As we enter the post-Halloween season of Remembrance, we hope all our readers are taking time to put on a poppy and think about the contributions of our veterans to the society we enjoy today. It is particularly important to remember the sacrifices our soldiers, and soldiers around the world, make to defend the fundamental interests of their nations.
Sending soldiers off to war is never something that should be done lightly, and only as a very last recourse when all else fails. Governments must always strive to meet a “just war” standard before ever considering that recourse, and yet we see what is happening in Ukraine with Russia, where imperial aggression seems to be the justification standard applied.
That’s not to say either Europe or the United States have an unblemished record of always engaging in justifiable wars in the Middle East and elsewhere, but it is Russia which continues its imperial war into another winter season this year.
On another front, soon even more bodies will be buried in Israel and Palestine, both civilian and soldier, when the ground war against Hamas enters its next brutal phase. Israel was attacked. It is the duty of its military to defend its citizens. There is no gainsaying that.
But it will be difficult to balance the tally sheet if Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire continue to perish at the same rate as we have seen in the past 10 days in Gaza.
From a Canadian perspective, we continue to have soldiers abroad in eastern Europe standing guard with NATO allies on their borders there. While not in active combat at the moment, the whole of eastern Europe bordering Russia is a powder keg which could blow up if either side sets one toe out of place. We would like to express our gratitude to all are serving Canadian forces members who this year stand watch over that troubled horizon.
We also express our gratitude to those Canadian soldiers, unnamed, who fight on the ground, and in the shadows, against the encroaching darkness.
And most of all, we would like to thank all our local veterans who have served in both times of war and at peace.
