Paris: Should Canada’s military support the intervention in Mali?

By: /
15 January, 2013
By: Erna Paris
Award-winning author, journalist, and historian

A tough question, given the failure of interventions elsewhere. Skeptics
will point to Afghanistan where the Taliban remains powerful after thousands
of coalition deaths and spent treasure.

But there is a difference. The Afghanistan intervention began as an attack
on Al Qaeda, but evolved into a confrontation with the indigenous Taliban.
Indigenous is the key word. The Taliban are at home in Afghanistan and have
never been displaced by a foreign power. Staying so long and pretending to
be winning was never a pragmatic choice for Western leaders.

At this moment, in Mali, it is the rapid influx of foreign Al Qaeda fighters
that must be stopped. State failure is imminent. Should that occur,
civilians will be further endangered and extremists will be able to launch
terrorist attacks at will, a dangerous turn. Canada and the West have an
immediate interest in blocking this take-over, as France has understood.
There is a small window of opportunity now. The Canadian government is right
to become (cautiously) involved.

Before you click away, we’d like to ask you for a favour … 

 

Journalism in Canada has suffered a devastating decline over the last two decades. Dozens of newspapers and outlets have shuttered. Remaining newsrooms are smaller. Nowhere is this erosion more acute than in the coverage of foreign policy and international news. It’s expensive, and Canadians, oceans away from most international upheavals, pay the outside world comparatively little attention.

At Open Canada, we believe this must change. If anything, the pandemic has taught us we can’t afford to ignore the changing world. What’s more, we believe, most Canadians don’t want to. Many of us, after all, come from somewhere else and have connections that reach around the world.

Our mission is to build a conversation that involves everyone — not just politicians, academics and policy makers. We need your help to do so. Your support helps us find stories and pay writers to tell them. It helps us grow that conversation. It helps us encourage more Canadians to play an active role in shaping our country’s place in the world.

Become a Supporter