Ha’aretz Reports that Ottawa is training Palestinian security forces in “peacekeeping” in anticipation of an eventual Israeli pullout of the Disputed Territories:
Thus, the Palestinians responded positively to an invitation by the Canadian government and sent a group of senior Palestinian security officers to Bosnia and Macedonia to learn first-hand about the international forces operating there. The study trip was but one chapter in a comprehensive curriculum the Canadians have established for preparing the groundwork for international involvement in the territories.
Good ol’ Canada, always ready to lift a finger . . . except to help Israel. Troops to fight terrorism or oust Saddam Hussein? No can do, we’re Canadians, eh? We just send in peacekeeping forces and make sure to stay as politically-correct as possible, cause we sure as hell wouldn’t want to piss anyone off by actually doing the right thing, now would we?
I wonder if it’s ever occurred to our good-hearted peacenicks in government that security training can also be used as military training? The lessons in discipline, organization, and command can come in mighty handy if and when Israel is pressured to pull out of the territories and the Palestinians suddenly find themselves in possession of a state and an army. The British trained the Jordanian army, which then used that training to attack Israel in 1948. I wonder where our good-natured Canadian peacekeeping forces will be when Israel comes under attack by the to-be-Canadian-trained Palestinian army?
Instead of preparing international peacekeeping forces to enter the territories, the pions in charge of foreign policy might want to take a closer look at Israel’s situation – and maybe lend it a little support in the international community while they’re at it. But no, that would be too much to ask from the government who gives more support to Hezbollah than to the Magen David Adom.