Above: Thomas Mulcair, NDP leader from the Canadian Press by Adrian Wyld.
New Democratic Party Leader Blasts Canadian Involvement In Iraq And Syria
In a speech in the Canadian Parliament, the leader of the New Democratic Party in Canada, Thomas Mulcair, raised many issues that should be of concern for people in the United States as well as their representatives. Congress should come back from recess before the election and debate these issues. Their failure to return is fulfilling their constitutional responsibility and allowing the US to sink into another war-quagmire.
He pointed out how Prime Minister Stephen Harper has failed to answer the most basic questions on why Canada is signing-on to this war, such as:
– What are this mission’s objectives and how do we define success?
– What rules of engagement are in place to avoid civilian causalities?
– How much will this mission cost?
– How many years are we willing to be embroiled in Iraq?
– How can we effectively contain ISIS without deploying substantial ground forces or expanding into Syria?
– What is our exit strategy?
– Do we have a plan to take care of our veterans after we leave Iraq?
He urged that Canada needs effective leadership. New Democrats think that we should be using every diplomatic, humanitarian and financial resource to respond to the human tragedy unfolding on the ground, and helping to strengthen the political institutions and security capabilities that Iraq and Syria need to achieve lasting peace.
He concluded that Canada rushing to war is not the answer.
The Canadian Parliament voted to join the US in war as reported by The Real News.