The situation couldn't be more dire or more dangerous.
Saudi Arabia's execution of 47 prisoners, including the well known Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr, has set off a firestorm in the region.
It's threatening to lead to an all-out confrontation between the Saudis and the Iranians.
And to make even matters worse, it turns out we're caught up in this madness, because Stephen Harper and his Con clowns didn't know what they were doing.
And apparently had no idea Nimr al-Nimr's execution could lead to such a crisis.
Canadian diplomats in Saudi Arabia appear to have misjudged the outcome and the potential magnitude of a death sentence handed down in 2014 against a prominent Shia cleric, whose execution over the weekend has sparked a crisis in the Middle East.
Documents suggest Canadian diplomats believed Saudi authorities were likely bluffing and would not actually carry out the death sentence. They also appear to have underestimated the scale of the reaction to the execution.
Even though the Con clown John Baird was in Saudi Arabia when the death sentence was announced...
John Baird, the Conservative foreign minister at the time, was in Saudi Arabia the morning after al-Nimr's sentencing and met with Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. After the meeting, Baird issued a communiqué praising recent improvements in Saudi human rights and "encouraged continued progress in this positive direction."
But like his morally depraved leader Stephen Harper, was too busy buttering up that barbaric regime, and making a fool out of himself, for all the wrong reasons.
So now that Harper and his Cons have destroyed our manufacturing sector.
And we can't afford to lose any more good jobs, our new government now finds itself in a bad place like this one.
The Canadian government is proceeding with a controversial $15-billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia even as it publicly condemns Riyadh for a mass execution of 47 people, including a dissident Shia Muslim cleric.
The biggest Saudi mass execution in decades – delivered by beheading and in a few cases firing squad – is not moving Ottawa to reconsider a massive deal to supply the Mideast country with armoured fighting vehicles. The transaction will support about 3,000 jobs in Canada for 14 years.
Or in the same morally awkward position David Cameron's government, that sells jets to the Saudis, finds itself in...
We're arming one side in what could soon be an all-out war, while unable to reach out to the other side, because the Cons closed our embassy in Tehran.
The Harper government’s closing of Canada’s embassy in Tehran in 2012 leaves Ottawa virtually impotent to exercise any kind of influence to reduce the inflamed tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, former diplomats and foreign affairs experts suggest.
Just so Harper could pleasure his good
And make his deranged foreign policy our own.
Which of course couldn't be more depressing.
But since we can't rewrite history, what all of this tells me is that we desperately need a new beginning.
We need to stop consorting with butchers and war criminals, and get back to the noble peacekeeping values that once made us great, or just Canadian.
Justin Trudeau needs to find himself a blue helmet.
And help lead the world to a better place...
Please click here to recommend this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Love last photo, and yes indeed we need blue helmets. As outsiders to this conflict, we have no business getting involved in these conflicts, either by dropping bombs or supplying arms.
ReplyDeleteI was startled when I read that our Foreign Affairs Minister Stefain Dion made a statement of regret regarding the cleric and some words to appease Iran. I FORGOT WE ARE A PEACEFUL COUNTRY! I'm not used to this reaction from a Minister no less. But it sure was nice to read. Our new direction.
TS
hi TS...I'm glad you liked that graphic. It sums up what I feel our message to the world should be after the Harper years. And I've always been a strong supporter of the United Nations. It may be flawed, but it's the only way countries can work together to solve our common problems. And anything that brings us together has got to be good....
DeleteIf you look at the two branches of Islam, its the Shia that most resembles the west, so for a century we have supported our enemy.
ReplyDeletehi Steve....as an atheist I don't side with any religion, and I consider the war between the Sunni and the Shia to be absolute madness, and a horrible tragedy. And of course makes me wonder: what on earth are we doing in the middle of a religious war?
DeleteOil, the reason these Neo-Theo-Cons have been kowtowing to the Saudi reprobates for so long. Look at the history and the facts; Osama Bin Laden, Saudi national, the vast majority of the perpetrators of 9-11 attacks, Saudi Nationals, one of the biggest abusers of human, and especially women's, rights on the planet, Saudi Arabia. Now they're about to start WWIII and we have to be a part and parcel of it because Harper decided to arm a dysfunctional, corrupt government against the will of the majority of Canadians, and these assholes have the nerve to insist on a referendum on electoral reform. In fact, they would strung Baird up for his sexual preferences and there he is, kissing their asses. It's sickening. The sooner we can wash this neo theo con stink off of the Canadian psyche, the better.
ReplyDeletehi GreazedLitenen...yes you're right, oil is what corrupts so many at the feet of the Saudis, and makes them blind to their atrocities and their terrorist activities. And I resent that Harper placed us in the situation where we have to tone down our criticism of a barbaric regime, or have thousands of Canadian workers lose the manufacturing jobs they need, and are now so hard to get...
DeleteAm disappointed the Liberals didn't cancel the Saudi contract due to human rights issues but unfortunately they have to choose their battles. For those of us that have puzzled over the middle east craziness of the past 15 years starting with the US led invasion of Iraq and Libya it is now starting to make some sense. In addition to the US military complex, it is now apparent that at least two foreign powers have had major control over US foreign policy and actions.I wonder when and if the US citizens will figure out they have been had. I suspect that most of the European governments as well as Canada (and to some extent the Obama administration) have seen the true nature of this conflict and are trying to walk a fine line between sanity and staying in power by appeasing the puppet masters as embodied by US foreign policy.
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hi RT...I wish we didn't sell arms to anybody. But the deal was signed, factories are gearing up production, and the people in the London area need all the good jobs they can get. They have been hit hard by factory closures, so I can't imagine telling them that those new jobs aren't coming after all. And as you say, we have to choose our battles. Let's just make sure we don't get into another moral mess like this one, and
Deletemake stuff that can help humans instead of killing them...
No mention that PM Butts is still sending those LAVs to Saudi Arabia?
ReplyDeleteit was all about the money. Biard was in Saudi when the death sentence was handed down. Nothing was said. Reports from the foreign office were most likely written to keep the Cons happy. At one time foreign service officers would not have written these types of memos. They wrote good reports which gave Canadian politicians at home an idea of what was going on. times and governments change. We also don't know who was running the show in the embassy. Might have been a harper/con APPOINTEE.
ReplyDeletewhat we do know is Harper wanted to sell the $15B worth of armaments without regard for other factors. Like who owns the companies which are making and selling the armaments. How big a contribution did they give the Cons. Out here in B.C. we know why things are done, corporations and individuals give contributions to the B.C. Lieberals and Christy and her cabal "rewards" them. given the closeness of the B.C. Lieberals to the federal Cons can their methods of operation be that different?
Canada may "need" the jobs, but if the contract is cancelled can we not simply find the people other jobs, even if its "make work" projects. The $15B isn't coming to the government. its going to a corporation as profits on which they don't pay a lot of taxes. To come to think of it, is the company even a Canadian company or simply an arm of some multi national?
Canada would be better served to "crash" the deal. I'm sure they can find some reason and get on with life which includes ensuring we have embassies in both countries staffed by professional foreign affairs officers.
From the time Gordo Campbell was elected BC premier to the present, the company of choice for huge projects such as the new bridge in Kelowna has been SNC Lavalin. The former CEO was even Christy's campaign manager! Lots of corruption charges on oversees building projects.
DeleteHello David, the latest in B.C. is one of the premier's "contributors" wants a b.c. hydro reduction on his electrical rates. All the others in B.C. who need electricity, just got a raise. Want to bet he gets his reduction? Ah, to live in B.C. where political contributions do so much for an individual. Yes, the guy paid about $200K and change to Christy prior to the provincial elections. Held a little fund raiser.
Deleteif you take the list of contributors to the B.C. Lieberal party and then match them to the appointees to boards, you might notice what they contribute to the B.C. Lieberal party works out to about the same as they receive as "directors" of what ever board they were anointed to. (Norm Farrell's Blog, In-Sight, a post a couple of years ago)
Simon, if you go to Laila Yuille's blog, you will read about one of the largest environmental disasters that is about to befall B.C./Canada. the Site C dam, $8Billion for building it. Want crime and corruption, welcome to B.C. Just for the record, the B.C. Lieberal party isn't a liberal party, its more like a bunch of retread Cons. The Post Media press doesn't report on it. They're still reporting on the non functioning transit cards which cost the province over $200 Million. Nobody in the media, besides bloggers talk about Site C and the damage it will do.
You should ask Irene Mathyssen, the NDP MP where the LAVs are being built....or UNIFOR who represents the workers at GDLS. Oh wait neither have a problem with the deal, they just play the rest of the left off as suckers.
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