Calm down, it's only "Lebanese-Canadians" who were killed...

[Bragi]

I note that Neale News -- the top Canadian neocon news aggregator site -- headlines its report this morning on the killing of Canadians in Lebanon as follows:

"Lebanese-Canadian family caught in the middle"

See http://www.nealenews.com/

"Caught in the middle" is certainly an interesting euphemism for "killed by the Israeli military" but what strikes me most in the headline is the deliberate use of the phrase "Lebanese-Canadians".

This from a news outlet that frequently highlights articles from neocons decrying multiculturalism, and the notion of "hyphenated Canadians".

In this case, though, they seem to prefer the hyphenation, I presume because it sends the not-so-subtle message that the victims aren't "real" Canadians, just a bunch of dual citizenship foreigners who were possibly up to no good being in Lebanon in the first place.

I fear the only (slight) good that may come of all this is that Harper's rejection of Canada's traditional even-handed foreign policy approach is now perfectly clear for everyone to see.

It is now obviosu that, under Harper, we are and will continue to be firmly and unquestioningly aligned internationally with the major global warmongers.

If he's re-elected after aligning us with this cause, then frankly, I think Canada will deserve to lose its international reputation for independence and fairness.

Canadians should not then be surprised if displaying a Canadian flag becomes about as popular abroad as displaying a US flag, and the world becomes a far more dangerous place for us.

- B

[Spazito]

1. I agree with all you have said, particularly this....

"If he's re-elected after aligning us with this cause, then frankly, I think Canada will deserve to lose its international reputation for independence and fairness."

We will reap what we will have sown if he is re-elected with a majority government, we can only hold ourselves responsible for the inevitable backlash to his policies around the world, imo.

[daleo]

2. I agree, this angle is contemptible

For the record, 4 of the children killed were born in Canada, so their facts aren't even right. Many of us are immigrants or children of immigrants, so this strategy is stupid as well as evil.