Shouting into the Foreign Policy Black Hole

On absent debates, Michael Ignatieff's really, really well-hidden anti-Israel agenda, and duly reminding you of Afghanistan.

The Globe and Mail decides this election campaign is “the most parochial in living memory” due to all leaders' willingness to avoid discussing foreign policy at any length. “Canadian interests have never been so global,” the editorialists write, ennumerating our two wars, a perimeter security deal with the U.S., concerns over India and China's growing economies, and drug wars across North America that have barely garnered a peep during our 41st kick at the campaign can. “The magnitude of change in the world, the effects of globalization and economic and demographic shifts, is breakneck,” they say. “Leaders and aspiring leaders must help shape the future course of foreign policy.”

David Frum, writing in the National Post, concludes that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said plenty about one area of international relations, albeit in coded “dog-whistle signals to anti-Israel voters.” Frum says that while the leader hasn't articulated it, Ignatieff's condemnation of Canada losing a seat on the UN Security Council and the Tories' decision to cut funding to aid groups critical of Israel signals a return to “the old ways [that] had Canada condemning Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, while still allowing Hezbollah to fundraise inside Canada.” So, now it's fair game to pin politicians on things they haven't said, too?

And speaking of things left unsaid, Scott Taylor in the Halifax Chronicle Herald brings up the military's new training mission in volatile Mazar-e-Sharif, urging our political and military brass to heed the wisdom of their Turkish allies. “Few Canadians realize that since 2002, Turkey has deployed more troops to Afghanistan than we have, and has yet to suffer a single fatality as a result of hostile fire,” says Taylor. “From the outset, the Turkish approach has been to provide regional reconstruction aid to the local authorities, regardless of their religious (i.e., Taliban) affiliation.” Thankfully, Turkish troops have had a heavy presence in Mazar-e-Sharif, and have bolstered ties with community leaders from which the Canadian Forces stand to benefit. On the ninth anniversary of the first Canadian death in Afghanistan, those are welcome words for a wearisome mission.