Canada is going to War!

Canada's Conservative Government has now put forward all the signals of an aggressive interventionist foreign policy, or colloquially, they are military hawks. Libya is not the war I'm worried about either (and no, there are no blue helmets in Libya).

Defence Minister MacKay recently announced that Canada is setting up foreign military bases or agreements to facilitate our participation in 'International Missions'. Mackay's rhetoric, blithely repeated in national reporting (not journalism), does a disservice to the public by hiding the implications for our future.

I believe the below commentary, from David Bercuson (director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary, director of programs at the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, and Board member of the Royal Military College), sums it up best. (source)

“We can send troops, ships, aircraft to pretty much any part of the world in a pretty short time, even though we’re a pretty small military,” Mr. Bercuson said. With the bases, rather than being “open to anything,” the Canadian military would effectively be predicting parts of the world in which it will need to have a military presence. “We’re announcing that we have an interest in a particular region and that we may deploy military forces to that region in the future,” he said.

His last sentence is the most revealing. Not only is Canada well known for our speed of deployment, but the positioning of two bases in Africa is significant. We've announced an interest in the region.

Taken alone, one could see this as humanitarian prognostication.

However, the Conservatives, or more specifically Harper, have taken an interest in directing intelligence activities, starting in 2007 and culminating with the new Cabinet Committee on National Security.

Again, the Prime Minister directing intelligence activities is normal. But in recent years there have been calls for a foreign intelligence service. In fact, in 2010 the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) recommended the creation of a foreign spy service because of "greater demands for intelligence across government".

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) is a 'security intelligence' service that can operate anywhere in the world to protect the security of our nation. A foreign intelligence service is different, in that it's an offensive force.

SIRC even states in its 2009/10 report "Fourth, there are no CSIS guidelines to help with the design and implementation of disruption operations, or to prepare for the potential consequences of such investigative activity" {I added the underline}. In CIA jargon, that's 'blowback' from sticking a finger in someone's eye.

I could drone on about foreign intelligence services like the CIA, but the car bombing of Orlando Letelier in Washington D.C., perpetrated by a former CIA employee and orchestrated by Manuel Contreras (a paid CIA asset, even after the assassination) speaks for itself.

Or maybe the 2003 CIA information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction is a better example.

Whatever the reason when we declare war, in the next 2-6 years, please don't forget that we saw it coming. I even doubt that a non-CPC government could stop the freight train that will be going downhill, with no brakes, by the time of the next election.

By this point, my 'peacekeeper' bias is probably seeping through your screen, so I'll end with the reason for the blog.

Where is the discussion of Canada's changing role in the world?

It's a sad day for the country that fathered peacekeeping, when this topic receives nothing more than an occasional op-ed, blog, or inaccessible academic debate at the Munk School.

Oh wait, the Peace activists on rabble.ca posted a blog, about vigilance.

I've read enough history to know that Hawks rarely go hungry.

Good Night, and Good Luck.