Canada should stay out of the Middle East

Vincent J. Curtis

6 Mar 2018

The Hamilton Spectator published two articles on this date referenced below.  Together, they explain why Canada should stay the hell out of Middle Eastern power politics.

There is a reference also to a certain person and organization.  He was heard from on 17 March 2018 and opined as anticipated, i.e. the Assad government was finally winning against terrorists, and we should allow him his victory.

RE: West must stop turning a blind eye to Syria

RE: Saudi Arabia and Iran: History and influence key in a volatile region

Canada should stay the hell out of the Middle East.  As these articles indicate, the people of the Middle East never learn and they never forget.

Canada has been stampeded into military involvement in the Middle East by lurid images before: Somalia, Iraq (1991), Afghanistan (2002- 2011), Libya (2011), Iraq (2014-present).  Nothing good or even permanent has come out of it.  And all we are doing is building up a store of ill-will against us that will never be forgotten.

What does the former spokesman for the Islamic community, Dr. Raza Khan, call for?  The ‘what else can [he] do’ is to demand the Christian west intervene in Syria to stop Muslims from slaughtering Muslims.  After all, Canada sprang into action against ISIS when Israel was threatened, he says (!).

He says that “it is high time we turn our faces to this humanitarian crisis,” while ignoring the 45,000 Syrian refugees Canada took in in 2015 and 2016.  Lurid images on CNN has stirred and sucked the U.S. to intervening unwisely before, and Khan is employing the same tactic here, but for an unstated reason.

Meanwhile, nothing is heard from Ken Stone and the Coalition to Stop the War about Syria.  That’s because, like Assad, Stone and the Coalition are proxies for Iran, and Assad looks to be finally winning the civil war in Syria.  Now is no time to Stop the War.

Khan represents Sunni Islam and Saudi Arabia; Assad, Stone and the Coalition Shia Iran.  ISIS was a Sunni movement that Canada fought against, but we took in Sunni refugees as Shia Iran proxy Assad drove them out.  In effect, Canada was working to the benefit of Shia Iran, but we did sell military equipment to Sunni Saudi Arabia to use against Shia elements in Yemen, and within its own territories.

How long Canada can hold this straddle between Sunni and Shia Islam is not known, but we would do well to get the hell out and stay the hell out of Middle Eastern power struggles.

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