a betrayal and abandonment of the Kurds who, with U.S. backing, have been fearlessly fighting the Islamist radicals of ISIS in northern Syria. Both Democrats and Republicans have condemned the move as irresponsible and dangerous, leaving the Kurds to worry about a war with the more powerful Turkey and an inability to deal with the thousands of ISIS members interned in Syria. Some have even suggested that ISIS may re-emerge under the circumstances.

This is just another example of Trump’s lack of good judgement and his inability to appreciate the consequences of his foreign policies to date. Take North Korea for example, we now have a situation where nothing has happened since the talks between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un broke down. Indeed, the meetings only helped to legitimatize Kim’s regime on the world stage, while allowing him to continue testing missiles capable of reaching most Asian countries.  There are also suspected hidden nuclear fuel production sites around the country.

With respect to the European Union (EU), Brexit and the Ukraine, Trump has interfered on a number of occasions, upsetting his NATO and European allies. He has instead aligned himself with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and dropped out of nuclear missile treaty with Russia, which is what Russia wanted all along. Trump is far too close to Putin, particularly in light of the Russian invasion of Crimea and confirmed Russian hacking in the 2016 election.

In terms of the current disastrous Brexit negotiations between Britain and the EU, Trump is much too close to Prime Minister Boris Johnson who in an undemocratic manner tried to circumvent the British Parliament to get his way. Then there are the recent revelations about Trump’s unprecedented dealings with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky which have led to the launch of an impeachment enquiry in the House of Representatives.  Here we have the President trying to persuade the Ukrainian President to get involved in a political-inspired investigation of an American presidential candidate.  Trump’s request has been tied to the withholding of military aid to Ukraine, something everyone agrees is not normal and most likely illegal. He has even suggested that China should undertake a similar investigation. Go figure!

On top of all this, one has the U.S. State Department in total turmoil. Its officials have little input into the Trump Administration’s foreign policy decisions and are daily loosing credibility abroad and in the U.S.  Once a highly respected and influential arm of government, one now has a Secretary of State who has become nothing more than a puppet for the President.  Mike Pompeo simply defends his boss’s mistakes, regardless of the international consequences.  One can only imagine what goes on in the National Security Council on a daily basis?

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May 11

American Foreign Policy Led to a No-Win Outcome in the Middle East

by bcurry

When in college in the early seventies, I did a paper on the role of the Arab League. Among my findings was the fact that the League’s members could not agree on very much, not even how best to jointly deal with Israel. The Arab countries continued to do more bickering among themselves than working together to mutually resolve regional concerns.  The problem is worst even today.  The Middle East shudders from instability that stretches from Syria to Iraq to Yemen, spawning terrorist threats as well as threats to the legacy of American intervention in Iraq and Saudi Arabia’s leadership role in the Arab world. After the so-called Arab spring, a number of regimes from Libya to Egypt are less stable than before the movement.

As for the U.S., the Iraq occupation and subsequent attempt at democracy have proven to be a costly failure.  President Obama’s failure to topple Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, his inability to apply pressure for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, and the disappointing result of U.S.-led nuclear talks with Iran not leading to a rapprochement between the United States and Saudi Arabia’s main rival Iran, all continue to undermine the U.S. position in the Middle East.  Now, one has President Trump’s withdrawal from the multi-state nuclear agreement with Iran and the possible further destabilization of the region, and more potential Israel-Iran confrontations. Sure, it appears that the extremist Islamic State (ISIS) has been defeated in Iraq and Syria, but opposing radical Sunni and Shia forces continue to operate throughout the region.

Through all of this turmoil, except for Israel, no one is happy with American Middle Eastern policies. The Arab discontent has opened the door to increased Russian presence in the region and Turkey is unhappy with American military support to the Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. Moving the American embassy to Jerusalem didn’t help matters, as it again raised Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Worst, Lebanon is now facing greater influence by Iranian-backed Hezbollah. The strong showing by Hezbollah and its allies in recent Lebanese elections could jeopardize the country’s regional and international standing at a time when its leaders are counting on international support to prop up the economy, support the military and deal with the burden of nearly 1 million refugees from neighboring Syria.

Let’s face it, no one really believes that President Trump has a true understanding of Middle Eastern complexities. Instead, he will blindly follow Israel’s and Saudi Arabia’s lead on military and foreign policy matters. Unfortunately, the current mess will only get worst.  Starting with former President Obama, everyone agrees that the U.S. can’t unilaterally fix the Middle East. They’re going to need a lot of help from European and what few allies they have in the region.  We may be looking at a no-win outcome for some time to come.

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Oct 6

Trump’s Plan to Decertify the Iran Nuclear Deal Leaves Republicans in the Lurch

by bcurry

President Trump has argued that under the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015, Iran has not “lived up” to the spirit of the deal. This despite the fact that by all accounts — even that of the U.S. — Iran had lived up to its commitments under the agreement. In addition, European leaders have stated that they were not interested in expanding the scope of its implementation. Other countries that are party to the deal — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran —argued that the agreement was designed to address issues solely related to Iran’s nuclear program, and not other issues that Trump has raised in the past.

Now, Trump is expected to decertify the deal which would kick the matter over to the Republican controlled Congress, which in turn would then have 60 days to determine how to proceed and whether to re-impose sanctions. The only problem is that the majority of Republicans have little appetite to reopen the 2015 deal, backed by the Democrats in Congress. The Republicans want to avoid a crisis and don’t want to kill the agreement which would leave them with the blame both at home and abroad. Once again, the President and Republicans are at loggerheads, with the party split between the so-called hawks and doves.

The situation with Iran is a lot more different than it was ten years ago. After all, it is in Iraq, where fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) has most conspicuously brought the U.S into a tacit alliance with Iran, that a more hostile relationship between Tehran and Washington could prove most consequential. Iranian-backed militias are deeply embedded in the overall Iraqi effort to wrest back territory from the militants, one that is also being aided by the United States.  Today, Iran commands the loyalties of tens of thousands in allied militias and proxy armies that are fighting on the front lines in Syria, Iraq and Yemen with armored vehicles, tanks and heavy weapons.  Exactly what the Trump administration intends to do about a state of affairs that has already become deeply entrenched is unclear.  So pervasive is Iran’s presence across the region that it is hard to see how any U.S. administration could easily roll it back without destabilizing allies, endangering Americans, undermining the war against the ISIS and upsetting the new regional balance.

The Iran nuclear deal is only one part of the foreign policy equation in the Middle East. To date, the deal has succeeded in stabilizing relations with Iran as it pertains to the nuclear weapons issue. Trump will have to spell out a broader strategy for confronting Iran, including its ballistic missile program and alleged support for terror networks in the Middle East. Decertifying and reopening the deal will not help matters, and may even destabilize relations with Iran who has become a major ally in the fight against ISIS. Without a doubt, the President’s move will present Congress with another hot potato and, once again, undermine America’s credibility to uphold its commitments with its allies and partners.

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Mar 5

George W. Bush is an Enigma in Many Ways as a President and a Person

by bcurry

The other day, former president George W. Bush was on the Ellen Show.  He was promoting a book containing portraits of American veterans that he had painted.  Apparently, he took up painting as a past time some five years ago.  Ellen Dejeneres is a friend of the Bush family, including Bush senior.  President Bush stated his admiration for vets, particularly those wounded in battle.  As always, he displayed his known sense of humour during Ellen’s polite interview, noting that historians will inevitably judge his presidency.

Having lived through the period of his presidency, nine-eleven and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, I have mixed feelings about the former president. I remember seeing him standing at the site of the destroyed twin towers in New York, giving warm thanks to first responders and those who aided them. The event was to change the direction of his presidency toward a commitment to wage war on terrorism.  Indeed, this was to be his legacy to the American people.

However, after that tragic event, a number of wrong turns were taken by President Bush and his administration. Remember that this was an administration that included the likes of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Colin Powell — the first two who were definitely ‘hawks’. Suddenly, the U.S. was to take on the so-called axis of evil, unfortunately including Iraq’s Saddam Hussein. The administration perpetuated the belief that Hussein had ‘weapons of mass destruction’, which of course was never true.  I firmly believe that President Bush was goaded into accepting this assertion by his immediate advisors – despite intelligence to the contrary.  However, no one in the administration had a viable ‘exit’ strategy once the Iraq occupation was over — something even George H. W. Bush had warned his son was a crucial consideration. Following the speedy fall of Hussein’s regime, Bush junior declared ‘mission accomplished’ aboard an American aircraft carrier.  The rest is the sad history of over a decade of American military actions in Iraq, amid corrupt and incompetent Iraqi governments and sectarian fighting among various religious factions. Thousands of Americans and many more Iraqis loss their lives or became refugees during the decade.  Once U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, this led to the re-emergence of Al Qaeda and eventually the spin-off terrorists who formed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Otherwise, the whole region became a bigger mess with even more explosive potential among the warring factions.

President Bush was the puppet on a string for a hawkish administration that used American military might for all the wrong reasons. Subsequent presidents have and will have to deal with the consequences of such tragic mistakes.  American troops returned home from Iraq as amputees, many having incurred the loss of limbs, brain trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc. Iraq continues to be embroiled in ugly urban guerrilla warfare, this time involving ISIS. Sorry President Bush, although you may be a somewhat likeable person, the heartbreaking outcome of your administration’s decisions is no laughing matter.  I believe that history will judge it so.

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May 2

Why Canada Should Get the Hell Out of Iraq

by bcurry

It was March 2003 and the U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq. According to U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the coalition mission was to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction, to end Saddam Hussein’s support for terrorism, and to free the Iraqi people.  After 21 days of major combat operations, the loss of thousands of lives and the destruction of much of Iraq’s infrastructure, President Bush declared that the war was over.  At the time, I had many misgivings and was happy that Canada had refused to participate in this farce.  Remember, no weapons of mass of mass destruction were found and the war continued on for a decade.  Saddam Hussein was subsequently found and hung by the interim Iraqi government.  Iraq supposedly was supposedly on its way to discovering “democracy”— Western style.

Jump forward a dozen years, and where are we today? On April 30, 2016, thousands of protesters stormed the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad and took over Iraq’s parliament. A state of emergency was declared in Baghdad.  President Obama’s plan for fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) was predicated on having a credible and effective Iraqi ally on the ground in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.  Instead, we have a corrupt and paralyzed government overseeing an Iraqi society fractured once again along ethnic and sectarian lines, with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish elements fighting for power, oil and territory.

Meanwhile, Canada has increased its military advisors on the ground to help train Kurdish fighters in the north in their battle against ISIS. However, the problem is that the Kurds are really fighting to eventually establish an independent state, separate from the current Iraqi regime.  Since ISIS is nothing more than a bunch of thugs who rely on fear and threats to maintain their occupation in parts of Iraq and Syria, fighting ISIS has become a “good feel” campaign for the West.  Recent ISIS-inspired attacks in France and Belgium have given an added incentive to the campaign.  However, there is the much tougher task of helping Abadi repair Iraq’s corrupt and largely ineffective government before a ground war can be won against ISIS.

Canada is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, if it pulls out its advisors from Iraq, its allies and the hard-liners will argue that Canada is soft on terrorism.  On the other hand, if it continues with military assistance to Kurdish forces, the Shiite and Sunni factions will accuse Canada of supporting the Kurdish independence movement.  Iraq is becoming increasingly ungovernable and eventually the U.S.-led coalition will be left with overseeing the breakup of Iraq into separate political entities.  For the moment, the common enemy in ISIS has forced some form of sectarian cooperation.  If and when ISIS is effectively removed from Iraq, what will come next — another civil war?  Most likely.  Canada had better begin thinking about an exit strategy, sooner than later.

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Nov 16

Will the Paris Attacks Create a Backlash in Canada?

by bcurry

Already a fire was deliberately set at a mosque in Peterborough, Ontario.  Police believe that this may represent a hate crime.  Some prominent Canadians are increasingly questioning the Canadian Government’s stated intention to try to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of the year.  Critics are concerned that radicals may be allowed to enter under the program, despite the Government’s assurance that all potential refugees will be adequately screened. For the most part, they will be selected from refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.  Many will be families with women and children.  Remember that the horrible war in Syria has left more than 250,000 people dead and has displaced half of that country’s population.  Despite the hard work of numerous agencies, many refugees have been living in difficult conditions for several years.

Given the recent tragic events in France and elsewhere, including ISIS-related attacks in Lebanon and Turkey, this is not the time for “fear mongering” when it comes to providing humanitarian aid to these refugees.  It is also not the time for attacking Muslim communities in Canada, even if they are isolated events.  If this occurs, we are giving the radicals exactly what they want.  Such actions by Western countries will be used in ISIS propaganda as examples of why their so-called causes should be supported.  This in turn could very likely lead to a further radicalization of certain individuals who are already susceptible to such propaganda.

We need to work within our communities to ensure that inclusive policies and programs are in place to combat radicalization.  We need to be better informed about the complexity of the issues creating the Syrian situation and the general unrest in the Middle East.  We need to combat ignorance, extreme forms of backlash and xenophobic policies.  The best way that Canadians can combat extremism at home and abroad is by continuing to promote our finest traits as a caring, inclusive and diverse populace.

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