Hooray for Canada

[flickster]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2004/05/11/pf-455210.html

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he believes Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they’ve fallen into terrorists’ hands. Martin said the threat of terrorism is even greater now than it was following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because terrorists have acquired nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the toppled Iraqi leader.

Martin disagreed with former prime minister Jean Chretien, who publicly blamed poverty for terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks. “The cause of terrorism is not poverty, it is hatred.”

He said he’ll lead the charge to convince countries to join forces to combat terrorism and make sure the Third World has the tools to stamp it out.

[Ale]

So?

In one hand there´s a prime minister that seems to have taken the Rule on Faith trend

Paul Martin says he believes Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they’ve fallen into terrorists’ hands.

No shred of proof, no nothing, pure fantasy and/or wishful thinking I´d dare to say, he missed the wagon so to speak, about what was not-found in Iraq during the last year. No WMD not even programs so when he rambles about terrorist now having even nukes from Saddam, well it doesn´t look good on the man.

“Hooray!” for that? :dubious:

Martin disagreed with former prime minister Jean Chretien, who publicly blamed poverty for terrorism and the Sept. 11 attacks. “The cause of terrorism is not poverty, it is hatred.”

Yeah, and stop the presses now, the Pope is Catholic. Is stating the obvious deserving of “Hoorays!” this days?

[Captain_Lance_Murdoch]

Prime Minister Paul Martin says he believes Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and they’ve fallen into terrorists’ hands. Martin said the threat of terrorism is even greater now than it was following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, because terrorists have acquired nuclear, chemical and biological weapons from the toppled Iraqi leader.

There is no evidence that Iraqi WoMD have been transferred to terrorists.

[Grey]

Nicely ambiguous. From the Globe and Mail

“I think there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein contributed to that whole problem. But I think that if we look at the situation today in comparison with even two, three years ago, that the problems of terrorism are probably even more serious,” he said.

Mr. Martin not only answered that there is more terrorism now, but added that terrorists will find fertile soil in failed states and the possibility of terrorists gaining access to nuclear and other weapons creates a lasting spectre of danger.

“The problem is increasingly failed states, or states that are on the edge of failure, the fact that now we know well that there is proliferation of nuclear weapons and that many of the weapons that Saddam Hussein had, for example, we do not know where they are, so that means the terrorists have access to all that.”

We have a possible denouncement of Bush’s adventure and yet it sounds like he’s endorsing the Bush view of hating freedom or some such. It plays well to Liberals and fence sitters and sounds nice to a US administration that has yet to open the border to Canadian beef amid other irritants.

For non-Canadians, we’re expecting an election call soon and besides, the weirdness always peaks in the summer anyway.

[Rashak_Mani]

Hooray for an Ass-kisser ? Hooray for Canada selling itself to Bush ? hhmmpphh

[clayton_e]

So PM Martin says he believes Saddam had WMD and that he gave them away right before the U.S. moved in.

Fine, believe that if you want.

Not going to consider any evidence to the contrary or provide any to back up your statement?

Fine, I’ll just ignore you then.

[Sam_Stone]

The post-Chretien Canada is repositioning itself. Chretien’s overt hostility to the United States was a big detriment to Canada. It’s amazing how intractible things like softwood lumber disputes and mad cow border closings can become when you go out of your way to piss off your neighbors as Chretien did. So one of the first things Paul Martin did when he became premier was to announce his intent to seek a better, closer relationship with the U.S.

There has also been talk of Canada taking on a peacekeeping role in Iraq - something many people don’t know is that Canada has one of the best peacekeeping forces in the world. In fact, peacekeeping is one of our military’s prime functions, and we have a lot of experience at it. Now obviously we don’t have the numbers of troops to offload any substantial burden from the U.S., but as a supplemental force Canada could do a lot of good, especially since we are still perceived by many as being independent and fair.

Canada’s officials have been taking a more hawkish stance lately. I heard our foreign minister comment on the beheading of the American in Iraq, and he sounded to the right of George Bush, saying “When you are dealing with people who will cut the heads off others for the camera, you may need to use a stronger hand than is currently being used”. Or something to that effect.

[Inigo_Montoya]

Why is it so hard to believe WMD (which I initially thought was White Male Democrats…I was confused as to why they would be a threat in Iraq) could not have been moved to Syria? Ain’t there oil pipelines from Iraq to Syria? Ain’t they pretty good size? Just wrap the damn things in plastic or whatever and slip 'em into the flow. Just like smuggling heroin through your guts.

[Hamish]

Just for the record, nobody except his own riding and his own party have voted for Martin. He’s an interim leader, selected by his own party when Chrétien left. He’s already scandal-ridden, vague on all policy issues, and his popularity is dropping like a stone.

He doesn’t speak for me, and he does not yet have a mandate to speak for the country. And a lot of people, myself included, are going to work very hard to ensure that he never gets that mandate.

[RickJay]

@Sam Stone

The post-Chretien Canada is repositioning itself. Chretien’s overt hostility to the United States was a big detriment to Canada.

“Overt hostility” means you actually attack people with bombs and missiles. Chretien’s administration was “overtly hostile” towards, say, Serbia in 1999. Canada-US relations were not “overtly hostile” and haven’t been since 1815. Not every government position that differs from your opinion is extremist.

As to the thread, Hamish makes a good point. Martin has no mandate to make long term policy of any sort.

[Ale]

@Inigo Montoya

Why is it so hard to believe WMD (which I initially thought was White Male Democrats…I was confused as to why they would be a threat in Iraq) could not have been moved to Syria? Ain’t there oil pipelines from Iraq to Syria? Ain’t they pretty good size? Just wrap the damn things in plastic or whatever and slip 'em into the flow. Just like smuggling heroin through your guts.

Wasn´t that part of the plot of a Bond movie? :dubious:

[cowgirl]

Please don’t say ‘Hooray Canada.’ Martin doesn’t speak for Canada. Very, very few of us voted for him.

Democracy in action, indeed.

Or, what Hamish said.