By Arthur Weinreb
Monday, April 2, 2007
The term, "the clash of civilizations" was coined by Harvard professor Samuel Huntington as the title of his 1993 article that appeared in Foreign Affairs. According to Huntington, this clash of civilizations between radical Islam and the West is replacing the Cold War that disappeared after the Soviet Union fell. The concept of the clash of civilizations became more prominent when the West began to pay more attention to radical Islamists after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
In the West, the doctrine of political correctness has also become more prominent in recent years. And much like Huntington's civilizations, there are times when politically correct principles come into conflict with each other and clash.
A classic example of the clash of politically correct principles occurred when the U.S. opened their detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Americans did their best to ensure that the Muslim detainees could practice their religion. Prayer mats, Quarans and Halal food were provided to the terror suspects. There were even signs made that pointed the way to Mecca so that the detainees would know which way to face during prayers. On the other hand, being guarded by women offended their religious sensibilities and women looking in on the male Muslims in their cells offended the inmates. But the politically correct view of women soldiers having an equal right to work as guards trumped the political correctness of not offending Islam.
Now it appears that we in Canada may be headed for a similar clash. The Globe and Mail has obtained a counterinsurgency manual of the Armed Forces through an access-to-information request. The manual, prepared in September 2005, lists some Aboriginal groups such as the Mohawk Warrior Society, together with such organizations as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Tamil Tigers as being groups that Canada may have to take counterinsurgency measures against. The Globe and Mail quoted the manual as saying that "Although they [the named Native groups] do not seek complete control of the federal government, they do seek particular political concessions in their relationship with the national governments and control (either overt or covert) of political affairs at a local/reserve ('First Nation') level, through the threat of, or use of, violence."
Needless to say some First Nations' spokesmen are, pardon the pun, up in arms about the revelation of the existence of the manual. Stewart Phillip of the B.C. Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs told the Globe, "It's a complete attack on our political rights. What we're seeing is the deliberate criminalization of the efforts of aboriginal people to march, demonstrate and rally to draw public attention to the crushing poverty that is the reality within our communities."
Muslims, particularly since 9/11 have argued that only Muslims are singled out as "terrorists" or "insurgents", an accusation that Canada and the West always deny. Now, with the contents of the counterinsurgency manual revealed, Muslim groups are clearly not being singled out as posing possible threats to the country. But the addition of some native groups clashes with the great political correct principle that First Nations and aboriginal peoples have a special status in Canada that exempts them from any consequences for such actions as occupying land, blocking highways or intimidating the residents of Caledonia Ontario. This is indeed "a clash" and now that the contents of the manual have been made public, the government is going to have to try to resolve this conflict.
Gordon O'Connor, Minister of Defence in what the Tories like to call "the New Government" has already indicated his inclination. According to CFRA radio in Ottawa, O'Connor said that the document is only a draft and "the final version will not contain references to any current aboriginal organizations". Although the manual is indeed a draft, it has been circulated for the past year and a half. No doubt it will be changed.
Just as the rights of women trump the rights of Muslims, so do the rights of Canadian aboriginals groups no matter what activities they are involved in. If O'Connor follows through and has those groups removed from the counterinsurgency manual just because they are native groups, it will make a mockery of any attempt to protect Canada's law abiding citizens.
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