That is, a replication of the naval blockade of Lebanon is being planned for the Gaza Strip's Mediterranean coastline, one which may be presented as a European initiative but, as noted above, as it will include Canadian and US participation will be a NATO operation in all but name.
In the middle of Israel's 22-day onslaught against Gaza early this January new Canadian Liberal Party leader and prospective future prime minister Michael Ignatieff, a "humanitarian bomber" when it came to the Balkans, stated: "Canada has to support the right of a democratic country to defend itself."
Canadian warships have also participated in US-led patrols of the Persian Gulf near Iranian waterways. The frigate HMCS Charlottetown last year deployed with a 50-ship USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier strike group for a seven month Gulf deployment.
In addition, in March it was announced that "The Canadian navy is deploying three war ships to the Persian Gulf, one of the largest single naval contributions to the war against terrorism since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001."
The three warships - the HMCS Calgary, HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Iroquois - met up with counterparts from US, Britain, France, Germany, Pakistan and the Netherlands in Task Force 150, To "run missions in the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The Canadians plan to take a Sea King helicopter detachment with them." (18)
Days after Georgia launched an armed assault against South Ossetia last August 7-8, triggering a five-day war with Russia, former New Democrat and current Liberal Party Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae urged the Conservative minority government of Stephen Harper to open a Canadian embassy in Georgia for the first time, stating:
“Russia's invasion of Georgia clearly demonstrates the strategic importance of the region. We need to make it clear, both to the countries of the region and to Russia, that we take their sovereignty and independence seriously, and that we deeply support their quest for international respect.” (19)
The very next day the Russian General Staff revealed that a Canadian warship was entering the Black Sea (with US and Polish ships) for a two-week NATO deployment, as act Russia viewed as a dangerous provocation as it has deployed its own warships off the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, north of Georgia.
Prime Minister Harper, whose government had pushed Georgia's and Ukraine's full NATO membership at the Alliance's summit in Romania earlier in the year, was in accordance with Rae:
"I think if we had taken a stronger position on the membership of (Georgia and the Ukraine), we would not have had the Russian aggression. I think that showing weakness or hesitation encourages this type of behaviour on the part of Russia." (20)
Slightly afterward Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson said "the government views the recent actions of Russia in Georgia and in the Far North 'with great concern,' and this is helping drive the Conservatives' Arctic strategy." (21)
In October of last year Canadian military personnel participated in the annual NATO Cooperative Longbow/Lancer-2008 South Caucasus exercises, held in Armenia in 2008.
The yearly exercises aim at building up NATO presence in the Caucasus and integrating the militaries of former Warsaw Pact, Soviet and Yugoslav nations as well as Persian Gulf state and Gulf Cooperation Council/Istanbul Cooperation Initiative member the United Arab Emirates. In addition to Canada, nations involved were the US, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Austria, Albania, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Moldova, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Bosnia.
On May 6 of this year the Cooperative Longbow 09/Cooperative Lancer 09 exercises will be held in Georgia, will again include Canadian forces and will last for almost four weeks. Today the Russian foreign minister and other officials condemned the exercises as a provocation and urged they be cancelled.
In a press report of early October of last year titled "NATO chief seeks defence plan for allies near Russia," NATO Supreme Allied Commander US General John Craddock, speaking after what was characterized as "Russia's invasion of Georgia," affirmed "The foundation of the NATO alliance is a collective defence promise known as Article 5, stating an attack on one is an attack on all. The Article 5 discussion is very much front and centre." In the same report it was noted that "U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, with Canada and Britain, will try this week in Budapest to mediate among European allies while supporting defence planning that reaffirms the Article 5 pledge." (22)
Article 5 is not only a mutual defense but a potential war clause.
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