Posted on 01/11/2003 11:40:54 AM PST by albertabound
Do we stand with our friends?
To war or not to war: That's the moral question that trumps all others
By JOHN IBBITSON
Saturday, January 11, 2003 – Page A21
The shift in Canada's foreign policy announced by Defence Minister John McCallum this week has raised a fundamental question about the future of our country in its relations with the world, a question each of us must answer for ourselves.
Following consultations with U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Mr. McCallum made the following declaration: If the UN Security Council authorized military action against Iraq, Canada would participate. If the UN did not act, and the United States formed its own military coalition, then Canada would decide whether or not to join.
The first circumstance is unexceptional; Canada has always supported UN Security Council resolutions. The second is pivotal. Should Canada risk the lives of its military men and women in a war against Iraq led by the United States?
First, we must set aside the question of whether Saddam Hussein should be deposed. There are compelling arguments for and against his ouster. The real question is more basic: Do we stand with the United States when they need us, using that solidarity as a lever to influence their thinking, or do we adopt a position of "situational solidarity," acting with the United States only when we agree with its aims and actions?
The world's most influential advocate of solidarity is British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "The price of influence," he said in a speech to Britain's diplomatic corps, "is that we do not leave the U.S. to face the tricky issues alone."
Why not? Because "for all their faults -- and all nations have them -- the U.S. are a force for good; they have liberal and democratic traditions of which any nation can be proud."
Those liberal and democratic traditions are almost exclusively the preserve of what Winston Churchill called "the English-speaking peoples": Great Britain and its major settler colonies -- the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
These nations led the world in developing liberal democracy and market capitalism. They led great alliances in the enormous wars of the last century. Now they are leading the world toward a future of universal democracy, open markets, and collective peace.
When the leader of this coalition, the United States, concludes that they, we, and everyone else are in imminent danger from a rogue state and that action must be taken, many of us believe we have a duty to stand with them.
After all, as Mr. Blair observed, "If the U.S. act alone, they are unilateralist, but if they want allies, people shuffle to the back."
So9
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