| Canada And The Iraq War |
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CANADA OPTS OUT OF THE INVASION In 2003 , Canada chose not to join the United States ' " Coalition Of The Willing " during the Invasion Of Iraq . Opting out of the war in Iraq led to friction between the Canadian and U.S. governments. It was generally believed that Canada's position indirectly contributed to exacerbating trade disputes between the two countries, although this has never been questioned directly or proven. Canada's decision not to join the war was generally supported by the Canadian public and regarded by most as a decision made because of the initiative of then Prime Minister Jean Chretien . US AND CANADA REMAINED CLOSE ALLIES Although the Canadian government did not join the invasion force, Canada has always stood by their closest ally even if it has been kept quiet and not widely publicized. Canada's official statement during that time was that they are involved in the War On Terror , not the invasion of Iraq. One little talked about fact was the Canadian Forces had been patrolling the Persian Gulf since the end of the first Gulf War , and worked side by side with other allied forces in enforcing the Oil For Food Program . Once the literal invasion of Iraq was over, the situation became part of the overall War On Terror . Canada has aided the United States in many ways aside from the actual invasion.
Canada did allow its NORAD stationed Air Force members to fly combat missions and deploy with the USAF E-3 AWACS during the war and allowed its exchange officers in the Army, Navy, and Air Force to deploy and fight with their US units. 40-50 Canadian Military Members participated in the conflict, the majority flying on the E-3 AWACS, based out of Tinker AFB, OK, where they are stationed as part of NORAD. THE BASIS OF OPPOSITION Canada's public position for not joining the invasion force was based on International Law and allowing time for due process to take place. Although Canadian Intelligence Services stated they believed it was likely WMD existed in Iraq, the Chrétien government did not want to falsely accuse Iraq of the same charges the United States and United Kingdom had so quickly pressed to attack on. Canadian citizens were largely in favor of the government's decision and the basis it was made on , although opinion polling was ambivalent until the war's start. Public opinion polls showed that Canadians would have been more in favor of an Iraqi invasion had weapons inspectors found WMD . The Canadian Alliance was the only party who was willing to send troops into Iraq and 50 Alliance Members of Parliament voted to support the US. Then opposition leader Stephen Harper stated that "in reading only the polls, indulging a juvenile and insecure anti-Americanism, this government has for the first time in our history left us outside our British and American allies in their time of need," however the war was never explicitly backed by the Alliance beyond that. IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION When the war began, the United States was not going to offer Iraqi reconstruction deals to countries who were not part of the invasion force. Canada's initial pledge of $300 million dollars to help rebuild the war torn country faced no international scrutiny. The only way to explain this was that although Canada may not have officially been there in a military sense, Canada definitely played a supporting role. CANADIAN DEATHS IN IRAQ To date, five Canadians, and died during a fire fight in April of 2003. Vatche Arslanian was a member of the Red Cross and was killed when his convoy was caught in a fire fight between American and Iraqi Forces. Sgt. Jonathan J. Simpson a marine was a dual Canadian and U.S. citizen was killed in combat operation on Oct. 14 and Michael Seeley a Mi'kmaq from New Bunswick, was killed in a bomb attack on October 30 [http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/11/09/2290336-cp.html EXTERNAL LINKS |
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