Jets streaked overhead, a proud Stephen Harper visited the Senate to celebrate “a great military success,” and the music was appropriately stirring.
So was Thursday’s commemoration of the Libyan campaign a noble tribute to the brave and dangerous work of Canada’s armed forces, or was it a vulgar display of testosterone-fuelled chest-thumping?
Many Canadians find the John Bullish patriotism of the Harper government galling. It goes beyond mere sabre-rattling in the Arctic, putting the Royal back in front of the Navy and Air Force, staging repeated photo-ops of this martial Prime Minister surrounded by men and women in uniform.
Those who have a certain, settled notion of Canada as a mature country that proudly eschews jingoism see these martial displays as crass, partisan and a betrayal of Canada’s proud peacekeeping tradition.
Beyond that, many people believe the entire NATO adventure in Libya was illegitimate. For them, Western powers took sides in what was essentially a civil war, replacing the admittedly unpleasant Moammar Ghadafi with something that could easily turn out far worse. Libya could descend into inter-tribal warfare, ethnic cleansing and the installation of a fundamentalist Islamic regime that represses women and coddles al-Qaeda.
All of this could come to pass. But it is important to remember that Canada and other developed nations stood by in the 1990s as Bosnia and Rwanda descended into mass slaughter – a slaughter that could have been prevented.
Pressure from North American and European nations helped oust repressive regimes in Tunisia and Egypt this year. The Assad regime in Syria appears to be on the ropes. And none of the worst fears for Libya has yet been realized.
The Conservative commitment to enlarging and re-equipping the Canadian military appears to enjoy broad public support. The purpose of the Senate ceremony was to honour Canada’s above-its-weight contribution to the Libyan mission and Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard’s able leadership of NATO forces. How can that be a bad thing?
The Conservatives will never draw back from these flagrant displays of flag-waving. It profits them politically and, by happy coincidence, they also believe it is good for the troops and for the country.
The merits of each intervention or non-intervention (as in the case of Iraq) can only be judged after the fact. By any reasonable definition, the Libyan mission was a success.
Whatever you think of the flybys, the medals and the anthems, it seems unreasonable not to celebrate that success.
