Thursday 23 October 2014

Patriots Only...All Others Please Leave!

I am a patriot. I love Canada unreservedly, always have, always will and I'd never consider living elsewhere. Even when I'm not pleased with some aspect of governance or critical of a Canadian custom, my patriotism never wavers. Canada is, without question, the best place in the world to live. And so, when that way of life is in any way interrupted or threatened, I get agitated...extremely disturbed. I purposely wrote this blog entry as events in our nation's capital unfolded on October 22nd and I am feeling emotional about my country. That emotion includes a dreadful sadness for the victim and for our nation but there is also anger bordering on rage that any of our so-called 'countrymen' would even consider expressing opposition to what we cherish in such a hideous and heinous way. Countrymen they may be...patriots, they are not.

I wrote recently that I believed the ISIS threat was not about a few crazy people half a world away but, rather, a glimpse of what World War III  might look like. I worried then and worry now about the born Canadians, indoctrinated far away or right here at home and eager to cause unrest, even havoc. ISIS and its' ideology are foreign on all levels but can and will do incredible damage in its' stated objective of bringing radical Islam to the world. We have all read the threats and exhortations to kill at random in a list of coalition countries including Canada. When I ask the question "do you believe me yet?", I am not being sarcastic or saying I told you so. Our government warned us of what could happen. Now, I must question why increased precautions were not taken within our own seat of government on Parliament Hill in light of an announced increased threat level.

Canada is indeed under threat. That means that, while shocked, we ought not to be surprised when we find ourselves under attack. That begs another question, one I asked on this blog a few short weeks ago. It pertained to why we are part of a coalition that believes we actually will eliminate the ISIS threat by lobbing a few rockets and bombs at ground targets from the air. In two blog posts, I stated that we should be taking the threats very seriously and that we will need boots on the ground. I said that we, ultimately, WILL put boots on the ground. The only question now is what "ultimately" means. 

Here is an excerpt from my initial plea to take ISIS seriously...

"ISIS is a growing organization and it is made up of 'in-situ' Muslim fanatics PLUS tens of thousands of the disaffected and crazy from all over the world, Canadians included. They are trained to kill and to show no mercy in using techniques designed to shock and revolt normal human beings...I draw this distinction because it is my belief that our views of the world are completely at odds and are non-negotiable. We see equality and human rights as a basic concept and they do not. No god figure in the history of human religious practice has ever called for the eradication of every non-believer the world over and, by the way, that includes the God of Islam, Allah. To suggest otherwise is to misinterpret, twisting words in order to make them fit with one's own agenda.

These people are just plain out of their minds, however, they should never be dismissed. Rather, they need to be dispatched. I have never proposed violent behaviour as justifiable in dealing with any group or person anywhere. In this case, however, ISIS needs to be totally eradicated -- eliminated from the planet, never to be be heard from again. If we do nothing and just watch, this scourge will surely come to us."


Look at that last line and think about it. I hadn't thought, a few short weeks ago, that my words would become so rapidly prophetic. The incipient edge of a cancer is growing here and it must be eliminated now. I argued, and many disagreed, that the best method would be the direct one...go get them. It is understandable that political will has been less than enthusiastic on our part and on the parts of our coalition partners to date. Perhaps that will now change. More recently I wrote...

"...in many endeavours, the operative adage must be 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. In other words, if we have 100 advisors in Iraq and/or Syria on the ISIS project, they are all potential victims. And if we are there with potential victims (as are our partners), couldn't we put enough manpower and materiel on the line to ensure that we win the day and win for all time? That means that I believe in boots on the ground being essential. Could we suffer losses? Yes...indeed, we would. But here's another (and more populist) adage 'pay me now or pay me later'. I will say, without hesitation, that Canada will, at some point, put boots on the ground as will the United States and Great Britain."


In that old catch-phrase about paying now or paying later, I'd not have predicted that "later" would be a matter of weeks. I want my Canada, my safe haven, to remain just that way. In the past week, our security has been shaken and nowhere more so than our own Parliament. I believe we can spare no effort, spare no expense, and waste no time in taking this battle to where it must be fought. And we cannot allow Canadian-born malcontents to import hatred and violence because they hate their own birthplace and way of life so much that they would harm other Canadians. Note that I did not refer to them as "fellow Canadians"? Let them get out of Canada now and stay away forever. Fellow patriots, friends from other lands, can we please get on with this job? Canada Strong!

Peter

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