"Equally, Canada’s reputation as a peacemaker was tarnished significantly through the Stephen Harper years when Canada became a cheerleader and handmaid for the United States military expeditions. The world voted upon Canada’s ‘moral leadership’ recently when Canada vainly sought a seat on the United Nations Security Council."
December 14, 2023
Dear Editor,
I am responding on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, https://www.cjpme.org) to express a concern regarding the December 12, 2023,contribution by Josh Paul entitled “Washington’s support of the war in Gaza damages its claim to moral leadership”.
My concern rests with the belief the United States of America has any claim to a ‘moral leadership’. Pax Americanus is a myth perpetuated by the armament industry in the United States to support the use of a strong American military to keep aggression and wars as local as possible. This philosophy is a clear deviation from the use of the rules of international law developed in the aftermath of World War II when enlightened diplomats wanted to eliminate war.
The United States contributed significantly, in the immediate post-war era, to the development of the United Nations and international law regarding conditions of warfare. However, any pretense of moral leadership fell apart when the United States refused to sign on to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
Moral leadership was clearly lacking in the latter half of the twentieth century by the ongoing military meddling by the United States in Central and South America, in the Caribbean, in the Middle East, and in Southeast Asia. American values were instituted upon indigenous populations at the point of many guns. Dictators, subservient to American policy, were installed and supported.
Equally, Canada’s reputation as a peacemaker was tarnished significantly through the Stephen Harper years when Canada became a cheerleader and handmaid for the United States military expeditions. The world voted upon Canada’s ‘moral leadership’ recently when Canada vainly sought a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Canada’s recent vote in the United Nations General Assembly in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza is a hopeful sign Canada has regained her moral compass.
Sincerely
Walter Thomas Beckett,