Would the US hesitiate to support us for any reason by us not joining them in the war against Iraq?

   

It's unfortunate that our PM has no backbone. It's like when a member of the family needs support, or a good friend.........They may not be right, 100%, but as a friend or family member, you still stand with them and support them.

Canada's security, trade and economy is now in danger, as is our reputation around the world.....We've effectivly alienated our 2 biggest allies.....USA and UK. Chretien is leaving a legacy alright.

God Bless the soldiers.....Australia, UK and USA. My support is 100% for their soldiers. My thoughts are no longer for the politics of the issue, only the well being of the soldiers and their safe return. Go hard fellas, then come home.
I wish for them, a quick and decisive victory.

MacKenzie for PM

   

I have very mixed feelings on the war. Some days IÂ’m pro war, others IÂ’m anti.

Well i am never really pro war, I can just see sometimes, why it has come to that, and can see some of the good that come out of it. But the war on Iraq is only the second stage in the "USA's War" there changed foreign policy is now geared to taking out all the doctorial and oppressive regimes in different part of the world. They are trying to "Americanize" or democratize the entire world, starting with the Middle East. Sure that sounds all right, and someday would be a great thing, but waging war on all these countries is the answer? if so what give the USA the right to do this? Terrorism, Iraq, and what will follow is just the US's new communism. The view of the US government is there there are 2 types of nations in the world, good and evil, and the evil ones will be taken out, does this sound familiar? *cough Cold War *cough

   

also back when BUSH first talked about the Axis of Evil he said, either your with us or your with them. So does that mean Canada and almost every other country on the planet are all terrorist states, because we dont give our full support to the US's policies?

   

I support our troops , and hope for a quick victory with minimal casualties on both sides . Having said that , I totally disagree with the way the U.S. has gone about this whole situation . How is it that the United States has come up against so much resistance from the world body ? It seems to me it's because we have set ourselves up at the top of the world pecking order . As one pro - war Canadian said : 'Sometimes the big fish eat the little fish .' The seemingly myopic view is that Iraq will be democratized and serve as a model for the rest of the unwashed masses of dictatorships across the world .The problem with this is , will we teach them to be just like us ? If so , what will they learn from our present patriot act , our very biased media , corporate coruption , homelessness , street violence , support of repressive regimes around the world , etc . Considering America's many problems - are we really the best model for other countries to emulate ?

Looking on the bright side , the military victory should be quick judging from the sheer force arrayed against Iraq . No doubt most Iraqis will probably welcome the invasion in the initial months of the conflict , and the operation will be judged a success . To me , the interesting thing will be to see what will happen a few years down the road . No doubt a pro American regime in Iraq would greatly lessen U.S. dependence on Saudi Arabia , and provide ( along with Israel ) a stable position for American presence in the gulf region , without the hassles presently experienced in Saudi . In the meantime , Iraqi children will no longer starve due to the embargo , and they can be treated for cancer which has been linked to the allies use of depleted uranium shells in gulf war I . We might even discover the cause of gulf war syndrome and start treating our own people from the first gulf war .

Having said all that , I think this country is definitely moving in the wrong direction. We are temporarily masters of the world , and like so many empires before us - we will act in typical fashion . Fortunately , Bush has at most , 5 years left in his rein , and then hopefully someone will be elected to clean up the mess he has made .

   

Canada said it would not join without the UN support.

If the UN should support this war, then so will Canada.

I think it will be held against us. If we had a hardliner as PM then we wouldn't have to worry so much about the repercussions.

I don't know why we all bow down to the USA. Any ideas on this?

   

The U.S. controls most of the money , and we have the military power to enforce our will across the planet . If the U.S. air force's space command has it's way , we will control the heavens too . Canada's resistance to American policies has to be measured carefully because of the trading relationship between our two nations - that's reality . Alot of Canadian companies are being bought out by american corporations , and those corporations in turn have the ear of the politicians in Washington who owe them for their campaign donations . This is how the wheels of democracy are greased . As for America's overall agenda :

http://smh.com.au/articles/2003/03/07/1 ... 28748.html

   

[font=Comic Sans MS] Support America and their troops [/font]

   

http://www.areporter.com/sys-tmpl/theco ... hewilling/

   

Will the U.S. put the economic " smack down " on the Kiwis ?

http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2367133a10,00.html

   

Some very interesting info. Thanks to electricbuford for posting it. Whether the Americans gaing influence over Iraq is good or bad remains to be seen though. Personally I think the UN should have taken steps to insure that it would have some say in the aftermath though.

   

The UN can still gain influence in the Middle East, including Iraq. The first step is to call this war what it is...an illegal invasion of a sovereign state. The next is to place sanctions on all countries who participated. Let's see how well George and Tony do when others won't play with them.

After that they need to go after the Iraqi leadership and charge those who have committed crimes against humanity. Try them in the Hague even though they never signed the agreement, and make it absolutely clear just because you didn't sign doesn't mean you can't be prosecuted.

That would go a long way to stopping the US's attempts to make the UN irrelevant and make the present cabinet members (and quite a few past ones) afraid to leave their own safe haven.

No matter what though, the UN needs to be adamant that they are in charge of trying all war crimes and that they are responsible for both the interim government and seeing that the Iraqi people get to choose their own leaders from now on.

It's time to stop pissing around. The US does not run the world.

   

The US dosen't run the world but it still carries influence. I don't think Bush will let the UN anywhere near Iraq and the UN will let him do it. To many nations are concerned with there own pocket books and won't indanger them by taking action against the US or it's allies.

   

I don't think it's a matter of "letting" the US do anything. The world needs to get together on this and show everybody that the law applies equally to all, regardless of their status.