Canada will not shy from using military force, Harper warns dictators military, fighting, soldiers, Stephen, address

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Canada will not shy from using military force, Harper warns dictators

TRAPANI, Italy — Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned dictators of the world Thursday that Canada will not shy from using force to oust them, even as he told Canadian troops here that their role in Libya is not yet finished.


"There is, I am afraid, as we have just been briefed, still fighting to be done," Harper said in a strident address to several hundred Canadian soldiers at this military airfield in southern Italy. "And undoubtedly, there will be, even after that, difficult days ahead."


Canada currently has about 655 troops, seven CF-18 fighter jets, three refuelling aircraft and the naval frigate HMCS Vancouver assigned to the NATO-led mission in Libya, which began in March.


With Libyan president Moammar Gadhafi's removal from power last week, many had expected the government to begin withdrawing those assets to meet the Sept. 27 deadline approved by Parliament in June.


Harper's statement, however, indicated the government may be preparing for an extension — a move the NDP and Liberals have said they will oppose.


The prime minister started the day by meeting Lt.-Gen. Charles Bouchard, the Canadian general who has been overseeing the NATO mission since the beginning, before addressing the troops.


"History will record this," Harper said. "That it was the good work of Canada's armed services — your work, working with our allies — that enabled the Libyan people to remove Gadhafi from power."


He noted the heavy workload Canadian airmen and sailors have been undertaking in support of the NATO mission since March, including 700 missions by Canadian fighter aircraft without caveats, represented about 10 per cent of all strikes against Gadhafi's forces.

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Several times during the address, Harper referred to the Libya mission as a good cause, noting Gadhafi's role in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, including two Canadians, and his financing of terrorism around the world.


And in a continuation of the prime minister's recent calls for a more robust role for the Canadian military, Harper said the Libyan dictator would still be in power and persecuting his people if action hadn't been taken by Canada and its allies.


"Which gives some proof to the old saying: 'A handful of soldiers is better than a mouthful of arguments,'" he said. "For the Gadhafis of this world pay no attention to the force of argument. The only thing they get is the argument of force."


Referencing his own government's investments in the military since coming to power in 2006, the prime minister said the old adage that Canada was punching above its weight has come true now that the country is "able to punch."


Later today, Harper will travel to Paris to attend a "Friends of Libya" conference organized by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron. It will include Western and Arab members of the so-called Libya Contact Group, as well as China, India, Brazil and members of the new Libyan interim government, the National Transitional Council.


During his address to Canadian troops in Italy, the prime minister praised Sarkozy and Cameron "for their resolve in guiding the international response to Gadhafi's brutality" before issuing some ground rules for the NTC.


"It must avoid reprisals," Harper said. "It must repair the most basic functions. And the Council must create a representative government that speaks for all Libyans."


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Prime Minister Stephen Harper boards a plane for Europe in Ottawa August 31, 2011


Prime Minister Stephen Harper warned dictators of the world Thursday that Canada will not shy from using force to oust them, even as he told Canadian troops here that their role in Libya is not yet finished.