Israel Matzav

A straight-talking politician

Here's an exception that proves the rule that (nearly) all politicians are liars: Canada's Stephen Harper (Hat Tip: Jack).

“Iran is a very serious threat to international peace and security. In my judgment, it is the world’s most serious threat to international peace and security,” Harper said Thursday in an interview with Calgary radio station CHQR.

“This is a regime that wants to acquire nuclear weapons, it is clearly trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and it has indicated some desire to actually use nuclear weapons.”

...

Harper said Canada’s sanctions on Iran, which include prohibiting financial transactions with the country, are having some impact, but a co-ordinated international response may be needed.

“The wider international community — even including the Chinese and Russians — that community I think does appreciate that this is a serious threat. I think the problem is there’s not a consensus on what to do about it precisely,” he added.

On the situation in Syria, Harper said President Bashar al-Assad “must go” and that the violent repression is “disgraceful” and will prove to be unsuccessful.

However, he said that unlike Libya, there hasn’t yet been a resolution from the United Nations Security Council for a military operation in Syria and he doubts there’s an appetite for it at this point.

“My own read of the situation is that Canada’s principal allies would not be prepared to go to a military option in this case without such a resolution,” Harper said. “I don’t anticipate that at this point.”

It's a pity that Canada is not a bigger power and that Harper apparently has little influence on his American counterpart.

Labels: Canada, Stephen Harper

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:16 PM