US losing faith in Canada

[Garth Vader]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

Mr. Cellucci said the federal government had abandoned America in a time of need

Don't they have troops in Afghanistan? Plus, do we really need a helicoptor prone to crash in an enviroment that seems tailor made to make them do so?

Yeah we sent extra troops to Afghanistan so you could free more up for Iraq. It was our way of helping, without actually endorsing your attack.

It would be nice if our politicians would keep their foot out of their damn mouth though.

Economics will prevail in the end.

[Asher]

Re: Re: US losing faith in Canada

Originally posted by Willem
The U.S. Ambassador, Paul Cellini also had these things to say, as reported in the Toronto Star:

And:

He's also said similar things in the article I cited, but thanks for trying anyway.

Sure they're miffed at us, but the damage to our relations isn't going to be as bad as you might think. The same thing happened with the Vietnam War, and things eventually blew over.

I'm just curious as to what good Canada's position accomplishes.

Did anyone really think "Oh, Canada doesn't support it (indeed, they refuse to even give support to the 60 or 70 Canadian officers serving with the US forces!), so we'd better call this whole thing off!"?

[Willem]

Originally posted by SlowwHand

The ONLY reason Canadian's can collectively sit on their asses is because they share a border with the United States.

We're just exploiting one of our natural resources, what's wrong with that? Just because we happen to live next to you we have to say "how high" everytime you say "jump"? We do our part with the UN, why should we just sacrifice our long term association with it just because you say so? If it would have been cleared in the Security Council, we would have been behind you 100%.

[Willem]

Re: Re: Re: US losing faith in Canada

Originally posted by Asher

I'm just curious as to what good Canada's position accomplishes.

It sends the message that we support the UN.

[Asher]

Re: Re: Re: Re: US losing faith in Canada

Originally posted by Willem
It sends the message that we support the UN.

If we support the UN, why are we continually cutting back Canadian military committments to UN operations?

And again, what purpose does "sending the message that we support the UN" do?

[Sava]

If my friend wanted to commit some kind of serious, criminal act... am I less of a friend for protesting his immoral act?

And I think it's sickening that many people try to use friendship as blackmail.

[nationalist]

Maybe this is Canada's way to make America pay for not punishing the pilot who bombed Canadian troops. Canada is justified in doing what it wants. It is a sovereign state. However, it should be prepared for any negative actions that result from its stand.

[SlowwHand]

Wait a second. Hold the phone. Time out!

We're talking Canadian's, as a whole ?

OMG! I was thinking strictly of French Canadians.

[RedFred]

I have refrained from stating too much of a view on the war until now because people reach the boiling point on this issue so quickly. Too few have formed rigid opinions without studing the history of the region and sources of the problems, a key one being the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in 1918.

There are elements of Canadian society who are anti-American. I feel that they are very much in the minority.

Most of us realise that most of our trade is with the USA. Sadly due to the Liberals, far too much of our military protection comes from the Americans, not ourselves. We owe a lot to our neighbours.

There are elements of the 'no war in Iraq' camp that 'don't want to help the Americans', again, very much in the minority.

Most on the no war side feel that this war will cause more problems than it will solve. This war is not the same the war in Afghanistan or even the intervention in the former Yugoslavia. Terrorism may increase rather than decrease as a result. It is ever so much easier to create a situation such as Northern Ireland than to defuse it.

Not only has Bush's and Blair's approval rating increased since the war, have no doubt that Bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's popularity is increasing among their constituency. And to paraphrase an editorial from a recent moderate Middle Eastern newspaper editorial, do the math: One billion muslims. Say one percent turn to an extreme form of radical fundamentalism as a result of the war. Say 10% of those become terrorists. One million terrorists.

Poor terrorists strap a bomb to themselves and kill and maim up to hundreds of people. Look at the Palestinians in Israel. Rich terrorists, the kind who can afford to travel to the States will no doubt find spectacular ways of killing orders of magitude more people.

The real problems may start after the war is over. At minimum expect guerilla attacks on troops even after Bagdad is taken. Imposed democracy seldom succeeds. The US may be overly optimistic regarding reconciling the Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites. The middle east is not kind to optimists.

[Willem]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: US losing faith in Canada

Originally posted by Asher

If we support the UN, why are we continually cutting back Canadian military committments to UN operations?

It just means that there's room for improvement. Alot of room I must admit.

And again, what purpose does "sending the message that we support the UN" do?

In case you haven't noticed, the UN has been badly fractured, with the US questioning it's relevancy. It's been a diplomatic battle between the US and the UN essentialy. We're letting the world know which side we're on.

[Chris 62]

Canadian hypocrissy

Originally posted by Willem
It sends the message that we support the UN.

How does supporting France's unilateral veto of any attempt to bring Saddam to compliance support the UN?

[Sava]

My suspicion is that a lot of these "Anti-Ameicans" are simply "Anti-Bush". I could be wrong though. I probably am... oh hell, I'll save you guys the trouble. I"M WRONG

[chequita guevara]

Re: Canadian hypocrissy

Originally posted by Chris 62
How does supporting France's unilateral veto of any attempt to bring Saddam to compliance support the UN?

Unilateral? Russia also said it was going to veto, and the US couldn't even muster enough votes for the ultimatum to pass.

[flash9286]

In case you haven't noticed, the UN has been badly fractured, with the US questioning it's relevancy. It's been a diplomatic battle between the US and the UN essentialy. We're letting the world know which side we're on.

Did u forget the other 49 countires that support the war.

[Kontiki]

Re: Canadian hypocrissy

Originally posted by Chris 62
How does supporting France's unilateral veto of any attempt to bring Saddam to compliance support the UN?

Supporting France's view doesn't support the UN. Thankfully, that's never been the position of our government.