About thirty-five minutes ago Prime Minister Harper, or someone in his office, tweeted that "There is a moral imperative to #SavingLives of vulnerable women & children in the poorest countries when it is in our power to do so." One could argue that twenty years ago there was a similar "moral imperative" existed with respect to Rwanda.
In my opinion then BGen Dallaire tried, very hard, to make the case that such a "moral imperative" did exist. I don't believe he failed, not in any meaningful, personal way - although one can, and some did, dispute his sense of priorities and , indeed, his suitability for the task: I think the CF failed him; I think that, specifically, Gen John De Chastelain failed him and, worse, failed the mission; I think the Government of Canada Failed him; I think Prime Minister Jean Chrétien also failed Sen Dallaire and in a very personal way. In New York I think the entire apparatus, including, specifically again, Col (later Gen) Baril) failed; they failed the mission and the men and women there. I concluded, to my own satisfaction, that it is immoral to risk Canadian lives to dangerous missions if the UN, specifically the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, is involved in any meaningful way. I think we can participate in some, carefully selected, baby blue beret peacekeeping missions, where the risk is very, very low* but where the risk is anything except negligible we must insist that Canada or a trusted ally has a leadership role. (And, by the way, I am suspicious of the United States' ability to lead such missions because I am suspicious of the strategic judgment of both the White House and the Pentagon, and i will likely still be suspicious when there is a Republican administration.)
If we are going to send troops into dangerous situations then we had best be sure that we all understand that there might be a "moral imperative" that requires them to fight and die and that requires us, Canada writ large, to support them by sending more and more and more Canadians to back them up, and to secure a military victory before we come home. If we aren't prepared to face up to "moral imperatives" then perhaps Pierre Trudeau was right,** perhaps we need to withdraw from the world and focus all our attention on national unity and a harmonious natural environment.
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* But, in fairness, Prime Minister Kim Campbell, Clerk of the Privy Council Shortliffe and Adm John Anderson all thought Rwanada was a very low risk mission.
** In the 1970 White Paper 'A Foreign Policy for Canadians'
