Making sense of Middle East morass
Re Canadian turns lens on Kurds’ quiet revolution, Jan. 18
Congratulations to Mitch Potter for explaining how the brave, non-sexist Kurds are leading the fight against the ISIS terrorists in the Middle East even as they are demonized by the tyrannical Turkish regime. If ISIS is defeated, major credit will be owed to the Kurds.
One hopes that Mr. Potter’s reportage will help to persuade Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to follow Rosie DiManno’s advice and renege on his hasty, ill-conceived pledge to withdraw our jet fighters from the alliance against ISIS.
After all, our war planes are supporting the Kurds in their Churchillian mission to wipe out the enemies of freedom.
At the same time, Mr. Trudeau should support the Kurds in their quest for a national homeland, even if this offends his errant NATO ally, Turkey; they are by far the largest ethnic or religious group without a national state.
Raymond Heard, Toronto
Re PM should back down on jet withdrawal, Jan. 18
Why is Rosie DiManno baying for even more blood? She says that jets are effective, therefore we should use them. But so are hydrogen bombs. And by her own admission, airstrikes can also be counterproductive. She notes that in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq, they have resulted in “internal chaos, tribal and sectarian violence, the exponential growth of terrorist organizations and a colossal failure of politics.”
Most disturbingly, she seems to simply ignore the horrible suffering we are causing innocent civilians, but which is not covered by media because it lacks reliable front-line reporting. It is shameful to promote war. Perhaps there is a special place in heck for warmongers.
Tobi Baumhard, King City
Islamist radicals will never be defeated by the U.S. and its alliances. ISIS, Boko Haram and Al Qaeda will only be consigned to the pits of hell by an army comprised of moderate Islamic states acting together to take the sword of Allah and slay these mongrels who defile the world with their very existence.
W.R. Thuma, Toronto