“We believe Iran constitutes the greatest threat to peace and security in the world.”
There always seems to be another one of these, lurking in the wings. So, Canada's Conservative government sloughs off responsibility for a national health care strategy (the kind of integrated planning that would actually make a difference), more or less ignores any potential instigator of global violence except for Iran, which is seen as a uniform nation of "people who have a particular, you know, a fanatically religious worldview" and squarely places Iran in its sights.
Here's the real clincher - after playing fear-based, divide-and-conquer politics among the people of his own country, Harper's latent insecurities are being played like a piano by the anti-Iranian hawks of the world. Harper is victim to his own game, yet another pawn in the competitive escalation that is survival of the fittest.
There was a time when Canada led - not by staking a position against others, but by finding the solutions between them. It might not have been a glamorous role, but it was a respected one. Any Canadian who has been embraced while traveling overseas simply because they were Canadian understands this legacy.
Harper has based his entire political career around the appearance of being tough; Canada's reputation and potentially, our security are at growing risk as he plays out his compensatory needs on the global stage.
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