A rush to war?

Cornell Van Ryk

I am saddened and upset by the recent events that resulted in the deaths of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. I hurt and get angry every time I see their pictures on the news. But the picture that haunts me most, is that of PM Harper and our Conservative MPs smiling and applauding upon “winning” the vote to go to war against ISIS.

Do they realize what they’ve just done?


When you push others, they sometimes push back. When you declare war, you authorize your military to kill others, but you also make targets of your own soldiers. When you drop bombs in populated areas you can expect civilian casualties (collateral damage), but you should also recognize the risk of collateral damage in our own country. You plan to keep the war as bloodless as possible (Canadian blood that is) by fighting the war in a far away desert and only sending 6 jets and no “boots on the ground”. Unfortunately, when you declare war, you don’t get to establish the rules and strategies that the other side will employ or the arena they plan to fight in. The days of fighting wars utilizing only uniformed armies and fighting scheduled battles is long past.

And so, here we are. We bowed to peer pressure and rushed into a war. War has come to Canada and we’re ill prepared. It seems we have “enemy combatants” among us; more being recruited every day, and no effective strategy to identify or deal with them. We don’t understand the underlying reasons some of our own people opt to fight for the other side nor do we have a plan to stop the recruitment. We don’t have the resources in place to treat those with mental illness that also want to get involved. Our security and intelligence systems are not good enough to prevent harm to our military, politicians and the population in general. Our response to suspected would-be enemy combatants seeking to leave the country is laughable. “Prevent them from leaving and let them walk around freely” does not seem to be a very wise approach.

I think we jumped into a war with little understanding of the potential consequences and no plan to deal with them. We were naïve and thought we could fight the war at arms’ length. Now it seems we are about to rush forward once again and bring about legislation to manage some of these issues. I expect better of my government. Stop, take a breath, think, discuss, before you act or you will once again be facing unforeseen issues. Be proactive instead of reactive. Thousands of soldiers have died to protect our way of life and I’m sure the two recent casualties would not want their deaths to be the motive for taking away any of our basic rights and freedoms. And please, when you pass legislation that erodes our rights and freedoms, do not smile and applaud.

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