Colin’s Case
London, Ontario - Thursday, February 6, 2003 - by: Chris Blackman
not playing nice	Earlier this week Colin Powell made a very convincing presentation to the United Nations Security Council. During his time in front of the Council the American Secretary of State presented information clearly suggesting Iraq is in breach of United Nations Resolution #1441. According to the United States the Iraqis are impeding the work of international arms inspectors who are trying to discover whether or not Saddam possesses weapons of mass destruction. Simply put the Iraqis are not playing nice, and it looks like they do have some rather nasty toys. Enough for war? Well not that part.
technical nature	Much of the evidence presented was of a very technical nature and as such it is perhaps difficult to wade through. How can anyone expect regular folks to critically analyze any of this? Colin Powell presented satellite photos that apparently clearly demonstrated evidence of active Iraqi chemical weapons facilities. Just as the last time the United States presented such evidence - during the Cuban Missile Crisis - without the convenient labels none of us would be able to conclude what exactly the photos show. For all most people would know, the pictures may have represented slides of the Blue Jays spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida. Though perhaps some have had more CIA training than others.
pizza & beer	Secretary Powell also played taped conversations allegedly taking place between Iraqi military officials — but that could just as easily have been a few good old boys from Ohio or Michigan at Langley working on this project late into the night over pizza and a few beers.
trust	On the other hand, Canadians now have a choice — either accept the word of our longtime American friends, or Canada can decide to take the word of Saddam Hussein. Hopefully this decision takes all of about two seconds to make. Hello.
terrorism	None of this is motherhood and butter-tart material. It’s all bad stuff here, but in the end, the evidence that is most convincing of the need to take military action in the region surrounds the connections illustrated during the presentation between Iraq and international terrorism. This Canadians should find most disturbing indeed.
threat of terror	What’s at stake here really has nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction — or human rights violations for that matter. There are plenty of nations guilty of violations on both fronts — some of whom Canada considers as ‘friends’. Personally I think its doubtful Saddam is capable of building a proper tree house, let alone a nuclear bomb for goodness sakes. What is at stake is the right for a nation to defend itself. Because what Saddam is capable of doing is arming, providing funds for, providing camps for the training of, and hiding out for those committed to international terrorism. He has a history of this, and will continue to do so. Right now international terrorists are attacking the United States, United Kingdom, Australia — but what happens when they set their sites on Toronto or Montreal?
no place or time for pacifists	Some of course will argue that Canada is a ‘peacekeeping’ nation. Well we should have little time for pacifists. In the first place, if we had listened to pacifists during WWII there would be no Christian civilized world as we currently know it. We would have descended as Churchill warned us into a terribly dark period of great evil the likes of which would have been unprecedented in human history. And maybe more simply; where I come from, if some one knocks you one in the kisser at your corner pub, you don’t just stand there and bleed, and I’ll never understand or accept the school that teaches you should. It’s a cruel world, and to do so simply encourages people to hit you and steal your beer. Same holds true for nations.
what they lost	Of course the Yanks got far more than a bloody nose, and a beer stolen from them. They lost some of their security, suffered a sense of invasion, and 3,000 of their own. We could easily be next.
peace makers	Too often it seems to me, as Canadians we pull out the ‘peacekeeper’ card and throw it at people. As if Canadians have not, and do not believe in fighting wars. Let me assure you long before we had the luxury of being ‘peacekeepers’ we were ‘peacemakers’. This is how we earned the right to be a world leader in peacekeeping missions and gained much of our respect at the United Nations.
duty and a clear cause	Canada has in the past gone off to war on several occasions without the approval, or disapproval of the United States. At the turn of the 19th Century Canada sent troops to South Africa to help quell a rebellion by the Boers. Again Canada answered the call the aid the British Empire in 1914 with ‘Ready Aye Ready’. And after the declaration of the Statutes of Westminster in 1934 which officially made Canada an independent nation, she sent troops of her own accord to once again defend the Empire in 1939 because that uppity evil little NAZI thought he’d have a go at England. Now you’re welcome to check, but you’ll not find evidence of Americans preaching peace to Canada in those instances. In each case we sent troops out of a sense of duty for a clear cause.
answer this call and help	It’s pretty clear after Secretary Powell’s presentation there is a link between Iraq and international terrorism. Failure to act responsibly would surely amount to an avowal of failure on our part collectively as Canadians regarding the ideas of justice, and our historic respect for the rule of law. Again we find ourselves in the awful situation where a clear cause and sense of duty compel Canada to take action. If we are even a shell of the nation we once were then we should answer this call and help.
Chris Blackman
	(Chris Blackman is a regular editorial writer for the St. Mary's Independent, thos story is posted here with permission of the St. Mary's Independenct.)
References:
	Richburg, Keith B. Global Response Key Allies Not Won Over by Powell, (PDF) February 7, 2003, Washington Post
	Rice: Powell made 'compelling' case on Iraq, (PDF) February 5, 2003, Larry King Live, CNN
	O'Malley, Martin, Colin Powell' show-and-tell at the Security Council, February 5, 2003, CBC
	Powell presents 'undeniable' proof against Iraq, February 6, 2003, CTV news
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