West should steer clear of Mideast
Re Canada stuck on the losing side, June 16 If America and its coalition allies, including Canada, were not in Iraq and Syria, what would happen? Well let’s count the probabilities: Iran, Russia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would have a problem; Sunnis and Shiites would carry on killing one another; Kurds would defend “Kurdistan”; Israel, Lebanon and Jordan would hold their collective breath; and Stephen Harper would heap unused spite on Vladimir Putin. Borders would be redrawn and drawn again — by people who live there.
We, the Western nations, have absolutely zero strategic interest in the Mideast — some of our very wealthy individuals clearly have enduring financial interests, but it’s time they joined the rest of us and kept their money closer to home and our own taxman, thereby not requiring our military to support their risky business adventures.
Containment worked for 50 years during the Cold War. Why not try it again? Clearly as regards any Muslim country, there is abundant demonstrable evidence that there is no chance of any kind of successful Western intervention on behalf of any values we might hold. It took Christian Europe and its Crusaders about 200 years to figure this out. And for the better part of those 200 years a few ennobled European families became very wealthy; the papacy became very, very wealthy and many, many Europeans and Muslims who were not wealthy died.
But the story played itself out and Europe came home. And stayed there until the 19th century adventures in empire and the source of all our current woe. Granted, the Muslim Turks reciprocated for about 500 years of conquest and domination in Europe — but then they too reluctantly went home.
So, we, Muslim nations and Christians don’t get along. And so what? We don’t get along all that well with ourselves back home.
Without irony, good fences do sometimes good neighbours make. Let’s just stay home fussing about our own gardens for another few centuries, at least. P.D. Brown, Orillia, Ont.