Canada just did what the United States must have long itched to do but couldn’t blast Iran openly not just by words but by deed. Of course Canada did not “blast” Iran literally. But it did the next best thing. It severed diplomatic relations with the rogue Islamic state.
Canada minced no words in attacking Iran’s support for the murderous Syrian regime, its open incitement to genocide against Israel, and its dogged and aggressive pursuit of a nuclear program.
“Canada views the government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security,” said Foreign Affairs minister John Baird in a statement shortly after Canada closed its embassy in Tehran and ordered its staff home.
The action of Ottawa underscores a resoluteness the free world increasingly misses in the United States, giving rise to questions as to whether the US can still validly claim to be the acknowledged global leader.
Except for its direct hand in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, initially supported by many of the worlds powers, there has been little, if at all, the US had done with provocations instigated by some of the world’s other powers and even by a few rogue states.
Continued missile tests and rocket launches by North Korea have met little more than strongly-worded condemnation by the United States. Chinese provocation in the South China Sea elicited no more than broad and general US condemnations.
There is reason to believe continuing US inaction has driven Canada to take matters into its own hands. Their democratic ideals and principles being virtually similar, there is little or no reason to suspect the Canadian action was inspired by some other unheard of cause.
Canada must therefore by applauded and congratulated for stepping up to the plate when the United States could not take up the bat. Its courage and resolve boosts the morale of those starting to feel the cold left by the American void.