Bob Rae Vs Michael Ignatieff

Bob Rae pulled a good magic trick today. Not against Stephen Harper & the Conservative Party of Canada, but against Stephane Dion & Michael Ignatieff. He's had his little you-tube moment, and for a tenth of a second it made me forget about the economy, our national security, crime, health care, and yes, even the environment. It made me think of Iraq. More importantly, it reminded me of Chretien's decision to join the chorus of naysayers against the Americans' resumption of the war in Iraq. Despite 18 UN resolutions denouncing Iraq's violations, and a weariness of allies to force Hussein to comply with the peace treaty signed by his generals, the United States did what was necessary and ultimately, the most humane thing to do: It brought Sadam to justice. Five years after the resumption of this war, our closest neighbor and ally has buried 4,174 of her sons and daughters. Along with that, thousands of innocent Iraqis have been killed as a result of terrorist attacks from AQI. It's easy to see how politically easy it was to avoid participating in this chapter of the war. Politically easy isn't necessarily the same thing as being moral. Or right. Enter Michael Ignatieff. In 2003, Mr. Ignatieff supported the war in Iraq, which is easily understood given his time spent living in America. Without the socialist blinders on, it wouldn't be difficult to understand the plight of the Kurds, or for that matter the plight of those living in the rest of Iraq. Then, astoundingly, just months before General David Patraeus was to prove succesful with the "Surge", we were treated to Mr. Ignatieff's about-face. I'll sum up the three page article that he wrote in one sentence: I want you to vote for me, so forget everything I said about human rights for Iraqis. (that's not plagiarism, it's condensing.) So here we are, 2008. We can't say for sure, but we'd definately bet on it, that Stephane Dion is going to lose the election by more than a couple of votes. There's a line up behind Mr. Dion just waiting to get a second crack at the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada. (don't ask me why.) The two most obvious potential wannabe leaders are Rae and Ignatieff. What does all this have to do with Stephen Harper? Not much, but it sure makes people remember that Ignatieff once admitted thinking like Harper with regards to a war that most people don't understand and are too lazy to learn the facts about - and there's nothing that Ignatieff can say or write to make people forget that. Not a bad days work if you ask me. Put another knife in the not-a-leader's back, embarrass your next leadership rival, and have your current electoral opponents waste a day playing trivial pursuit. Too bad for him that he's so far out in left field that most sensible people wouldn't vote for him to run their country. He's a hell of a magician though.