Naivete isn't the word for them...

You've got to be kidding me...

Lift ban on Hezbollah

Three Canadian opposition MPs travel to Lebanon, via Syria, at the behest of an organization (the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations) that has clearly supported Syria in the past (see Steve Janke's site) and are toured around Lebanon by Hezbollah... Then they declare that Israel is the party at fault.

And even better, two of them explicitly call for Canada to take Hezbollah off of the Terror List. Borys Wrzesnewskyj (Lib-Etobicoke) and Peggy Nash (NDP-Parkdale-High Park) spoke out and said that we should allow Hezbollah to raise funds in Canada and we should help their internal power structure shift from military to political activities.

Could someone please educate these two that Hezbollah was formed as a militant organization and is only political because it gains them power within Lebanon as a way to shield their military actions against Israel? Isn't it also clear that Hezbollah is simply a military front for Syria and Iran to attack Israel without provoking attacks on their own countries? Hezbollah has NO INTEREST in becoming a purely political entity. There is nothing in it for them as a Shia organization could never rule Lebanon by democratic means due to demographics.

If we are truly at war with the terrorists, supporting the enemy would constitute treason. Perhaps someone should remind them that scoring political points at home isn't worth the potential consequences.

On the Monopoly of Violence

Steve Janke hits the nail on the head and points out that John Ibbitson misses the boat on the current situation in Caledonia:

Steve Janke: Angry in the Great White North

The viability of the State requires that in the face of violent insurrection (which is what the Caledonia occupation by the Mohawk Warriors is), the state enforce it's monopoly and use violence to quell the situation.

Negotiating the the Mohawk Warriors after they have spit in the face of the rule of law simply gives other groups the indication that the State will negotiate with them to meet their grievances if violence is employed to get attention.

This is not acceptable.  I agree that the Mohawk Warriors should be declared a terrorist organization and we do not negotiate with terrorists.

On the Lebanese Situation

I wasn't sure if I should comment on this topic, but I can't not considering the criticism of the Prime Minister in the this country, be it from the left-wing media (ie. CBC) or protestors on the streets.

The PM has been very clear that he supports Israel because they are on the right side of international law. Israel has the right, if not the duty, to defend itself against attacks on it's civilians and territory. It is Hezbollah that is in violation of international law for launching attacks from populated areas and using the population of Lebanon as shields. All those individuals who value the free society we enjoy in the "Enlightened West" should be agreeing with the PM wholeheartedly. Can you imagine the attitude of people in Canada if there was a terrorist group in Vermont hurling rockets at Montreal and the US Government couldn't or wouldn't deal with them? Would we be expected to sit back and take it?

Hezbollah probably kidnapped the Israeli soldiers (the beginning of all this) because Tehran told them to - in order to get the world's attention away from their nuclear program. They have in large part succeeded - diplomats from around the world, and most of the UN are now busy with the Israeli-Hezbollah problem - and Iran has slipped down the priority list - buying Tehran time to develop their nuclear program....

Lebanon is a joke of a state in that it cannot even control what goes on inside it's borders - no truly independent country can countenance a force like Hezbollah. I agree that the civilian deaths in both Israel and Lebanon are a tragedy. And perhaps diplomacy can help that. But if the diplomacy doesn't result in the disarmarment of Hezbollah it will fail in the longer term.

And I fear that until Damascus and Tehran are dealt with, Hezbollah will continue to be a problem for not just Israel, but the free world.

Ottawa makes a critical error

The Conservative government in Ottawa is making a mistake

Ottawa overrides its controls on contracts security

Attempts to direct the "benefits" of these military contracts to specific regions of the country is bound to be a failure.   Mulroney did this in 1987 with the CF-18 maintenance contract and this was one of the things that drove the creation of the Reform Party.

It is politically foolish to try to distribute benefits of these projects because provincial and municipal governments who want more will complain that politics left them out in the cold.   And they will be right - they can complain that the government didn't choose them.  So it is politically risky.

The more fundamental reason why doing this is foolish is that is will not grow the economy of Canada and make us richer.  By forcing the supplier (in this case, mostly Boeing) into operating in a new and different way than they are used to it will increase their costs - which they will happily pass on to the government of Canada.  Therefore, taxpayers will face higher costs for the equipment being procured. 

It would be better for the Canadian taxpayer to let Boeing build the equipment wherever Boeing can do it most efficiently.  If Canada is a cheaper place to do this - it will happen through market forces. 

Redistribution of wealth doesn't make us richer - it just gives the false impression of making some people richer at the far greater expense of everyone else.  And it is something the government should not be doing with these contracts.