How I see it

The NDP :(/:)

The unanimous decision today in the House of Commons made me take a second glance at my party. Although I support the social democrats of the New Democratic Party, the vote to extend the mission in Libya comes at my surprise. More concerning was the recognition of the Libyan rebel forces provisional government as the true government of Libya. How can Canada recognize a force that we know little about as the true governing body of the Libya?

Politics aside; in my view, the current crisis in Libya is one that should be dealt by the Libyan people. The rebel groups striving to remove Gaddafi forces from Tripoli is a Libyan movement that formed at the grassroots, eventually extending to the higher echelons of the underfunded Libyan military. Their weaponization has been a result of defecting military officials and those who left their military outposts. If removing Gadaffi is such a priority to the Canadian government, why aren’t other dictators, across the globe being bombarded by NATO allies? For example, in Burma the military government has subjected its people to cruel treatment and ranks 176th out of 180 countries worldwide on the corruption perceptions index.

Although I was surprised at the NDP’s decision to vote with the Harper government, I do applaud their urge to the Harper government to increase humanitarian assistance to Libya and use Diplomacy versus bombs to ensure the transition of power from Gaddafi to the rebel forces. Moreover, their staunch opposition to the deployment of ground forces was also commendable.