Editor’s note:The following is a Statement from Ed Fast on Canada’s Military Response to the Extreme Terrorist Threat ISIL
Our government has brought forward a motion asking the House of Commons to confirm our Government’s decision to join our allies in launching air strikes against ISIL. We will also contribute one air-to-air refuelling aircraft, two Aurora surveillance aircraft, and the necessary air crews and support personnel. Up to 69 members of the Canadian Army will continue to advise and assist security forces in Iraq in a non-combat role. There will, however, be no ground combat mission, which is explicitly ruled out.
This is one of the most difficult decisions I will ever make as Member of Parliament for Abbotsford. Sending our brave men and women of the Armed Forces into harms way should be done only in the most exceptional of circumstances, when the threat to Canadians is immediate and serious. I believe that the Prime Minister has made a compelling case that such circumstances exist.
ISIL is an incredibly barbaric movement of religious extremists that beheads innocent foreigners and children, rapes women and sells them into slavery, takes people captive and then executes them en masse contrary to all international laws, and commits the mass murders of ethnic and religious minorities. These terrorists will not stop their “jihad” and related atrocities until they have imposed an oppressive Islamic Caliphate upon the Middle East and the rest of the world. We are their target!
And these frightening events are no longer someone else’s problem, on someone else’s shores. ISIL’s presence is now being felt within our own Canadian communities and homes. ISIL has specifically targeted Canada and Canadians, urging supporters to attack “disbelieving Canadians in any manner,” vowing that that we should not feel secure, even in our homes. We also know that at least 150 of our Canadian youth have already become radicalized and have joined ISIL as terrorist fighters. The more that ISIL expands and is successful in the Middle East, the more they will inspire vulnerable Canadian youth to become radicalized, representing a very real and present threat to Canadians within our own country.
More humanitarian aid alone, as advocated by the NDP and Liberals, will not prevent ISIL’s toxic and violent ideology from spreading. Only a firm response from Canada and its many allies will prevent the expansion of this most significant threat to global peace and security. Letting others do the “dirty work” has never been the Canadian way. Canada has never shirked its responsibility to confront evil when circumstances warrant.
Nonsense from tyrant’s lapdog
First our federal politicians create conditions abroad which incubate & hatch monsters and then they confront Canadians with ultimatums about the resultant threats & the dire need to spend their lives and money beating down the anticipated blowback.
This on the heels of the Harper government’s practiced refusal to allow Canadians a participatory role in the democratic decision making process but demanding they pay for the resultant liabilities. And all this while they continue exporting weapons which arm the monsters they created in the first place.
In response to Fast’s defence of the indefensible, Canadians say, “NO”
“NO,” we will not spend our lives and money to bail out your foreign and domestic corruptions.
To you we say, change your ideology & your plans: eliminate Harper from politics
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Where ISIS’ arms come from:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/10/06/the_source_of_the_islamic_state_s_weapons_united_states_russia_syria_iraq
And see also:http://ploughshares.ca/2013/08/canadian-arms-exports-to-egypt-fudging-the-figures/