Dear Sir or Madam:
Is it fair to characterize United States foreign policy as “soaked in
blood”? Is it morally
defensible for Canada to join them in what we are told is a war for
freedom and democracy?
This is the issue raised by Sunera Thobani as Canadians send troops
to join the U.S. without so
much as a single vote in our Parliament.
Canada is now on a course that involves killing innocent people in Afghanistan
by dropping
bombs on them. By doing so Canada is also involved in interfering
with aid organizations getting
food to the millions of people in Afghanistan before the winter sets
in. Are we ready to condone
these actions? Are we ready to accept moral
responsibility for genocide, for war on
innocents?
Can we even imagine the dimension of the tragedy of millions starving.
Will the world’s media
make of it as much as they have made of the terrorist planes
crashing into U.S. highrise towers?
We know they won’t. Is there something wrong with asking
why?
Sunera Thobani challenged the mainstream media view that the U.S.
are the good guys and that
their motives should not be questioned. Canadians
as “best friends” should follow along
without asking too many hard questions.
The fact that the U.S. is hated and known to be hated should give pause
for some real
reflection. Sunera Thobani urges us towards
that reflection and to the moral question that is
raised by so closely allying ourselves to the United States.
As sorry and compassionate as we are for the victims of the September
11th attack in the United
States we cannot allow this compassion to be a substitute for the investigation
of the full
dimension of the moral and ethical issues involved in following the
U.S. into war.
This is much more than tracking down a terrorist group. This is
about enthusiastically following
the U.S. into a war in which we have no control over events but for
which we shall have to share
the moral responsibility for the results.
So we must ask ourselves, Is U.S. foreign policy soaked in blood?
Just where are they leading
us in this reaction to the September 11th attack? Shall
we reap enduring “freedom “ or enduring
“regret” from our participation in this?
Until now Canadian foreign policy did not keep us up nights worrying
about whether we would
be attacked by terrorists. The decision to follow the U.S.
into war has already changed this.
Shall we also live with the terrible feeling that we could have done
something to stop our country
from abandoning our former role as peacekeepers.
Shall our children forego the benefit of counting on the Canadian flag
to give them a welcome the
world over. If we walk the walk and talk the talk of U.S.
foreign policy can we avoid attracting
their reputation for self interest, greed and callous disregard for
the consequences of their
actions?
Sunera Thobani challenges those who would support the war to question
the moral credentials
of the United States based on their past performance.
Where is the full answer such a
challenge warrants?
Judith Wilson