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Beryl P. Wajsman: Carney's stance on Lebanon shows he doesn't understand international law

It does not allow terrorist states to hide behind the shield of sovereignty

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Prime Minister Mark Carney’s anti-Israel bias has been evident on several occasions over the past year. While he may be an economist, Canadians have a right to expect that their prime minister at least have advisors who instruct him in international law before he stakes out a position on behalf of his government and country.

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When Carney recently denounced Israel’s entry into southern Lebanon to clear out Hezbollah positions that had launched thousands of rockets into Israel as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and an “illegal invasion,” he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Beryl P. Wajsman: Carney's stance on Lebanon shows he doesn't understand international law Back to video

International law is often invoked as a restraint on the use of force. Less frequently acknowledged — but equally central — is that it also provides states with the right to defend themselves in specific circumstances when attacked. That right does not evaporate when the source of violence lies just across a border, particularly when the neighbouring state is unwilling or unable to act.

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The specific circumstances in international law include, self-defence, anticipatory self-defence and global non-international armed conflict such as occurred when the United States, Canada and other allies went after Bin Laden in Afghanistan and ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

On self-defence, in the post-9/11 era we have seen it in state practice. Not just by the Americans, but by the........

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