Peacekeeping

Canada's 14th prime minister is considered the father of  the international, multinational and impartial peacekeeping  forces which could be dispatched to parts of the world where the need was apparent. Lester B. Pearson receiver the Nobel Peace Prize 1957 for his efforts called the 'Canadian Resolution" which laid the ground work for United Nations missions.

There are few politicians in Ottawa talking about peacekeeping in far off lands today when they talk of war at home. The  peacekeeping philosophy field has been left to the NDP and the Liberals. We were the major force in the UN peacekeeping missions back in the early nineties. In fact in 1995 we had nearly 3500 men wearing the blue beret in several trouble spots and were credited with major success in this field with practically no loss of life and a huge international reputation for our contribution to world stability and peace.

Our military leaders were considered the best of the best in leadership by forming groups made up  of men from a multitude of nations. Today we are down to a trickle with 118 people in UN operations and of that group there are 34 military and others. We do make a contribution through our police forces by excellent training programs.

Yesterday the national news reported that our air force was flying over the skies of Iraq and were refuelled by an American plane  but their return to base with all weapons unused speaks volumes as there were no targets. The British flyboys report the same thing returning without having any targets. Our 600 man force keeping 2 planes in the sky is costing a huge amount of money and I doubt if it will ever be cost effective. It saddens me to see several million people living in a desert with terrible conditions and we could be of such a vital service in the provision of fresh water and medical services.

There is such a political twist to this mission that it apparent that we as the world leader in peacekeeping  fifteen years ago we are now diminished to a level where the UN hardly comes up in conversation because our PM and his foreign policy is completely meshed with and mirrored by the American policy of military force.