By James Travers

OTTAWA, ONTARIO –Talking to the enemy isn’t sleeping with the enemy. It’s an obvious distinction this federal government wilfully ignores every time it distorts foreign policy in the relentless pursuit of domestic votes.

Once a calm, respected voice in the diplomatic babble, Canada is now inclined to shout first and angrily. That’s what it did when Palestinians exercised their democratic right to turf the corrupt, incompetent Fatah. That’s what it’s doing again in Afghanistan where the administration and insurgents are taking halting first steps away from civil war and toward political accommodation.

Canada’s refusal to talk to Hamas or the Taliban is appealing. Both have histories and agendas this country rightly rejects. Opprobrium makes that perfectly clear and, to the extent of Ottawa’s modest offshore influence, encourages better behaviour.

But lesser motives are top of mind for a prime minister and a Conservative government that sees international affairs through the prism of partisan politics. Ostracizing Hamas is mostly about breaking the connection between Jewish voters and the Liberal party. Rejecting the Taliban as a negotiating partner reinforces that tough image essential to a ruling party selling itself as standing up for Canada.

Those tactics serve Conservatives better than the country. As hard as it may be to grasp or even stomach, the rise of Hamas to power and the emergence of the Taliban as an interlocutor are small success stories within an otherwise relentlessly bleak global narrative.

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