Canada is NOT at war

I don't usualy have an opinion on our country's military activities, but the situation that is being created this week bothers me. It goes against my feeling of what this country is about and what our soldiers are supposed to be doing when they are not protecting our borders.

If we are at war, then the public should be informed.

We are not at war.

How clear could that be, I'll say it in all caps: CANADA IS NOT AT WAR.

Our soldiers are overseas trying to help the world.

Death is not supposed to be a regular consequence of this activity; It happens, those are rough parts of the world that we send them to, people get hurt and sometimes people die. They must not be ignored.

We need to respect and remember those who gave their lives in war to protect our freedoms and values, but we also need to make special note of those who give their lives in hopes of giving others a chance to have the same freedoms.

To deny us seeing them return home, and to deny them the tribute of flags at half mast is a denial of their efforts and a denial of the price the paid for our dream.

 

 

3 Comments

  • Are you sure we aren't officially at war? It seems to me that by joining the U.S. in their war effort we automatically went to war. I mean, when your troops are on someone elses soil and you're allied with the aggressor, you're kinda at war, no?

  • I'm pretty sure that being at war requires a specific act of parliament; a declaration of war.

    If we were is a declared state of war, deaths could be expected on a regular basis.



    In war you can shoot first and ask questions later, our soldier do not have that power at this time.

  • Western states rarely declare acts of war these days because voting constituents do not like to go to war. Most governments recognize this and try to balance that with their own perceived responsibilities on the world stage. Confusion has arisen with so-called "peace keeping" activity because some of the activities closely resemble those of occupational forces; in Canada's case one of suppressing violent outbursts while promoting local infrastructure rebuilding.



    When a state "goes to war" there is a great galvanizing activity which can take place within the population, sometimes not always in the best interest of the governing members. Therefore it is in the best interest of a government to be very careful about how they declare their actions, ie, are we "at war" or are we "peace keeping"? Conducting warfare is Big Politics; one's way of life is held in the balance and leaders rarely step into this lightly.

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