CBC: Ignatieff's 'war crime' remarks cost him key supporter

[tuvor]

Federal Liberal leadership hopeful Michael Ignatieff's latest comments on the Israeli air strike in Qana have cost him a key campaign member.

Susan Kadis, a Thornhill MP and his Toronto campaign co-chair, withdrew her support Wednesday after Ignatieff accused Israel in a televised interview on Sunday of committing a "war crime" in the July 30 bombing in Lebanon.

"Michael is an intelligent person and I would think that he would have a better handle on the Middle East given his years of experience on human rights and international law," Kadis said in a written statement.

Ignatieff was trying to clarify previous controversial remarks about Qana on Radio-Canada program Tout le monde en parle on Sunday.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/11/ignatieff-defection.html

[MrPrax]

1. Schwartz, Riesman..now Kadis?

Confident, assured lobbyists fighting for a impassioned Single Issue® that never needs to worry about burning bridges, because they have no need of bridges.

Such loyality and dedication.

Definitely the type of people you want watching your back, while they are stabbing it for issues that can't be debated, left to the whims of democracy, or are at odds with the foreign policy dictates of a foreign country.

I guess the Lobby is so powerful they don't even need to worry about appearances either...

[Spazito]

2. It WAS a war crime, imo

The attack on the UN post was a war crime, Israel knew it was there, the UN observers made numerous phone calls re protecting the post and it was bombed anyway.

I hope Ignatieff doesn't win the Lib leadership but he is right on this issue.

[Iceburg]

3. Words do matter...

Regardless of Ignatieff's intentions, this man through his own poor choice of words, has alienated many Canadian voters. Only in journalism, would such daring words and ideas be rewarded. In journalism, controversy sells papers. In politics, at the very least, controversy can cost votes, at the worst, it can start wars.

Ignatieff has managed to alienate virtually every ethnic group in Canada with his bumbling public statements and re-statements. Further, he lost any promise of securing the youth and the left voters before the race began with his advocacy for the Iraq war. He lost many of the Quebec liberal voters with his vote to extend the Afghanistan mission without a debate; and he lost even more centre Liberals country-wide with proposal to amend our Constitution. Michael Ignatieff has made a living feeding off the words of the American constitution, his constitution (as he himself as referred to it in many of his articles and interviews), and now he wants to play a word-game with ours. Are we to take comfort in his desire to "avoid civil war"? In my humble rural opinion, opening the Constitution at this point in time (something that even Harper wouldn't dare consider) will do more destruction to this country than rolling back some of the social advances the liberals have achieved. Let me be frank, I can function without my C38 wedding certificate, but I can't live without my country intact!
If it does comes down to a Harper versus Ignatieff contest, I will not waste my vote in protest by staying at home or voting Green, but will choose the candidate that is least likely to destroy this country -- in this case, Harper.

Alas, with each day, my initial concerns about Mr. Ignatieff grow stronger ... and again, I know am not alone. Like many Canadians this morning I did read that his campaign co-chair (Thornhill MP Susan Kadis) had resigned over the controversial remark he made on Sunday on Radio-Canada's Tout le monde en parle. After a 3 week delayed response on the Qana killings, Ignatieff announced that he didn't lose sleep over the loss of life and now he's done penance and declared the Israeli action to be a "war crime". Dare I say, it takes a very special case of ineptness to tick-off BOTH the Arabs and the Israelis over the same event!

Thanks to Ignatieff's daily deposits into the munitions dump, Harper's cannons are now fully loaded with all the word fodder they need to secure a majority. Squarely in the conservative camp's crosshairs, Ignatieff is too big a target to miss.

I trust that the co-chair's recent departure will serve as a beacon to Ignatieff's remaining delegates and champions. If there is a time to reflect on decisions made, it is surely is now.

Words do matter, and so does timing.