What people expect from a political leader is leadership. Prime Minister Stephen Harper demonstrated leadership in his handling of the conflict in Lebanon. Some people were angered by his description of Israel's military response to Hezbollah attacks as "measured," but Mr. Harper did not back down. He remained consistent throughout the conflict. Some people may not like his position or his partisanship (more on this later), but they cannot dispute that he has shown leadership.
Michael Ignatieff can hardly make the same claim.
In August, Mr. Ignatieff said he was not "losing sleep" over deaths resulting from the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana, which claimed the lives of 28 civilians, including children. That callous assessment of a human tragedy was surprising coming from one who continually bills himself as a professor of human rights. Most people, no matter whom they blame for the conflict, would be concerned about the deaths of innocents in a war zone.
But at least his remark was consistent with his previous record as an unapologetic supporter of Israel's right to defend itself. The casualties resulted because Hezbollah fighters had used the civilians as human shields. Mr. Ignatieff suggested as much at the time. Invariably this was received badly by some detractors of Israel and did him some political damage, especially in Quebec. But by last weekend, it was all well behind him.
And yet, in an appearance on a Radio-Canada television program on Sunday, Mr. Ignatieff made a belated attempt at damage control. He said he regretted the "losing sleep" remark: "I showed a lack of compassion. It was a mistake. And when you make a mistake, even off the cuff, one must admit it." There it should have ended. But Mr. Ignatieff, an experienced television performer, was warming to his subject. "I was a professor of human rights. I am also a professor of rights in war," he said, "and what happened in Qana was a war crime. And I should have said that, that's clear."
This implication -- that Israel had committed a "war crime" in Lebanon -- immediately cost Mr. Ignatieff the support of a Toronto MP and once again forced his campaign into damage control. It is a rare distinction: Michael Ignatieff has now succeeded in angering partisans from both sides of the conflict in the Middle East. One might perhaps have expected a neophyte in the politics of the region to step on a few land mines, but not someone who has, in his own words, "lived in Israel, taught in Israel and . . . been a lifelong friend of Israel."
This came from a statement Wednesday in which Mr. Ignatieff outlined his pro-Israel bona fides. But it will not undo the damage he has caused to his campaign, and more broadly to the Liberal Party of Canada. Mr. Harper seized on this latest mistake to attack the "anti-Israeli position that has been taken by virtually all of the candidates for the Liberal leadership." It is an inaccurate statement, to be sure, and illustrative of an unbecoming hyper-partisanship that Mr. Harper carries around like a chip on his shoulder. But there is no doubt that such a perception has been fed by Mr. Ignatieff.
Unlike Michael Ignatieff, we are not professors of human rights or "professors of rights in war," as he pompously described himself. As he himself previously noted, however, Hezbollah terrorists used the proximity of civilians as protection as they rained rockets down on civilian targets in Israel.
Because of his able organization and the shortcomings of other candidates, Mr.Ignatieff has garnered a substantial lead in his bid to become Liberal leader. But the candidate has shown repeatedly that heis his own worst enemy. Every leader makes mistakes from time to time. Butno one can make mistakes habitually without casting doubt on his leadership abilities.