Telling It As It Is...

"In my judgement, it has clearly become over time ... very much a sectarian war that is backed by, and part of, a wider sectarian conflict in the region. [Conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims, with the Shia sect backed by Iran and the Sunni jihadists] "increasingly extreme and dangerous."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) shakes hands with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper as Harper's wife Laureen watches during a welcoming ceremony for Harper at Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem January 19, 2014. Harper is on a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

The "brutal regime", he pointed out, of Bashar al-Assad has turned his country into that proverbial charnel-house, with the government itself leading in acts of atrocities targeting his own people. Words of the writer parsing the sentiments of the Prime Minister. The Syrian civil war has enveloped the region in a mass sectarian conflict. Egypt is struggling with attaining its version of democracy, and Iran remains led by an "extremist", "hateful" regime.

There's the 'balance' that Prime Minister Harper's critics have decried the lack of. On the other side of the ledger is Israel, a liberal-democracy about whose performance as such the current leader of Canada cannot pronounce too great appreciation as an embattled, courageous nation of optimists despite never having been given the blessing of co-existence with its neighbours beyond the occasional attempt to destroy its presence.

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (C) receives a key of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, from Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein (R) during his visit at the Knesset in Jerusalem January 20, 2014. Harper is on a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

"I don't see how the victory of either of those forces could be in the interests of Canada or Israel or anyone else. The only real victory can be some kind of accommodation and conciliation between them. The nature and the scale of the suffering that is going on in that country (Syria) is almost incomprehensible, and it is truly heartbreaking."

Egypt, on the other hand, offers hope, and Canada welcomes the "return of stability", referring to the popular Egyptian revolt against the pharaonic rein of former President Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood. "At the same time, we understand if the new government is to be truly successful over time in Egypt, they do have to transition towards a democratic order, and obviously with respect for human rights and the rule of law."

Jordan's King Abdullah (R) meets Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Royal Palace in Amman January 23, 2014. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS)

"There was a lot of enthusiasm, unbridled enthusiasm in much of the West for the revolution in Egypt, and with very good reason. We were a little more cautious, and I think that caution has been borne out", for rather than the "revolution resulting in a democracy", it led instead to the creation of an "authoritarian Islamic state".

As far as the enthusiasm and hope evinced in the Western world over the events that occurred throughout the Middle East and North Africa in the last three years with the advent of the much-ballyhooed "Arab Spring", its results should be seen as a challenge to future caution, a result by which people should be "chastened".

Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper (L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shake hands during a joint news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah January 20, 2014. Harper is on a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

"We want elections to lead to democracy and to the things we understand that are important for human rights and prosperity and security in the long term." The international community needs to remind the Egyptian government it has an obligation to itself and its people to move in the "right direction", to ensure that matters do not deteriorate to the point where "forces on the street ... run out of control".

As for Iran, "nobody is under any illusion" about the six-month agreement that the international powers had negotiated over the country's nuclear program. "It is important that we all recognize this for what it is. This is a regime in Iran, an extremist fundamentalist regime with a violent and hateful ideology, and it wants to possess nuclear weapons."

Canada maintains a "watch and see" relationship to all these unfolding events.