Advertisement 1

Ambrose: What justifies backing down from a just war?

Article content

As I watched Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announce the end of Canada’s air combat mission against ISIL, I was struck by the incoherence of the Liberal government’s position. While I applaud the commitment to increased diplomacy and development, I question how such lofty goals can be achieved without basic peace and security for the people of Iraq and Syria.

Advertisement 2
Story continues below
Article content

More fundamentally, I question how Canada can continue to claim to be a major partner in the fight against ISIL when it is eliminating the very contribution that most directly protects innocent civilians suffering on the ground.  

Operation Impact was launched to help stop ISIL from taking more territory, and to destroy whatever capabilities it had built up. Bombing runs by Canadian fighter jets have provided vital cover for those battling ISIL on the ground. The Kurdish government, whose forces have been most effective in retaking ground from ISIL, have repeatedly requested that Canada’s bombing activities continue. 

Article content

As of Feb. 3, Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 aircraft had eliminated more than 300 ISIL targets. Our air strikes have been focused around major cities such as Mosul, Sinjar and Ramadi and have been extremely helpful in liberating roughly 20 to 25 per cent of populated areas of Iraq previously controlled by ISIL. Canada’s contribution to the air mission is, both practically and symbolically, unquestionably important.  

In light of this record, I am forced to ask: Why do we have fighter aircraft at all if not for the purpose of protecting innocent civilians from clear and present danger?  If not this mission, which mission?

Advertisement 3
Story continues below
Article content

The Liberals fundamentally misunderstand the nature of terrorism: It is not simple thuggery or even organized criminality, as recently alleged by the minister of defence. Terror, the likes of which we saw in Paris last fall, is designed to undermine civilization and legitimate systems of government. It has as its aim the destruction of democracy and the equal treatment of citizens, and the replacement of these values with a brutal and hierarchical system of control, including the sexual enslavement of women and children, and the murder of religious minorities and of gays and lesbians. This is an ideology worth fighting with every tool at our disposal.

Our international partners asked us to stay in the air combat mission. The victims of ISIL on the ground in Iraq and Syria asked us to continue to provide the air cover they desperately need in order to have a chance at survival.  And our own people – including many Canadians who voted for this Liberal government – want our CF-18s to continue to take the fight to ISIL. 

In reality, even with the announcement, not a single person has been able to explain why our CF-18s must be removed from the air campaign. In fact, the Liberal government’s reasoning is even more flawed given its commitment to keeping our refuelling and reconnaissance planes as part of the mission.

Advertisement 4
Story continues below
Article content

Let us get this straight: We must remove our CF-18s from bombing ISIL, but we can continue to fuel other countries’ planes and find targets for them so they can bomb ISIL?  Such Liberal logic is totally incomprehensible.

The government claims that today’s decision is grounded in reason.  What reason prevents us from helping the people of Iraq and Syria in the most practical way possible: safeguarding them from attacks by ISIL? What reason prevents us from increasing diplomatic presence, building infrastructure, and continuing an effective air campaign?  We are surely capable of all three.

The answer, of course, is the entirely unreasonable fear of breaking yet another misguided campaign promise.  The “reason” at play in the government’s decision is pure political pride – nothing more, nothing less.  

 I call on the prime minister to listen to Canadians; listen to the Kurdish people; and listen to the international community: Keep our fighter jets in the air over Iraq and Syria. Keep up the steady pressure against the barbarism that is ISIL. And keep on building Canada’s international reputation as an ally that stays in the fight when it matters most.

In refusing these reasonable requests, Mr. Trudeau will fail to confirm that “Canada is back” – only that Canada is backing away.  

Hon. Rona Ambrose is the leader of the Official Opposition and interim Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Article content
Comments
You must be logged in to join the discussion or read more comments.
Join the Conversation

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Latest National Stories
    This Week in Flyers