“We get letters,” the saying goes, and the early feedback on yesterday’s post (“Is the silent, sane majority ready to re-establish the parameters of “Canadian values?") covered the gamut:
“You have really missed the mark with this.”
“The only sane voice in Canada today.”
The upshot is simple: make sure that your kids learn to be independent, critical thinkers. Whether or not you agree with the overarching themes of that particular post, everyone who stops by this space (or my Toronto Star efforts) seems genuinely interested in respectful, thoughtful engagement. That’s a treat for those of us who care about what’s going on around them.
However, that doesn’t mean that we’re not living in an alternate universe. Some of you know what I’m talking about. Take the Prime Minister’s statement from yesterday afternoon:
One of my readers made this very point last evening, so I know that the views offered by Mr. Carney are shared by many others. I don’t think I’m an apologist for Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it is hard not to ignore the parallels between yesterday’s attempt against the Hamas terror leadership and – tomorrow being September 11th – the culmination of another infamous terrorist attack.
You’ll recall the time that American military forces secretly entered the sovereign nation of Pakistan in May 2011 to eliminate (thankfully) a terrorist by the name of Osama bin Laden.
According to a CBC report, "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Doha strike was in retaliation for the deadly shooting at a Jerusalem bus stop Monday and the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks."
Whether you are President Barack Obama or PM Netanyahu, these are clearly tough decisions, and I don’t know how anyone can rightfully ignore the "objectives" of the operation in question, as Mr. Carney advocates. If you think it was wrong for Israel to attack Hamas within the boundaries of Qatar, whatever the impetus, was it not also wrong for President Obama to order the strike against Bin Laden inside a sovereign Pakistan, without either their knowledge or prior consent (see prior post “Be either consistent, or silent -- there can be no middle ground” Oct 19-23)?
Is it not relevant that Hamas claimed responsibility for the “Bus Stop Shooting in Jerusalem” the day prior to Israel’s Doha attack?
On the question of legalities, I found this excerpt from a paper delivered by International Law Prof. Michael Schmitt to the U.S. Naval War College most helpful:
Conducting self-defense in another state. It is permissible to cross into the territory of another state to conduct defensive counter-terrorist operations when that state has granted consent to do so or when it is unable or unwilling to effectively prevent terrorist activities on its soil. In the latter two cases, a request from the victim state to take the steps that are necessary must precede nonconsensual entry into the country. Operations may only be conducted against the terrorists and their assets; however, if the host state forcibly interferes with them, then that state may have committed an armed attack against the force carrying out the counter-terrorist actions.
One of my Substack readers took understandable umbrage that Israel would execute the attack at the very moment that the Hamas leadership had gathered to allegedly consider the latest cease-fire proposal. Many agree that this was designed to undermine the peace process, but there’s little evidence that’s truly the primary goal of either side.
Let’s just not forget the compelling scene in The Patriot Games, where a revenge-seeking character by the name of Kevin “O’Donnell yells “That’s not my mission!”
MRM
(this post, like all blogs, is an Opinion Piece reflecting a personal view)
Doha has been playing a double game for years, its harbouring of Hamas is different only in degree from Pakistan’s of OBL. Israel’s strike on the Hamas compound was limited and proportional, ergo just. It’s a disgrace that the Canadian government (along with most of the “west”) have condemned it, and equally disgraceful that President Trump can’t be equivocal in supporting it (oh right, that little CENTCOM establishment…). Somehow that they have all combined so that the only one coming out looking good in this is Netanyahu only adds to my misery.
I wonder how folks are going to feel when the US military executes it’s initial military operations in Canada to address the “fentanyl issue.”