Late, but better than never

Babble on.

If a big part of our strategy for foreign military deployments is to focus on failed and failing states, as the Defence paper suggests, the ongoing tragedy in Sudan should be a litmus test.

So far, our government has a failing grade. Of course, I can't think of a single government or extra-national body - like the UN or African Union - that has earned a passing grade in this crisis.

Hopefully, that will soon change. From today's Globe & Mail:

Canada's top general has just returned from a fact-finding trip to Africa and is preparing an action plan for the cabinet.

General Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, said the Canadian Forces will be ready to deploy a large contingent overseas for "significant operations" by late summer after a year of recovery and rebuilding.

The Darfur situation, he said, "is a complex and a relatively dangerous environment and the tragedy that is unfolding there is on a scale that is very tough to determine."

Defence Minister Bill Graham said whatever the Canadian military does in Darfur, it will be in a support role to the African Union, which is in charge of the peacekeeping operation and whose member states will supply most of the ground troops.

I know I should be skeptical. I know I'm just setting myself up for a fall if the Liberals continue their "walk loudly and avoid carrying sticks" policy, as one would expect them to.

But, gawd, I hope they finally do something here. When Canadians say they're proud to think of themselves as a 'peacekeeper' nation, this is exactly the sort of thing they're thinking of. It's long past time we put our money where our mouth is. Boots on the ground in the Sudan would be a good start.

Babble off.

Update: Instead of lazily linking to an online article and throwing in a snarky comment or two as I have here, Debbye has done some serious blogging on this topic. Go read her analysis, while I prepare my next shallow effort.