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Conservatives demand answers after details of Iranian missile attack on Canadian base in Kuwait emerge
OTTAWA — The Opposition Conservatives are demanding to know why the public was kept in the dark for nearly two weeks after an Iranian missile slammed into a Canadian airbase in Kuwait on March 1.
Conservative defence critic James Bezan said on Thursday that it was a “failure” of government communications and transparency for this information to be withheld for more than 11 days, pointing the finger directly at Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“Prime Minister Carney has had multiple occasions and press availability to disclose this fact,” said Bezan.
The newspaper La Presse reported earlier in the day that the Canadian section of the Ali Al-salem Air Base in Kuwait, nicknamed “Camp Canada,” appeared to be damaged by an Iranian missile, based on overhead satellite images of the area. The retaliatory strike was launched shortly after the U.S. and Israel launched a coordinated bombing campaign targeting the Iranian regime’s leadership in Tehran.
The story reported that no Canadian personnel were harmed in the attack, a detail that was confirmed on Thursday afternoon by Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
Anand told reporters in Ottawa that Defence Minister David McGuinty affirmed to her Thursday morning that “all (Canadian) lives are accounted for.”
Carney demurred when asked directly, at a press conference in Yellowknife, N.W.T., why he didn’t inform Canadians about the Kuwait attack when it happened.
“I’m not the only spokesperson for the government, but I’ll just confirm that members of the Canadian Forces are all safe and sound,” said Carney.
Carney reiterated that Canada was “not engaged” in the Israel and U.S.-led attacks on Iran.
Bezan said the Carney government’s silence on the attack fit a pattern of “ongoing flip flops” on its position on the conflict in the Middle East.
Carney put out a statement shortly after the attacks started expressing support for Israel’s exercise of self-defence and the U.S. “acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” However, his enthusiasm quickly appeared to wane.
He told reporters in Australia three days later that he took the position with “regret,” calling the unilateral airstrikes a consequence of the “failure of the international order.”
Carney said later in the week that he wouldn’t “categorically” rule out Canada’s participation in an escalating Middle East conflict.
The prime minister was notably absent from an emergency House of Commons debate on Iran on Monday evening.
National Post rmohamed@postmedia.com
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