A rchive Date
[ 23-02-2005 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Canada ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/goodden.html
Canada fickle in backing Americans
By Herman Goodden -- London Free Press
February 28, 2002
It's interesting to recall that in the horror of Sept. 11, the first statement from U.S. President George W. Bush sounded downright Canadian in its mealy-mouthed passivity.
He hadn't hit his stride yet or taken charge of the crisis in a reassuring way as he mysteriously shuttled about in Air Force One.
He didn't talk at first about "taking out" the "evil-doers," who provided training and money for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. He ordered nothing more bracing than a full-scale investigation to "hunt down the folks who committed this act."
Later that afternoon, The Free Press published an extra edition for the first time since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Leafing through the 16 pages of that edition now, it's almost surreal to see how the roles were briefly switched; how Bush uncharacteristically shirked the full scope of the crisis, while Prime Minister Jean Chretien faced it head on.
"It is impossible to fully comprehend the evil that would have conjured up such a cowardly and depraved assault upon thousands of innocent people," Chretien said in a written statement. "There can be no cause or grievance that could ever justify such unspeakable violence . . . We stand ready to provide any assistance our American friends may need at this very, very difficult hour and in the subsequent investigation."
Later that week, The Free Press ran a two-page insert displaying the flags of the U.S. and Canada under a headline: We're with you. Many home and business owners displayed that insert in their windows. Many still hang there, symbolizing our once-urgent impulse of international fraternity, which is receding back into complacent self-interest.
Once our under-equipped Armed Forces were able to get to Afghanistan, actually capture three suspected al-Qaida members and hand them over to the U.S. military, it wasn't an occasion for Canadians to stand taller in the awareness we were finally doing our promised bit in the war against terrorism.
Instead, it became a cue for endless squabbling in the Commons about when our defence minister and prime minister knew about the capture and did we trust the Americans to treat the suspected terrorists with sufficient gentleness and respect.
As the shock waves of Sept. 11 fade, it isn't just Canada that's proving myopically fickle in supporting this war.
On Sept. 12, France's national paper, Le Monde, trumpeted European support with the rallying cry, "We are all Americans now."
Since Bush's state of the union address last month in which he referred to Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil" and reiterated his commitment to rout terrorist cells or regimes wherever they might be found, European support has been wavering.
Nervous Nellies who cautioned against smoking the Taliban out of their caves last October --- citing mass starvation, a massive Arab backlash or the impropriety of hunting terrorists during Ramadan -- were proven spectacularly wrong.
Some of those same cavils are being re-circulated now that Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, has joined Osama bin Laden on America's most wanted list.
Painful and traumatic as the last six months have been for Americans, it's been possible in one sense to envy them. They will never forget the evil of Sept. 11. They know where they stand; they know who their leader is and are doing an inspiring job of pulling themselves together in a politically unified way for the long struggle that lies ahead.
And make no mistake, this war will continue; with or without the support of international friends who believe by making nice gestures last September, they discharged obligations they might have to the prime exemplar and bulwark of democracy in the world today.
Herman Goodden is a London freelance writer. His column appears in Monday's and Thursday's Opinion pages. It no longer appears in Sunday's A&E section. He can be e-mailed at herman.goodden@sympatico.ca
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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