Kosovo  I was critical of the fact that in 1991 we were in the process of voting when troops had already been sent to Iraq and we were watching the events on television. That was obviously one drawback. At this time, since we have already discussed air strikes in previous debates in the House, I am not questioning today's debate.

Kosovo  Mr. Speaker, since I have been sitting in the House, I have taken part in debates on Iraq, Kosovo and the Central African Republic. I have debated and I have spoken, but I have never voted on such an important decision as that involving the sending of Canadian troops, Canadian and Quebec soldiers, abroad.

Kosovo  Could the Prime Minister not commit to telling us in advance whether indeed he would hold a vote to avoid a repetition of the ridiculous situation that occurred in 1991, when we were debating in the House whether we would go to Iraq, while the war was being shown on television. We do not want to be in that situation again—

Kosovo  Speaker, in 1991 when the international community under the UN flag was about to strike against Iraq, the then opposition leader and now Prime Minister who was personally briefed by the prime minister accused him of rolling the dice with Canadian lives during a real debate on a votable motion.

Kosovo  However, dictators and those leaders living in the past have been using old repressive methods to control these aspirations. We have had many hot spots in the world. Somalia, Rwanda, Iraq and Afghanistan are a few that come to mind. However the way the world has responded to these tragedies has raised eyebrows and created an uneasiness. Today the skies over Yugoslavia are light with trails of missiles and rows of fighter aircraft.

Kosovo  There are countries on the security council, like China and Russia, that have a veto and that are preventing the resolution of situations like the one in Iraq. There was international support for action against Saddam Hussein. When things are blocked as they are in this case, NATO steps in. This is not the ideal situation. As the previous speaker said, allies are involved.

Kosovo  The record is not good. In the early years of this decade, we sent our airplanes into Kuwait and Iraq as part of the desert storm operation. The goal was to stop Saddam Hussein in his mad long rush to conquer Kuwait and its oil rich territory. However, what really happened? We unleashed all the power of modern warfare against him and when victory was in our grasp and it was possible to eliminate this awful dictator, we stopped on his doorstep, turned our backs and hightailed it home.

Kosovo  On both occasions Canada was there with our allies. Last year we returned to the gulf to pressure Iraq to comply with the United Nations weapons inspections. This year we returned to the Balkans to ease the humanitarian suffering in Kosovo. Over the years, thousands of Canadian forces personnel have made Canada's presence felt.

Kosovo  People probably die quicker in deserts than traversing parts of Turkey in the direction of Syria and Iraq. If we say that people died as part of the expulsion in Turkey as a result of genocide, we have to ascribe to the Israelis the intention of genocide. I am not prepared to do that because for centuries countries have believed that it was legally and ethically permissible to expel ethnic groups in times of war and that it was not genocide.

Kosovo  It transported them forcibly out of their homes, villages and cities and sent them to Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. This occurred at a time when there was no United Nations and when there was no infrastructure to look after such a massive movement of people, many of whom died. In 1967 there was a six day war against Egypt and the other Arab powers in the region in which the Israelis were in a fight for their lives.

Kosovo  To those who say there is a double standard, I say they are right and certainly we opposed Washington's unilateral bombing of Khartoum, of Afghanistan and of Iraq. To point out these inconsistencies and to suggest that NATO is not the most desirable international institution to enforce human security is at the end not enough. We are left with the humanitarian crisis in Kosovo and the question of what Canada's response and what the global community's response should be.

Peacekeeping  Repeatedly there have been serious situations in countries like Rwanda, Nigeria, Bosnia, Haiti, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Liberia and the list goes on. Unfortunately this situation will happen again. I am sorry the United Nations has the inability to respond in a timely fashion. I recognize there is a vacuum and we have to show leadership.

Peacekeeping  I want to take the opportunity of this debate to call on our government, the Government of Canada, to end its shameful silence on the plight of the Kurds, particularly in Turkey but also in Iraq, Iran and Syria. I fear that our desire to sell Candu reactors and military hardware as well as our membership in the NATO alliance have silenced us. We cannot remain silent on this issue.

Armenians  Soon after, in may 1915, the Ottoman council of ministers ordered the forced relocation of Armenian communities of central, eastern and southeastern Anatolia to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq, which at the time were Ottoman provinces. The decision was implemented gradually over the next two years. Of the estimated 700,000 Armenians who were thus forcefully relocated, many died due to the manner in which the relocation was taking place at a time when the Ottoman empire was collapsing.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, when the resolution was passed there were undertakings given by Iraq regarding the accessibility of UN monitors to the country to make sure that any assistance was being properly given to the people of Iraq. We want to make sure that those kinds of conditions are fully honoured, fully met.