Re: Oh Canada...
Well, JB, as usual everyone reacts from the hip without necessarily getting the facts straight.<br /><br />We don't know whether this is a case of name calling, nor do we know who might have been doing the name calling. It was a poll taken, and we have no idea how it was worded, nor how it was interpreted.<br /><br />Secondly, the Canadians were front and center when the WTC was hit, and they were the first ones in when we decided to go after the terrorists in Afghanistan. They did not even get too upset when American planes bombed and killed a bunch of Canadian troops in Afghanistan, and not much of a reaction when the American pilots got just a slap on the wrist for it.<br /><br />The US has repeatedly thumbed their noses at Canada, especially under this administration, in the form of restrictive trade practices seemingly everytime anyone in this country requests them...Many of which have been ruled both illegal and without merit by the WTO.<br /><br />The idea that many Canadians think we are the world's bullies is not a particularly new phenomena, nor did it originate with Iraq. Iraq has certainly helped reinforce the notion, however.<br /><br />Before we dismiss what the Canadians say --or anyone else, for that matter, out of hand, we ought maybe to analyze their concerns and see if there is any merit to any of what they say.<br /><br />We are in a global economy, like it or not, we need good relationships with our current trading partners, we need to develop new trade relationships, and if we wish to lead the world, we should make sure we are worthy of following--<br /><br />And what we are telling the world now, is, it doesn't matter to us that the intelligence was completely wrong, that we can do anything we want to do whenever we want to do it simply because we are strong enough to pull it off.<br /><br />You may or may not like this idea, but it is hardly the way to build lasting coalitions, and will ultimately come back to haunt us.
