By Dan Peach
The piece “SFU should not hoist NATO flag” published by Cedric Chen in the Nov. 5, 2012 edition of The Peak displayed a great degree of insulation from reality. I do, however, commend the author for writing his opinions down and publishing them, no matter how misguided they are. The use of NATO to project the power of the West, including that of the much-maligned USA, has been of great benefit to us as a country, and is part of what allows genuinely dissenting pieces, such as Chen’s, to be published without the author having to worry about being executed, disappearing, or having to navigate censorship systems such as the Great Firewall of China.
I recognize that there are problems with the Western media, with NATO, Canada, and the West as a whole. I doubt any sane person would deny this. However, I challenge Chen to present and implement an alternative to NATO that would be of more benefit to Canadian society as a whole and be practical to introduce. The NATO flag should, without a doubt, be flown on Remembrance Day, as the men and women who have fought under it should be remembered for defending our Western way of life, helping other nations to maintain or achieve it, and keeping our enemies occupied far from our homes.
War isn’t clean. It isn’t a perfect solution to any problem and it certainly isn’t something we should desire or aspire to. It often results in the deaths of innocents and non-combatants. I’m saddened that journalists were killed when the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was hit during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Depending on the source of information, this was done either by accident or because it was providing a signals facility for the enemy, specifically to a man wanted for war crimes. I assume that Chen is just as saddened by the Tarnak Farm friendly fire incident that resulted in the deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan (the first Canadian deaths in a combat zone since the Korean War) who were fighting under the NATO flag. And I’m sure that amidst a busy schedule of flipping off NATO flags, Mr. Chen found a moment on Remembrance Day to honour these soldiers and the many other Canadians who have died fighting for us, no matter what flag they did so under.
For all its costs, sometimes war is the only effective method left to us to protect our way of life or that of our allies. Remembrance Day is about remembering the horrors of war and honouring those who have fought to maintain our way of life, with all the imperfections and unique freedoms it entails. In fact, I think I will take advantage of one of the freedoms that NATO soldiers (and many others for that matter) have protected for us and other countries to state the following: Cedric Chen, your “nation’s grudge” has no place in determining what is honoured on Canadian Remembrance Day. While I respect your right to publish it, the article was ignorant, crass, and disrespectful, and I hope someday you feel ashamed of your words and the gesture you made at the NATO flag.
