Will Canada to War with Iran Next?
by C. L. Cook
The Canadian Broadcast Corporation is reporting today comments made by Defence Minister Peter Mackay charging Iran is responsible for arming Taliban elements of the Afghani resistance. It is, the CBC says, the first time Canadian officials have made such allegations publicly.

 

 

The American military similarly charged Iran provided weapons and materiel to Iraqi resistance forces, so MacKay's comments are hardly surprising given the close contact the two administrations have shared since Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ascension nearly two years ago.

 

As well as a "muscular" approach to foreign relations and the wars and occupations going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine, the two governments also sing from the same hymn book on domestic social issues such as the War on Drugs, same-sex marriage, and opposition to the Kyoto Accord on climate change.

Though the allegation of aiding and abetting the Iraqi and Afghani resistance respectively has not been proven by either America, or now Canada, (and MacKay offered no clues as to where he received his information) the minister asserted Iran was passing along to the Taliban so-called "Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's), saying:

• "We're very concerned that weapons are coming in from Iran. We're very concerned that these weapons are going to the insurgents."

MacKay may indeed be concerned about IED's; of the 74 Canadians reported killed, and many more injured, since Canada's "mission" in the Central Asian country began shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the majority of those casualties have been the result of roadside bombs.

Speaking before the soldier's mess, the minister saluted the troops, saying:

• "Everyone in Canada is cheering for you; you're Canada's team."

Not mentioned by Minister MacKay were polls in Canada that claim the majority of Canadians do not support sacrificing more soldiers on the distant battlefields of Afghanistan now, and have never supported the Canadian Forces' mission-shift that has taken the country away from its traditional "peacekeeping" functions to more emulate U.S./Israeli style occupation-garrison duty.

With MacKay's hyperbolic Christmas performance, consisting as it appears to have done, of inaccurate, and impolitic accusations, it begs the question: Were MacKay's statements just a matter of too much Christmas cheer, or does this salvo fired against Iran portend an official government of Canada policy shift, and perhaps a deeper involvement in war fighting in store for Canada in the new year coming?