Honestly, Iraq isn't very much in my mind. It doesn't matter all too much to me, and I rarely hear about it. Afghanistan, yes, but not Iraq. We don't have troops there. And for Afghanistan I know the troops aren't really able to do anything (other than getting bombed by their allies, ie. the Americans), but so long as the UN is there, Canada should be there.
Actually, that's probably my opinion on Iraq - I hate what the Americans did because they went against the UN. That breach of respect for the UN institution really annoyed me, and I was only too glad when that abysmal Prime Minister of ours (Jean Chretien... fortunately not anymore) did something right for once (okay, I'm sure he did other things right, too) and refused to join the US. It doesn't matter if the US said that they were right, heck it didn't even matter if the US WAS right. Very soon we're going to start having some US president ordering the invasion of some place, and spouting a spin-off of the Melian 'might makes right' argument as their only defence. Okay, maybe that's pushing it. Maybe the US won't go so far. But you never know. Still the point is, it's a sad state of affairs when someone can just say, 'I don't like the law so I'm going to do as I damn well please.' If someone is threatening you, that doesn't give you the liberty to go over to them and beat them silly. The law says you cannot. And in international affairs, that law is the UN. The US breached it, and in my mind that sincerely weighs against them. It doesn't make them 'evil' or anything, but was an evil action in itself.
Actually, to be honest, it made the US look like stupid cowboys. The sheriff says no the to vendetta, but the bloody cowboys decide to go in guns blazing anyway instead of waiting for the law. Right cause does not make right action.
That all said, I'm not against military actions, nor am I a pacifist. Personally, I've never been in the army or in battle - I've shot a gun before (some few... one Czech AK-47 variant a friend of mine has, for one. Quite interesting), but that's about it. But from what I've heard, from my godfather's family, which is heavily into the military (he himself is a major, his eldest full-time military and the younger just got back from Afghanistan), though peace is better, it's better not to be anti-war. Then there's my grandfather who told me that the world needs another war - he fought and was wounded on the Eastern front, so I suppose he's got understanding of these things. Actually, and here's a matter of pride for my own country, but...
I was talking to him, and he was saying some thing about that time in the military. He was really young, 16 I think, and this was the tail-end of the war, when the Russians were over-running the lines and Germany was in really dire straights. Anyway, what he told me was, they were told and said amongst the ranks that it was best to be captured by the Canadians - they were fairest and most honourable to captives. Nice reputation to have, eh? The Americans, on the other hand... actually, I think they would have been barely better than the Russians. They didn't act too well in WWII, and were definitely not the best when it came to prisioner treatment.
