Needless conflict spawned by assassination
U.S. presidents can be very unpredictable when facing scandal at home, unpopularity in the polls or an election year.
And Trump — like his close friend and ally, Israel’s Netanyahu — is facing all three.
I can think of no better explanation for Trump’s reckless decision to order the assassination of his one time ally, Iran’s revered general, Qassem Soleimani.
No matter that Iranian troops fought alongside U.S. forces for four years to defeat the Islamic State, nor that America would never tolerate another nation murdering its citizens.
With apparently no more forethought, justification nor understanding than he applies to a typical tweet, Trump’s sense of exceptionalism has trumped common sense, likely resulting in the expulsion of all U.S. troops from Iraq, if not a broader war.
Canada should make clear its abhorrence of U.S. war-mongering and reaffirm its unequivocal support for the UN Charter which states that no nation has the right to attack another.
Besides, Canada already has one war on its hands; the war against runaway climate change, and it’s one that we must win.
Neither Canada nor the rest of the world can afford to be distracted by such needless conflict.
Mike Ward
Duncan