Wednesday, April 09, 2003

A little late.

The Liberal head of the Commons defence committee called it "unfortunate" that Canadian soldiers were not part of Baghdad's liberation celebrations Wednesday, saying his government erred in opting out of the conflict.
MP David Pratt said the U.S.-led coalition has done the Middle East and the world a "great favour" by ridding Iraq of the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein. Other dictators should take a message from events in Baghdad on Wednesday, when jubilant crowds and American soldiers toppled a statue of the Iraqi leader in the middle of a city square, said Pratt.

"By removing the sword of Damocles that was hanging over the Middle East in terms of the Iraqi regime, the Americans, the British and the other coalition allies that were involved have done the world a great favour," said Pratt.

"When tyrants fall, I think it's cause for celebration."

Pratt said Canada "got caught up too much in the multilateral aspect of this - seeing multilateralism as an end in itself rather than looking at the morality of what was right under the circumstances."

"And in my view, getting rid of Saddam Hussein was always the right thing to do."

While some other Canadian politicians still sing the same tune.

Liberal MP John Harvard said he still believes the war was unjustified without UN sanction and Canada should resist any suggestion of a U.S.-led administration in post-war Iraq.

"I think that we can play a humanitarian role," said Harvard. "But if we are being asked to join some sort of political model in Iraq under the auspices of the United States or Britain? No.

"We're a country that believes in the multilateral approach; we're a country that believes in the United Nations. This is an international dispute that has to be settled by the international community, not just the United States."

NDP Leader Jack Layton pointed to "piles of bodies of innocent civilians who have been killed by this horrible, illegal, immoral invasion and let's say it must never happen again.

"It's time for Canada to speak out and say: Nobody is next."

Layton said the United Nations should lead any reconstruction efforts, not a "conquering army."

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