Mr. Chair, the issue before us immediately is one of consistency of foreign policy. Foreign policy, as I stated earlier, is what should guide national defence and armed forces policy.
I heard comments from a junior minister of the crown. It sounded like a new policy. I posed some questions about the inconsistency of foreign policy and why we said yes in Kosovo, which we supported. Our troops did an admirable feat there. Our pilots flew incredible missions. They flew those missions with substandard communications in their aircraft. Pilots have told me that in those years, and I hope they are moving to upgrade, they would have better contact capabilities in their cellphones than with the substandard communications devices in their aircraft.
However, it was the policy of the government to intervene in a military action in Kosovo, to bomb people and kill them to stop a genocide that was taking place, and we supported that. Yet the government would not take action in Rwanda. When I put the question as to why have we not been equally robust in terms of wanting to do something to stop the horrific events that are taking place in Sudan, I heard from the junior minister of defence that we would only go in there if the African Union agreed.
That sounds like a new policy to me. I will ask the minister to defend that, not just today, but tomorrow also. This is a new policy. This is the first I have heard this articulation that we will not go into Sudan unless the African Union agrees. What does that mean, that the slaughter can just continue? That the African Union now has more precedent than possibly the United Nations or NATO? This is the first time I have heard that. It is a striking new policy and we will be asking questions on it.
In terms of Iraq, I do not want to keep on with a he said, she said situation, but I would challenge the minister to show any document or any statement where the Conservative government said that we must go into Iraq. We supported the liberation of the people of Iraq, as did many countries that were not militarily involved. We wanted to make sure that we had logistical requirements from the navy in the Persian Gulf in case our soldiers who were in Iraq needed support. The government denied they were in there, but it finally admitted that our soldiers, with Americans, were fighting in Iraq, even though the government never agreed to send them in. We simply said that if anything, they needed to have support, some backup in the Persian Gulf. I will ask that minister to table documents that say anywhere in any of our policy documents that we should have troops in Iraq, because we never did say that.
The question still comes back to him. He said the reason the government decided not to go into Iraq was that there were no weapons of mass destruction. We have a new policy again. This is very interesting. If a country does not have weapons of mass destruction, then it should be left alone. Is that why we did not get involved in Rwanda? There were no weapons of mass destruction there. We got involved in Kosovo. There were no weapons of mass destruction, although Milosevic, it could be suggested, was in and of himself a weapon of mass destruction.
Is it now the policy that if a country has weapons of mass destruction it could be a target of Canadian military force? North Korea has weapons of mass destruction, yet there is no Canadian intervention there, thankfully, because we do not have the fire power to do it. Is this the new criteria now? If a country has weapons of mass destruction, it will be a target. If it does not, we will let it off.
The African Union says do not go into a country where genocide is being poured out upon the people. If the African Union says no, we do not go. Is that the new policy?
I do not expect the member opposite to have all these answers tonight. As a matter of fact, the amassed brain trust of his government does not have the answers, but I also would caution him about articulating new policy, as he has done tonight.
We will find out perhaps tomorrow or in ensuing days if other members of cabinet agree with this new policy. We do not help out in a military way in an African country if the African Union says no. It is inconsistent. That is the only point I am raising here. We could belabour it well into the midnight hour. I am not sure what the rules are, but perhaps we could go beyond that if there is unanimous consent of members present. I am just pointing out these serious inconsistencies.
I would ask the member opposite to consult with his cabinet colleagues and come forward with a consistent policy so that, as I have said before, Canadians will know what can be expected in certain contingencies, our allies will know where we are going to be on certain issues, and certainly our enemies will know when we are going to respond and when we are not going to respond.