Chrétien tells U.S. not to go it alone
Last Updated Thu, 13 Feb 2003 22:16:11
Posted on 02/13/2003 8:51:03 PM PST by mhking
Chrétien tells U.S. not to go it alone
Last Updated Thu, 13 Feb 2003 22:16:11
 PM Jean Chrétien in Chicago |
CHICAGO - Prime Minister Jean Chrétien made a major foreign policy speech in Chicago on Thursday evening, and he used the occasion to tell the United States that when it comes to dealing with Iraq it is better served "by acting through the United Nations."
The speech before the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations came just hours before chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is scheduled to deliver another report to the UN Security Council. Chrétien took pains to outline the long and close ties between the two countries before moving on to the subject of a possible war with Iraq. Chrétien appeared to be moving Canada closer to the views of several European nations that have been asking the United States to give the UN weapons inspectors more time. "Today's United Nations needs a committed United States, and I would argue that the world needs an effective United Nations," he said. The prime minister told his American audience that in spite of U.S. frustration with the UN "the long-term interests of the United States will be better served by acting through the United Nations, than by acting alone." Acting without international support, said Chrétien, could make any war with Iraq a war of East versus West, or the strong versus the weak. "It is imperative to avoid the perception of a 'clash of civilizations.' Maximum use of the United Nations will minimize that risk." Chrétien said decisions made now will have "profound consequences for the future." The Canadian government has been under pressure to make a firm decision on whether it will go to war alongside its long-time allies, the U.S. and Britain. Chrétien's speech did not commit Canada one way or the other, but it appears to put Ottawa on the side of those nations urging caution and a second UN resolution. Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham says the government sees problems ahead if the U.S. pushes ahead on its own. "I see a destabilized Middle East. I see problems in Indonesia, in India, in Pakistan. These problems might happen even if there is a UN authorized resolution," Graham said earlier in the day in Ottawa. Deputy Prime Minister John Manley was also clear that Canada will not be pushed into taking sides until after the UN inspectors deliver their report. "It's very hard for us to say definitively this is what Canada's view is going to be when we don't have his (Blix's) report, and I would defend our right to be unclear about it until we've got the facts." For the Opposition, the question is still whether the government intends to join the U.S. in any military operation in Iraq. "Is it engaged in the Iraq crisis, and if so, how?" asked Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper.
Meekly Canada, like piddling France, can enjoy the benefits of a relatively peaceful and hopeful world, while others sacrifice their lives to make it so. When Americans are on the front line, Chreepien will be sipping his club soda...
Au revoir frog eater. OUR LEADERS will determine how to best serve the long term interests of the United States, not the UN.
Jokes aside, there are those who want strip us of nationhood. If the US capitulates its independence to the UN......it'll be game over.
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