Ships on standby
Canada is remembered as one of the few Western allies that refused to join the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But newly disclosed cabinet records show that stance came with a caveat: if the United Nations Security Council had authorized the war, Canada was prepared to send naval ships to join the fight.
What the records show
According to the cabinet documents, military planning was underway to have Canadian ships ready for combat duty in support of a UN-sanctioned invasion. That approval never came, and Canada's public position, staying out of the war, held.
Why it matters now
The records offer a more complicated picture of Canada's supposed neutrality during one of the most contentious foreign policy decisions of the era, suggesting the government's opposition was conditional on the UN process rather than the invasion itself.
Source: CBC Politics
