Would Stephen Harper Follow the US into Iran?

We never know, for sure, going into an election what challenges and issues might face the government we are about to elect. We know what some of them will be because they carry over, because they are unresolved issues not fully dealt with by the last parliament. It doesn't hurt to look down the road and see what may come up in the near future. This time it is especially important. Because of what is currently unfolding in the US the Canadian election on October 14 could turn out to be a referendum on war with Iran.

Exactly three weeks after our election in Canada the US will elect a new President. At the time of this writing polls in the United States are showing John McCain with a lead over his Democratic challenger (source). It might seem that having Harper as a Prime Minister would be safe, since he is more ideologically aligned with McCain and his Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

However there is a significant problem with this idea. John McCain has indicated a willingness to go to war with Iran and has even been rattling US sabers in the direction of Russia.

John McCain says more wars coming (YouTube video)

John McCain: Iran Crisis Most Serious Since Cold War

Unplugged McCain sings 'bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran'

John McCain's War on Russia

Mythmaking for the Next War: John McCain's reckless foreign policy proposals

John McCain’s long war on Russia

Palin talks tough on Iran, Russia in ABC interview

Will Iran Be Next?

A US War with Iran (we won't even get into Russia for the moment) would be far more dangerous, costly and bloody than the war with Iraq. Iran is larger, has a bigger population and is better armed. It would also send a signal to the rest of the Middle East that the United States has designs on the entire region, pulling aid to Iran (and Iraq and Afghanistan) from quarters still unknown. The US will push much harder for allies to join them in Iran than they did in Iraq and many of their Iraq allies (Spain, the UK, Australia etc) will be far more reluctant to join them this time.

Although he denies it now, there can be little doubt that had Stephen Harper been prime minister in 2003 that Canada would have joined the Iraq invasion force.

“We should have been there shoulder to shoulder with our allies. Our concern is the instability of our government as an ally. We are playing again with national and global security matters.” - Stephen Harper (source)

“I don't know all the facts on Iraq, but I think we should work closely with the Americans.”
- Stephen Harper (source)

“Canada remains alienated from its allies, shut out of the reconstruction process to some degree, unable to influence events. There is no upside to the position Canada took.”
http://www.quotesdaddy.com/author/Stephen+Harper/2(source)

But, so far Stephen Harper has made no real statements on the prospect of a US attack on Iran even though the possibility of such an attack has existed for some time and has been discussed by US politicians and media at every level.

"Certainly Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said virtually nothing about the subject. He has not revealed whether he agrees with the U.S. analysis of the alleged Iranian threats, he hasn't commented on the revelation that the U.S. is considering using nuclear weapons, he has said nothing regarding what he or the foreign affairs department think the consequences would be." - from the Tyee

Many Canadians seem happy, for the moment, that Harper has said that he will remove Canadian forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2011, but he has not said where else he might send those forces.

The right will, no doubt, call this conspiracy theory. It is not really a conspiracy theory though, call it a 'preemptive strike' if you like. It is largely hypothetical, but not hypothesis based on nothing. I'm sure that Harper has not been asked at this point to send Canadian soldiers anywhere and McCain has not been elected yet. All I'm saying really is that a promise should be extracted from Harper, and from all party leaders in this election that they will not send Canadian forces into any combat zones that we are not already in without first calling an election on the matter.

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