Tripwire Editorial Part Three: Carney Flails as Iran War Overwhelms Central Banker
The U.S. and Israel’s sudden war of aggression has left the Canadian prime minister scrambling to find a coherent position as he walks back support for the attack
Despite the attack on Iran being deeply unpopular in the U.S. and around the world, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney immediately expressed his unreserved support for the attack. The position was a surprise for Canadians and international observers given the aggressiveness U.S. President Donald Trump has shown to Canada and Carney’s recent comments about the changing world order and American decline.
“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote in a statement. Carney should know that there is no evidence that Iran is attempting to obtain a nuclear weapon. Nevertheless, he publicly accepted Trump and Netanyahu’s claims uncritically.
Carney’s position is unpopular in Canada and even unpopular among the Liberal caucus. Will Greaves, a Liberal MP from Victoria, posted a video to his Instagram criticizing Carney’s statement. Several other Liberal MPs liked the video.
“Canada cannot endorse the unilateral and illegal use of military force, the killing of civilians, or the kidnap and assassination of foreign heads of government while also insisting that our sovereignty, our rights, and our independence must be respected,” Greaves said.
Carney began walking back the comments almost immediately, though right now he still maintains support for the war. He held a news conference in Sydney, Australia where he addressed the country’s parliament. He repeated the accusation that “Iran has not dismantled the nuclear program” despite Carney knowing that intelligence like the CIA maintain that Iran is neither close to building a nuke nor trying to complete one.
“Canada stands with the Iranian people in their long and courageous struggle against the regime’s oppressive rule. Which is why we support efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and prevent its regime from threatening international peace and security,” Carney said. “Because Canada is taking the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish it to be. We do, however, take this position with regret, because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order.”
Carney then further muddied the waters by refusing to rule out Canadian military action in the Middle East. Carney was asked directly by a reporter about whether Canada would consider deploying troops to the Middle East if the war continues to escalate. Carney called the question a “fundamental hypothetical” and said that Canada would do whatever was necessary to protect its allies. Canada has no military allies in the Middle East, except for the military bases operated by countries like the U.S. and the U.K.
“One can never categorically rule out participation,” he said. “We will stand by our allies, when it makes sense. There’s a distinction between the offensive actions that were taken and are being taken by the United States and Israel, that were taken by them without consultation with Canada, with other allies, and we’re not party to those actions. But we will always defend Canadians, we will always stand by and defend our allies when called upon.”
While Carney may simply be being pedantic about the question involving every possible scenario, the statement leaves him a lot of room to maneuver, especially without specifics. If the U.S. demands NATO allies help them in the conflict or countries face repercussions, what will that mean? How much can the situation escalate before Carney feels it is necessary to deploy troops? Whatever he meant to say, he has launched a wave of articles both in Canada and in the international press with headline like Time’s, “Carney Criticizes U.S. Approach to Iran War But Refuses to Rule Out Participation From Canada”.
There are over 200 Canadian soldiers deployed to the Middle East, including five at Al Udeid air base in Qatar, which has now been bombed several times by Iran. Canadians on exchange with the U.S. military were apparently assigned to other duties and thankfully it seems like they did not take part in the attack. However, they are at risk as long as they are over there.
Canadian Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan said Canada is considering sending forces to defend Gulf states that host American bases. There is no reason to do this. Again, Canada has no treaty obligations to defend any of these countries or the American bases they host. The U.S. military is the most powerful in world history and chose to get itself into this mess. We owe them, and their tyrannical Gulf puppet monarchies, nothing.
Iran has never threatened to annex Canada. Trump did so immediately when he took office for the second time. Canadians took his threats seriously enough that the entire political situation in the country changed and the deeply unpopular Liberals held onto power when they dumped Trudeau for Carney, who promised to take on Trump and defend Canada. Carney has made some trade agreements and comments that upset the U.S., but when Trump turns his aggression on countries outside Canada and Europe, Carney’s elbows are suddenly up to cheerlead rather than resist. Should Trump ever try to make good on his threats of turning Canada into the 51st state, few countries will defend us, and they should not when they watch Canada’s government urge on American aggression.
Canadians must be prepared to resist any collaboration with the U.S. and Israel in their attack. So far, the government claims that it is not involved in the attack and does not plan to be, though the Prime Minister expressed his enthusiastic support for the offensive and unprovoked aggression on a U.N. member state. Trump promised that he would never go to war with Iran either. This is how escalation happens, and it happens fast.
The True Meaning of the Davos Speech
Carney recently delivered what was considered a major and impactful speech during the World Economic Forum in Davos. In that speech, Carney said that the existing U.S.-led global order is collapsing and a new world order is arising. Carney received praise all over the world for his stark, blunt comments and total rejection of Trump.
“But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating,” Carney said during his speech. “This is not sovereignty. It’s the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination. In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice – compete with each other for favour, or to combine to create a third path with impact. We shouldn’t allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules will remain strong, if we choose to wield them together.”
Many people believed that Carney was criticizing American hegemony and aggression and was saying that Canada would take a more active role resisting its superpower neighbour. In reality, what Carney meant is that Canada would no longer pretend to care about universal values and will now explicitly act in its own material self-interest. Carney believes this means making trade deals that benefit Canada even if it upsets the U.S.
It also means supporting American warmaking that would be more beneficial in the relationship between the two countries, even if it requires him to implicitly endorse slaughtering civilians and bombing schools. He also probably sees opportunities for his wealthy friends on Bay Street to make money with a new Iranian regime that acts as a Western puppet again like the Shah used to.
Carney is in danger of being overtaken by events. His experience as a central banker used to dealing with boardrooms of executives is giving him blind spots about public perception and the seriousness with which even casual statements are taken. Canadians need to make it clear to him that he is going to pay a very severe political price if he goes against everything he claimed to stand for so he can support Trump destroying Iran and risking World War Three.
Get in touch with your MP here and tell them that you don’t support the war, and neither should they. Seriously do this. It isn’t too late to stop Canada from getting in yet, but it will be very soon.
This is Part Three of a series. Check out Part One: Trump and Netanyahu Plunge the World into Chaos here and Part Two: The Immediate and Obvious Consequences of the Iran War.