New year, new conflicts: All about Canada’s decisions to de-escalate situations

By Manahil Hassan, January 20 2020—

There is no doubt that situations have been growing in intensity ever since the decade began. While many people slept soundly in their beds on the night of Jan. 8,  Iran’s military accidentally fired two missiles which ended the lives of 176 people. While human error was cited as the reason for this incident, this was still a grave mistake that alters the families and futures of hundreds of people and will never be justifiable. Both Trudeau and President Rouhani expressed their grief and condolences to the Canadian victims of the crash where many were returning from visiting their families in Iran. 

In response to the tragic event, Canada decided to take responsibility along with other western nations to de-escalate situations in Iran. Although only a week has passed since the plane crash, a time-sensitive event such as this needs to be handled correctly and swiftly. Quite frankly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t taking the necessary measures to eliminate the potential threat of another world war, and while he has sent many of his team members to Iran to console the grieving families of the victims, he has failed to take a stance on the influence of Trump’s impulsive behaviour on the situation. 

One way Canada and other Western nations can prevent this seemingly inevitable war from occurring is by keeping Trump’s childish antics at bay. Trump has been irresponsible, impulsive and rash in his decision making ever since he took office in 2016. If the president had not ordered the killing of general Soleimani, Iran would not have retaliated in such a drastic manner. Trump has done too much in a short amount of time and needs to be controlled. This is not a game of chess where there are little consequences. There are innocent people’s lives at stake. 

However, like a coin, there are two sides to every story. Iran is not innocent in this matter either and as a removed and impartial body, Canada needs to make a choice and be more firm in their decision making regarding the nation. It seems now, that the only viable and successful measure to take will be to sanction Iran to ensure that something like this does not happen again. Moreover, members of the Iranian military need to face the consequences of their careless actions. 

It is understood that this is a very difficult time and that Canada has found itself in a catch-22 situation. However, with tensions increasing, more and more nuclear nations will become invested and involved in the matter at hand which could start a third world war. For a society that stresses human rights and peace, we sure know how to contradict ourselves. 

This article is part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet’s editorial board.