March 29, 2003
LETTING SADDAM MAKE YOUR DECISIONS FOR YOU:
Relations with U.S. doomed until PM goes: MP 'Things won't change until our leadership changes,' Pratt says (Jack Aubry, March 29, 2003, The Ottawa Citizen)Damaged Canada-U.S. relations can not be repaired until Prime Minister Jean Chretien is replaced, says the Liberal chairman of the Commons defence committee.Nepean-Carleton MP David Pratt said relations have now fallen to a level not seen since Richard Nixon referred to Pierre Trudeau as that "a--hole" in the early 1970s and John F. Kennedy and John Diefenbaker sparred over Cold War missiles in the early 1960s.
"I don't think things will change until our leadership changes," Mr. Pratt said bluntly. [...]
[M]r. Pratt said it is important that Canada "patch this up just as quickly as we can."
He said one way to do that is for Canada to join the coalition of the willing if the Iraqis use chemical or biological weapons in the war.
There's something almost criminal about the way Germany, France and Canada are practically hoping that Saddam uses chemical weapons so they can get out of the amoral corner they've painted themselves into. How many dead Allied troops and/or Iraqi civilians is it worth just so that they can avoid saying they were wrong? And why doesn't Saddam attacking Kuwait with scuds count as a use of WMD? If Saddam hit Canada with missiles would they not come grovelling to us for help? Posted by Orrin Judd at March 29, 2003 10:55 AM
Ya, but Richard Nixon was an a__hole.
If the Shrub had waited and used a bit of subtle diplomacy there is a great likelihood that Canada, and other countries that were on the fence, would have gone along with Shrub. Instead, he chooses to use the "school yard bully" routine that only pisses off Canadians. No one in Canada thinks the Iraqi leadership is good for the world but Shrub and his secretary of war wanted us to buy the "threat to America" line and shut the hell up.
Sorry, you haven't shown us there was a real threat. A threat to your oil supplies maybe, a threat to his failing domestic policies for sure.
Now we can all agree there is a threat to America. You've awakened each and every two bit tin pot radical who holds a grudge and they're all going to be looking to even the score not for Saddam and his thugs but for the Iraqi people.
Good work fellas.
Well Mitch, you in the pure north have your a—— covered so don't worry about it. If it ever comes to your wanting to join in I would be happy if Rummie and the "shrub"(cute)
were to decline for the lack of space in the ring around Baghdad in which to place you Northoles.
Mitch:
You're absolutely right about Nixon--he was vile. But as we speak he's playing pinochle in hell with Trudeau.
To paraphrase: "It's not that our leaders are cowards and opportunists. We just wanted the US to beg grovel and plead for a few more months." Bull. While the Canadien public may have been straddling the fence. the wormlet Chretien and his anti-American friends are much closer to the French position than the British position on the war. The only thing that could have changed his opposition is an outcry from the Canadien people (read: political self preservation) and that did not happen. Canadien public opinion now seems to be moving in America's direction, to the credit of our great neighbor to the north.
Posted by: Pat H at March 29, 2003 5:51 PMMr. Judd;
What else can you expect from Castro's friends?
Since Canada has no military and therefore
could have contributed nothing to operations,
what was Canada's support worth?
That's right, Mitch, in international affairs,
Canada isn't worth a truckload of used
toilet paper.
Harry:
You're arguing reality when what matters in diplomacy is appearances. If we win the war but lose the hearts and minds of...oh, what a bunch of crap. When we win, opinion follows.
OJ
To quote Charles Krauthammer qouting someone else: "When you have them by the testicles, their hearts and minds will follow."
Possibly patton?