You're Not Trusted, PM Tells U.S. (Canada officially joins the Axis of Weasel!)

The Globe and Mail ^ | February 14, 2003 | Shawn McCarthy

[quidnunc]

Chrétien calls for UN involvement hours after Bush urges U.S. allies to show backbone in facing Iraqi threat

Chicago – As the threat of war grows, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stood on U.S. soil Thursday night and warned the United States that it is not trusted in the world and needs United Nations legitimacy for a war on Iraq.

In a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Mr. Chrétien urged the Americans to refrain from a quick military response if the UN's chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, reports Friday that Iraq has violated UN resolutions aimed at forcing it to destroy weapons of mass destruction.

"The price of being the world's only superpower is that its motives are sometimes questioned by others," Mr. Chrétien told his audience.

"Great strength is not always perceived by others as benign. Not everyone around the world is prepared to take the word of the United States on faith."

The Prime Minister spoke just hours after U.S. President George W. Bush urged U.S. allies to "show backbone and courage in the face of true threats to peace and freedom."

The crisis over Iraq is expected to deepen Friday morning, when Mr. Blix is to appear before an open UN Security Council meeting attended by the world's most influential foreign ministers.

Although he is expected to give a mixed report on Iraqi co-operation, the Bush administration has signalled its intention to put skeptics on the defensive, demanding they explain why Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be given more time to work with the inspectors.

Mr. Chrétien, who delivered his speech amid heavy security, said Canada firmly supports the goals of the United States in Iraq, and he applauded Mr. Bush's leadership. But he told his audience that if the United States, without UN support, wages war against a Muslim nation, it would raise the spectre of a "clash of civilizations."

Foreign Minister Bill Graham, speaking earlier in Ottawa, went further and said a unilateral attack on Iraq could lead to the toppling of unstable governments in the Middle East and Asia.

"I see a destabilized Middle East; I see problems in Indonesia, in India, in Pakistan," Mr. Graham told reporters in Ottawa, referring to the risks of anti-Western violence and possible acts of terrorism raised by a war against Iraq.

Mr. Graham said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and others in Washington know there are risks of an Iraq conflict spreading to countries where extremists threaten unstable governments. He said he had told Mr. Powell: "The U.S. would be better served if it stayed within the UN process."

-snip-

[quidnunc]

Quote:

As the threat of war grows, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stood on U.S. soil Thursday night and warned the United States that it is not trusted in the world and needs United Nations legitimacy for a war on Iraq.

If an American president in Canada said something like this about Canada, Canucks would go out of their rabbit-assed minds with rage.

The Prime Minister spoke just hours after U.S. President George W. Bush urged U.S. allies to "show backbone and courage in the face of true threats to peace and freedom."

Jean Chrétien is a rat bastard!

Query: Is Canada still an ally of the U.S. or is she in cahoots with France and Germany in their plot to diminish the influence of America on the world stage and get rid of Tony Blair so as to insure the primacy of the Paris/Berlin axis in Europe?

[TheBattman]

United States that it is not trusted in the world and needs United Nations legitimacy

No, it's the UN that lacks legitimacy and needs to get a backbone in dealing with Saddam/Iraq.

What these creaps are trying to prevent is the end result of possible US leadership in taking care of the problem. The simple result is proof positive to the world that the UN is irrelivant. The other sad fact for them is that our so-called "allies" in the UN - France and Germany to name two in particular - know they will be hung out to dry when we go in and find even more evidence of thier ugly ties to Saddam and his WMD programs.

[weikel]

Well if they piss off enough America will become much bigger.

[speedy]

Time to go back to the "Vive le Quebec libre" card? They want to mess with us, we can mess with them.

[Zack Nguyen]

You are right. It's the UN that must prove itself. Either they will stand with us against Iraq, or they will lose most of their legitimacy.

[ffusco]

Canada along with Brazil is part of the French sphere of inflence. Not to be trusted.

[Post Toasties]

As the threat of war grows, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stood on U.S. soil Thursday night and warned the United States that it is not trusted in the world and needs United Nations legitimacy for a war on Iraq.

With all due respect, Canada, France and Germany are speaking as nations that do not believe that significant terrorism will occur again if nothing is done about the proliferation of terrorism supporting regimes. Since that is, at best, unprovable, and we have seen with 9/11 the results of following the types of policies that these countries are currently advocating, to the extent that they are suggesting any proactive response at all, the US, with the authorization of UN Resolution 1441, should feel free to discount such counsel.

[A2J]

As the threat of war grows, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stood on U.S. soil Thursday night and warned the United States that it is not trusted in the world and needs United Nations legitimacy for a war on Iraq.

And this from a country which has based its entire existence and legitimacy upon its ability to leech off of the U.S..

[saluki_in_ohio]

Time to go back to the "Vive le Quebec libre" card? They want to mess with us, we can mess with them.

When GWB goes to Canada in May to speak to their left-lib parliament, he should say that he would support Western Canadian independence, That will really pi** them off...

[A2J]

No, it's the UN that lacks legitimacy and needs to get a backbone in dealing with Saddam/Iraq.

It's impossible to surgically implant a spine into a jellyfish.

[mabelkitty]

Let's start trouble.

Let's enrourage Canadians to overthrow their form of government in favor of freedoms enjoyed by Americans.

Let's make fun of their stinkin little French speaking territory.

[Post Toasties]

Plus, only an idiot would trust such corrupt leadership as France and Germany, and to a lesser extent, Canada currently has. The first two countries have barely suppressed colonialist delusions of grandeur and have had to have the US take much more drastic action than is now contemplated to straighten out the sorry messes they have made in the world during the last century. The Canadian government is may not even be competent to keep its country united. Given the above of the three are to be trusted, particularly in foreign affairs, to the least extent.

So, sorry, boys. Clean up your act, present a half way rational forward looking case, and you might have something worth more than than is fit to line a birdcage with.

[aculeus]

Bumper sticker: I Am a Weasel and I vote.

[Post Toasties]

Sorry, typed too fast. errata corrected:

Plus, only an idiot would trust such corrupt leadership as France and Germany, and to a lesser extent, Canada currently has. The first two countries have barely suppressed colonialist delusions of grandeur and have had to have the US take much more drastic action than is now contemplated to straighten out the sorry messes they have made in the world during the last century. The Canadian government may not even be competent to keep its country united. Given the above, none of the three are to be trusted, particularly in foreign affairs, to the least extent.

So, sorry, boys. Clean up your act, present a half way rational forward looking case, and you might have something worth more than than is fit to line a birdcage with.

[dighton]

Love it. The NY Post is in top form.

[ChinaThreat]

You are absolutely correct. The only problem being the alpha wolf in the pack, is that you dont have any 'true' friends in the pack. Everyone wants your protection, but they all would like to see your demise to advance their position in the pack. However, France, Russia and Germany don't want us to occupy Iraq becuase we are going to find alot of Saddam's goodies are stamped "MADE IN FRANCE/GERMANY/RUSSIA".

[ricpic]

This is tragic. Two hundred years of a remarkably good relationship, all things considered, pissed down the drain. And for what? So that some third rate pol can say: "See. I showed those Yanks."

Tragic and pathetic.

[GoAhead-Make My Day]

I don't think he was saying it with spite, I mean, it's quite obvious to me that plenty of countries in the world don't trust us, that's why we haven't been able to attack Iraq yet. Is he really saying anything we didn't already know?

[geedee]