Chester was a bouncing terrier puppy eager to prove his mettle to Spike, the big, tough bulldog.
In recent weeks, tough-talking Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been chirping like Chester to encourage Spike (a.k.a. the United States) into a full-out scrap with both Syria and Iran.
No doubt Harper’s ego has been inflated over the accolades and honours bestowed upon Canada for the nominal leadership role we played in the NATO dog pack’s ravaging of a hapless Libya.
As the international community, led by the U.S. State Department, pushes ever closer to a military intervention in Syria, Harper has publicly expressed his disappointment at China’s and Russia’s refusals to sanction a UN mandate against the Assad regime.
In other words, Harper is spoiling for a fight. Going one step further in the case of Iran, Harper has embarked on a one-man fear-mongering campaign to paint the Persian Peril as an imminent threat to world safety.
It matters not that Harper actually believed the Bush administration’s falsified documentation regarding Saddam Hussein’s non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Had he been prime minister, Harper would have happily joined the U.S.-led coalition of the willing and invaded Iraq under false pretences.
This time, of course, is different, and although Canada has no independent intelligence-gathering capability inside Iran, Harper is convinced that the CIA has got things right this time.
"The evidence is just growing overwhelming," Harper told Canadian reporters.
"The only dispute is how far advanced (their nuclear weapon program) is and how far off it will be until they actually develop those weapons and develop the capability of delivering the weapons."
In addition to poring over the CIA dossier in great detail, Harper admits that he has "watched and listened to what the leadership in the Iran regime says, and it frightens me."
When this sort of admission of fear comes from the very same man who didn’t flinch once during the 10-month campaign in Libya, it is bound to unnerve even the stoutest of Canadian citizens.
The reason offered by Harper for his sudden display of trembling cowardice is that, "for the first time in history, we are facing a regime that not only wants to attain nuclear weapons, but a regime that has, compared to virtually all other holders of nuclear weapons in the past, far less fear of using them."
For the sake of historical accuracy, it must be remembered that in the 67 years in which nuclear weaponry has existed, only the U.S. government has ever used such a weapon of mass destruction against human targets. But I digress.
Should Iran someday soon produce enough enriched uranium to create one nuclear warhead, and someday soon acquired a missile delivery system with intercontinental capability, it would then possess a single threat to international targets, including North America.
In its own backyard, though, Iran’s arch-enemy Israel is believed to possess some 200 nuclear warheads and an abundance of mid-range missile systems with which to deliver them.
In an international context, the nuclear-armed community, led by the U.S., has a collective arsenal capable of wiping out the entire planet several times over.
It is like a showdown between a solitary gunman holding a single-shot pistol against a heavily armed gang toting machine guns. In such a case, it would be suicidal for Iran to initiate hostilities. When this scenario was pointed out to Harper, it did nothing to allay his all-consuming fear of the Iranians.
"I’m not sure that would dissuade them," said Harper. "We’re dealing with a fanatical and dangerous regime."
As the sabre-rattling over Iran’s quest for a nuclear warhead heightens, the party line from the U.S. State Department has become focused on the eventuality that Israel would unilaterally act to eliminate such a threat.
U.S. Secretary of Defence Leon Panetta has gone so far as to speculate that Israel would mount such a strike against Iran before April of this year. This, of course, does not rule out American participation, as Panetta has warned that if Iran does not change its course, the U.S. is "prepared to respond, if we have to."
Those with good memories will recall that every time Chester goaded Spike into an unnecessary confrontation, Spike had the bejeezus beat out of him.
Original Article
Source: the chronicle herald
Author: SCOTT TAYLOR
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