GET OUT NOW, BROTHER MARTINOVICH:

The real moral superpower is America (Steven Martinovich, January 6, 2003, Enter Stage Right)

A recent poll of Canadian attitudes towards American foreign policy finally illustrates that when it comes to the war on terrorism Canada does not in fact stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States as Prime Minister Jean Chr?tien once pledged.

Although nearly half of respondents believed that as the world's sole superpower the United States had a responsibility to ensure global security, nearly seven in ten agreed with the statement that America was "starting to act like a bully with the rest of the world." Further, the poll found Canadians lukewarm about the prospect of a war against Iraq.

The poll, said experts like Michael Sullivan of Strategic Counsel, showed that while Canadians shared many of the same priorities as Americans, such as combating terrorism, they didn't necessarily share many of the same values.

"As Canadians, we take pride in our role as peacemaking and peacekeeping. I think that that is part of our personality. We take pride in medicare, we take pride in our peacekeeping role. And when we look at the U.S., we don't see those kind of values necessarily reflected," said Sullivan.

The most bizarre thing about this is that their National Health system is crumbling around their ears and they're talking about bringing all their peacekeeping troops home because they can't afford them. So, a couple years from now, what will there be left to take pride in?

MORE:
Defence denies Snowbirds being axed: 'Political dynamite': Plan to replace Tutor jets put on hold: documents (Tom Blackwell, January 11, 2003, National Post)

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 11, 2003 12:04 AM