Syria, Iran on defence minister’s radar

Winnipeg Sun -- Defence Minister Peter MacKay has waded into two Middle East hotspots with remarks he made at the Halifax International Security Forum.

There is growing concern about civilian deaths in Syria where the regime of Bashar al-Assad has ignored pleas to halt a bloody crackdown on protesters.

Still, MacKay has warned that just because NATO got involved in Libya to stop assaults on civilians, doesn¹t mean Syria is next.

"We have to be careful not to transplant everything that occurred in Libya... and superimpose it on Syria, Iran, North Korea," said MacKay.

While MacKay has never called for intervention in Syria, earlier in the week he mused about "a possible (United Nations) Security Council resolution to mirror the path that we followed with respect to Libya."

MacKay also used the occasion to talk about Iran.

"When do you get to the point where you have exhausted all options and you have reached that moral tipping point that you have to act, that there isgoing to be a crisis," asked the defence minister. "Iran is an interesting example, that is also on the spectrum that is under consideration ... ofwhen it is justified to intervene in a sovereign country."

The International Atomic Energy Agency chastised Iran on Friday as suspicions increase the Islamic theocracy is trying to develop nuclear weapons, but stopped short of calling for international punishment.

Israel has warned military action is possible if diplomatic efforts fail to halt the Iranian threat.

Some fear an Iranian nuclear weapon would launch a new arms race.

"It would result in other countries trying to acquire nuclear weapons - Saudi Arabia, possibly Sudan," Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor atRoyal Military College, told Sun News Network.

On a positive note, Leuprecht added Iran's fear of destabilizing the Middle East may yet temper its nuclear enthusiasm.