“Every time Western governments have made grand statements about democracy and human rights, while supporting some of the most brutal, most anti-democratic regimes in the world, has only hardened the cynicism of the people of the Middle East about the West, and driven them into the waiting arms of the appalling jihadis.” — Dr. Russel Norman MP

Yesterday, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key bypassed Parliament and committed 140 troops to Iraq to help train the Iraqi army in their fight against the murderous terror organization ISIS (aka ISIL).

Among the vehement opposition to this maneuver was Green Party Co-leader Russel Norman, who argued in yesterday’s Parliament session that past Western intervention has been a major cause of jihadism, and that further entanglement in the Middle East will only produce “the opposite effect of what we claim to be aiming for.”

Norman, also a crusader for the environment and animal rights, began by citing the U.S.-U.K. overthrow of democratically elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953 as a definitive illustration of a foreign policy paradigm he believes is hypocritical and counterproductive.