Familiar ‘narrative’

Dear Editor:

I don’t consent to the conspiracy that Iran is a rogue country, with a mission to build nuclear weapons for immediate use against its enemies, that must be pre-emptively defeated.

I’ve seen this narrative used to justify the invasion and destruction of Iraq in 2003. President George W. Bush and his cabinet faced no legal consequences for lying about how the Iraqi leadership was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction and/or directly sponsoring al-Qaeda terrorists.

Canada, under the premiership of Jean Chrétien, managed to save a little dignity by refusing the call to arms against Iraq.

But we the citizens were transfixed by the American media that showed us all the buildup to the eventual “conquest” that many people to this day still feel proud of supporting directly or rhetorically.

I’m concerned that our federal government, which had once made a bold choice to not follow along with every military action the U.S. initiated, is now making decisions that would never dare to be too contrary to America’s generally antagonistic foreign policy.

I’m not leaving Canada just because I feel that the government is developing a morally wrong policy toward Iran. I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’m allowed to criticize the government without being afraid that I’ll be arrested shortly after.

Dylan Clarke,
Centre Wellington