Our reputation for promoting peace is at risk

There's a campaign afoot to convince Canadians we aren't loved in the world. As prominent military commentator Jack Granatstein recently put it: “Canadians are targets, no matter how we try to convince ourselves that the world loves us. It doesn't.”

Similarly, Gen. Rick Hillier, reportedly told The Globe and Mail's editorial board that “it's folly to think terrorists will pass us by because we're nice.”

Convincing Canadians we're just as hated as Americans has a purpose: It helps make the case that we should join the U.S. “war on terror,” because we're targets, too.

In fact, Canada enjoys a good reputation in the world — and that has positive consequences for us.

We're well-regarded, for instance, in the Middle East where Canada is seen as an “honest broker” in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. This explains why Palestinian militants, after discovering last week that they'd taken a Canadian hostage, immediately released him, with one of them declaring: “We love Canada.”

But Canada's reputation for fairness can be tarnished if we cease to behave fairly. Unfortunately, we moved in that direction earlier this month when the Harper government voted against a non-binding UN resolution requiring Israel to allow Palestinian refugee women and children to return to their homes, in compliance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Canada abstained on an identical resolution last fall, but this time joined the U.S. — the only two countries on the 44-member UN council to oppose the resolution.

Similarly, we've moved in a dubious direction in Afghanistan. Since August 2003, our troops were part of a NATO-led peace support mission, with a UN mandate.

Following a decision last spring, our troops have recently joined the U.S.-led, war-fighting mission, Operation Enduring Freedom, which seeks to capture and kill insurgents.

This mission relies on support from local warlords — fierce anti-women fundamentalists, many of whom stand accused of committing atrocities. The mission is also inextricably linked with serious violations of international law in the torture and indefinite detention of prisoners in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. While Canada has an agreement that allows us to hand over our captives to the Afghan government, rather than to the U.S., it's likely that the Afghan government, which is controlled by Washington, will pass along any prisoners America wants.

Inexplicably, the Harper government has indicated support for Guantanamo, despite a damning UN report last month, and increasingly strong calls from Western allies to close the prison.

Canada has developed a reputation in the world for waging war resolutely when necessary — as we did in World War II, which we entered years before the U.S. — but for promoting peace and justice without war, whenever possible.

Sadly, we don't always live up to our good name.

But to casually disregard what we've managed to create — as the Harper government is doing with our deployment in Afghanistan and our rejection of Palestinian rights at the UN — is reckless and utterly contrary to the interests of Canadians.

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