Canada Escalates Gulf Military Role

By John Dirlik

Marking a dramatic change in Canada's role in the Gulf war, Canadian fighter pilots, for the first time since the war in Korea, engaged in offensive military action in southern Iraq and Kuwait.

The squadron of CF-18s dispatched to Qatar at the beginning of the Gulf crisis was originally to have played a strictly defensive part by providing air cover for allied vessels on sea patrol.

But on Jan. 19, barely a day after Iraqi missiles first fell on Israel, Canadian fighters began participating in what are known as sweep and escort missions. These missions involve flying ahead of American jets to engage and draw away enemy interceptors, as well as providing escort during bombing runs.

Officials with the External Affairs department have denied that Canada's more confrontational position in the Gulf was directly related to Iraq's attack on Tel Aviv. But skeptical observers point to Prime Minister Brian Mulrooney's statement immediately after the incident that "Canada will not sit idly in the face of unprovoked attacks ... We will commit a full and, if need be, a growing role."

During a debate in the House of Commons on Jan. 22, Mulrooney was even more blunt: "We have resolved never to remain indifferent while Israel is threatened with mass destruction," he said.

In the same debate, a motion to reaffirm Canada's support for UN resolution 678 authorizing the forceful liberation of Kuwait was overwhelmingly approved by a vote of 217 to 47. Even the opposition Liberal party, which had denounced the UN resolution before the outbreak of the war, now reluctantly endorsed it, saying Canadian troops in combat deserved their country's full support.

Only the New Democratic Party (NDP), the third-largest party, with 44 seats in Parliament, continued to oppose the war. "We saw the use of military force as a mistake and we continue to see it as a mistake, " said the party's defense critic, John Brewin.

After NDP leader Audrey McLaughlin promised that her party would play a leading role in the anti-war movement, a coalition of Canadian Arab groups told her they fully agreed that "although Iraq's occupation of Kuwait is unacceptable, so is Canadian participation in the US-led offensive against Iraq."

Jewish Community Denounces Canada's Anti-War Movement

Members of Canada's Jewish community held emotional rallies in major Canadian cities not only to vent their rage at Iraq for its missile attacks on Israel, but also to denounce the "no blood for oil" peace movement that is spreading across the country.

Braving sub-zero temperatures, 5,000 Montrealers heard fiery speeches supporting the war against Iraq. "This is not the time for peace rallies and demonstrations of weakness," Rabbi Allan Nadler told a cheering crowd that waved Israeli flags. "The pacifists, by demanding the end of the war, are protecting a bloody dictator, " he said.

"Peace activists must be taught that war is not an absolute evil and that sometimes war must be fought in order to prevent it," explained Rabbi Reuben Poupko, who told Jewish youngsters they should be ready to go help Israel even if their families objected. "If Israel calls on us, and our parents tell us not to go, then they should be ignored," he said.

Inside a Montreal synagogue, the Minister of Multicultural ism insisted that the war against Iraq was totally justified. "I am a man of peace," said Jerry Weiner. "But I realize in this particular instance there was no choice. Saddam Hussain's goal was the destruction of the democratic state of Israel, which only wants to live in peace and tranquility," he said.

Ottawa Ships Gas Masks to Palestinians

Canada has donated half its supply of gas masks to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza following threats of a chemical attack against Israel by Iraq.

External Affairs Minister Joe Clark announced on Jan. 29 that the 10,000 masks would be distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) rather than the Israeli government.

Although the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that gas masks must be supplied to Arabs as i well as Jews, Israeli authorities have only 170,000 masks available for the 1. 7 million Palestinians, and of those, only a fraction have been distributed.

A spokesman for Medical Aid for Palestine, a Montreal organization with links to the Palestine Red Crescent, said he was grateful for the "symbolic and small contribution, " but would have been even happier if Canada had more forcefully condemned Israeli human rights abuses. "I think Palestinians have more to fear from Israel than from Iraq, " said Edmond Omran, "but we are happy that 10,000 more people will be protected."

Kill Saddam: Canada's Ambassador to the UN

Canada's ambassador to the United Nations admitted he made a mistake when he suggested to a group of Florida business leaders that the Soviets should assassinate Iraqi President Saddam Hussain.

"I have no hesitation in saying Saddam Hussain has to go. He has to go, " Yves Portier said on Jan. 22. "I thought this might be the Soviet Union's contribution to the Gulf problem. They know Baghdad, they have a few KGB agents there. I thought they might take out Saddam Hussain."

Fortier later insisted his remarks were a "joke" but acknowledged that "it wasn't appropriate for a Canadian ambassador, even in a jocular fashion, to say that."

Fortier stood by his other comments on the need to remove Saddam Hussain from power in order to bring peace and stability to the region, a view that contradicts the stated Canadian position.

"I guess you would have to say that's my personal view," he said.

John Dirlik, a free-lance writer from Montreal, Quebec, writes on Canadian and Mideast affairs.