Saturday, October 04, 2014

Harper's War and the Last Desperate Gamble of the Con regime



Eleven years ago Stephen Harper tried to drag us into a war in Iraq, and today he finally succeeded. 

Canada is heading to war in Iraq after Stephen Harper’s announcement that he intends to deploy jet fighters to join coalition air strikes against Islamic State militants for as long as six months, but vowing not to be dragged into a “prolonged quagmire.”

And all I can say is that I'm glad the Liberals and the NDP are not supporting Harper's War. So he will have no political cover.

And will end up wearing it like a shroud, as I'm sure he will.

Because while in the short term it may give his sagging polls a boost, since most Canadians support military action. 

Almost two-thirds (or 64 per cent) of Canadians said they’re strongly or somewhat in support of Canada sending jets, likely CF-18s, to launch strikes on ISIS targets in Iraq, according to an exclusive Global News/Ipsos Reid poll.

The greatest support for Canada taking part in airstrikes came from Ontario, where 71 per cent of respondents said they strongly or somewhat supported it; the lowest support was in Quebec with 53 per cent.

As one might expect, when you're dealing with a bestial group of religious fanatics like this one. 

That will only last until Canadians see how Stephen Harper is trying to exploit the situation...





Or scare them to death for crass political purposes.

Or understand what George Monbiot wrote about here.

They dangled the heads of their victims in front of the cameras as bait for war planes. And our governments were stupid enough to take it. 

Harper is doing what the terrorists want, helping the ISIS crazies portray the war as just another War on Muslims.

Even though the U.S. and its other allies could have easily handled the bombing without us.

And we could have contributed to the Great War Against ISIS in a more useful and Canadian way, by riding to the rescue of the armies of desperate refugees...



Instead of getting militarily involved in an apocalyptic religious war between the Sunni and the Shia, and jumping into bed with Saudi princes like this one.

In July, the former head of MI6, Sir Richard Dearlove, revealed that Prince Bandar bin Sultan, until recently the head of Saudi intelligence, told him: “The time is not far off in the Middle East, Richard, when it will be literally ‘God help the Shia’. More than a billion Sunnis have simply had enough of them.”

And even though everyone admits that bombing alone won't defeat the ISIS crazies. Not as long as so many Sunnis support them.

And that you can't solve the problem the same way you created it...



Stephen Harper couldn't be restrained from jumping on the war bandwagon, and making it sound like ISIS is the greatest threat the world faces, not climate change.

And that the caliphate is COMING !!!!! 

ISIL has established a self-proclaimed caliphate, at present stretching over a vast territory, roughly from Aleppo to near Baghdad, from which it intends to launch a terrorist jihad not merely against the region, but on a global basis. Indeed, it has specifically targeted Canada and Canadians, urging supporters to attack “disbelieving Canadians in any manner”, vowing that we should not feel secure, even in our homes.

To behead us in our beds with electric knives, or as Bill Maher recently suggested, hedge trimmers.

Left unchecked, this terrorist threat can only grow, and grow quickly. As a government, we know our ultimate responsibility is to protect Canadians and to defend our citizens from those who would do harm to us or our families.

And that only a Great Strong Leader can protect us.

You know HIM....



Who would also have us believe that he can avoid getting dragged into a quagmire.

Second, let me assure Canadians that the government is seized with the necessity of avoiding a prolonged quagmire in this part of the world.

When even his hapless stooge John Baird admits the new Great War on Terror could go on for a long time. 

And far from making us safer, his military adventure will make it MORE not less likely that Canada could be attacked by terrorists. 

In the confusion of the multiparty civil wars racking Syria and Iraq, it is difficult to say that Canadian intervention by means of air-delivered weapons is likely to make our targets less rather than more interested in finding Canada on a map, or less rather than more likely to radicalize a few misguided young men here at home.

But then Harper doesn't care about that, he isn't really serious about defeating the ISIS hordes. How could he be when he's only sending SIX planes?

He's just interested in extracting maximum political capital out of this crisis. Using it as an excuse to ram through police state bills...



We will soon bring forward additional measures to strengthen the ability of our security services to monitor aspiring terrorists to, where possible, prevent their return to Canada or to, where that is not possible, give greater tools to be able to charge and prosecute.

Like this one.

And above all using the war to try to discredit Justin Trudeau and Tom Mulcair by portraying them as terrorist stooges, in a last desperate attempt to win the next election.

In his deranged mind he can probably already see himself riding triumphantly with the troops, in the lead tank, when they return home in March.

Just as a barrage of tax cuts rains down on the heads of some Canadians. 

Just before an election, timed to begin just before the Duffy trial.

And until that early election he will try to ensure, as the following clip demonstrates, that every answer to every question goes through Iraq.

Even when the question is about his government's savage cuts to healthcare for refugees in Canada...



And the good news?

This shabby campaign, this last desperate gamble of a corrupt and dying regime, won't work. It's too obvious. Canadians won't appreciate the Cons politicizing a war. 

Any public enthusiasm for the bombing campaign will soon fade as it always does. And the grim reality of the situation sinks in.

A war won't make Stephen Harper more popular, it's too late for that. It won't soften his image as he has been trying so hard to do. It will only make him look harder, and more dangerous. 

And make even MORE people want to get rid of him.

He will wear the war like a shroud.

And it WILL help destroy him...



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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to be able to share your blog with my friends on FB.......how can I do this?

the salamander said...

.. the 'prolonged quagmire' is actually Stephen Harper, his flailing government, his insideous unelected PMO, his hordes of thousands of lawyers, his secretive trade deals, 14.5 billion $ arms deal with the Saudi's, his grim backroom dealings with China, his initiatives to spy on ordinary Canadians with the approval of his weakling MP's who don't represent anybody but Harper. His war on Canada and Canadians and the environment has become his 'mission' and he is 'The Mission Creep'

Beijing York said...

Anonymous 8:32, all you have to do is copy and paste the url for this current article. Once you hit enter, it shows up on your Facebook wall with complete title, top photograph and first few sentences to the piece plus a link to this page.

lagatta à montréal said...

Yes, the whole thing is so sad, as the utter breakdown of societies in the wake of the War for Oil led to the rise of these Islamic State thugs. Often there are roving bands in the wake of civil wars or other protracted violence. The Taliban rose that way, and there are plenty of examples in Western societies as well.

Anonymous said...

Harper calls Putin and Russia dirty Communists then, Harper sells Canada to Communist China. Harper still exports weapons to Russia.

Harper said the US requested him, to play a bigger role in this war against ISIS. Obama said, they did no such thing. Harper was a miserable failure in Wales. His speech to the UN, was to a nearly empty room. Harper just doesn't get it? Most of the world would be grateful if, Harper and Communist China were kicked off the planet.

Harper's famous quotes: I am the law. I make the rules. And, by the time I get through with this country? You won't recognize it. Those are the only true words Harper has ever uttered. Canada has never been an occupied country before. Canada has never been a dictatorship nor has Canada ever had a monster such as Harper running this country either.

e.a.f. said...

why are we spending money on expensive bombs when we could be spending money in Canada on Veterans who still need medical support following harpers and his herd's last little excursion into the middle east.

A bombing we will go, a bombing we will go, hi ho the Dario, the bombing we will go.

What a waste of human life, money, and infrastructure. How about sending aid to the refugees in the countries around the middle east. It can't be easy, being a refugee. It would make a lot more sense then bombing.

Now harper and his herd are all upset about another beheading of a "western:" person. What about the 59 people who have been beheaded in Saudi Arabia this year? Are we going to bomb Saudi Arabia any time soon? Are we even going to voice objections to the practise of beheading in Saudi Arabia. What makes the beheading of a westerner, bomb throwing worth, but others, not so much?

Now as to getting beheaded here in Canada, in my own bed, I've locked up the chain saw and hedge trimmer. Feel safer already. Unfortunately my First Nations sisters aren't feeling safer, because they know there are men out there who murdered 1,200 other First Nations women and they haven't been caught. . So in the grand scheme of things, I have a greater change of being murdered by some one I know, here in Canada than by being beheaded by ISIS. I have a greater chance of being killed by a distracted or drunken driver in Canada. I probably have a greater chance of catching EBOLA than I do of being beheaded by ISIS here in Canada.

The international community doesn't need our 6 planes to deal with ISIS. Just check with retired General Mackenzie. This is all about Harper trying to find an issue to win an election with. News flash, this one isn't going to work either. having watched Mulcair and Trudeau up on their pins in the House of Commons and read Ms. May's speech, they are so far better. They make so much more sense by saying Canada ought to stay out of the war.

if the cons have not effectively dealt with the issues of the last group of Veterans, lets not start creating more. The Armed Forces personnel just can't afford it. They still have staff killing themselves and nothing has improved for them.

Steve said...

What would victory in kill ISIS look like? Scored earth, a lifeless desert?

David said...

http://www.newstalk.com/In-case-you-are-confused-about-what-is-happening-in-the-Middle-East

[snip]

If you are starting to get confused by who is doing what, why, where or how in the Middle East then one Daily Mail reader, known as Aubrey Bailey, has made it ‘Clear As Mud’ with the following:

“Are you confused by what is going on in the Middle-East? Let me explain. We support the Iraqi government in its fight against Islamic State (IS/ISIL/ISIS). We don’t like IS but IS is supported by Saudi Arabia whom we do like. We don’t like President Assad in Syria. We support the fight against him, but not IS, which is also fighting against him.

“We don’t like Iran, but the Iranian government supports the Iraqi gov’t against IS. So, some of our friends support our enemies and some of our enemies are our friends, and some of our enemies are fighting our other enemies, whom we don’t want to lose, but we don’t our enemies who are fighting our enemies to win.

“If the people we want to defeat are defeated, they might be replaced by people we like even less. And, all this was started by us invading a country to drive out terrorists who weren’t actually there until we went in to drive them out – do you understand now?”

Aubrey Bailey
Fleet, Hants

Simon said...

hi salamander...yes I think we can describe Harperland as a quagmire, a sordid swamp, a viscous mix of everything rotten and disgusting. And yes the Mission Creep suits him well. The good news though is that being a creep or a warmonger won't make him more popular. He needed to soften his image to win back voters, and now he doesn't stand a chance....

Simon said...

hi lagatta....everything that was done in the Great war on Terror was for the greater interests of Big Oil. And everywhere they bombed they only made the lives of the people more miserable, and sent women back to the Middle Ages. I read an article about what Libya has become, and there couldn't be a greater failure...

Simon said...

hi anon...no we never have and a leader as bad as Harper, but the good news is most people now recognize the monster, and we are going to get rid of him...

Simon said...

hi e.a.f....Yes, I didn't mention the hypocrisy of trying to make hay out of the military after screwing our soldiers in every possible way. And believe me if Ebola ever arrives in Canada he will use it to try and scare us as well. He's run out of everything else, fear is all he's got left. But his main problem is that nobody scares people as much as he does. He really is screwed...

Simon said...

hi Steve...you know it's funny, but the ISIS villains look like they jumped out of a video game. They're that bad and that brutal. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of those kids who have run off to join them think it's some kind of game. I'm going to have to explore this subject some time...

Simon said...

hi David...that's a great letter. It couldn't be more true and the situation couldn't be more insane. There are so many groups and so many shifting alliances we really will not know from one day or another who we are fighting. I read that in Libya some groups grow or shave their beards depending on which patron they are meeting with to give them money and/or weapons. The Con monkeys are leading us into an absolute nightmare, and if we in turn get attacked by some of those fanatics, our blood will be on his hands....

Gonzogal said...

What is also troubling is that both opposition parties main critique about Harper's war is that it does not include invading Syria. In other words it doesnt go far enough for them.