- Reaction score
- 146
- Points
- 710
Jean Chrétien, that is. Russia and France did. A letter of mine in the Ottawa Citizen:
Decision by default
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=b1b3ced1-0094-4b9f-86fd-30a855fd5d53&sponsor=
Mark
Ottawa
Decision by default
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=b1b3ced1-0094-4b9f-86fd-30a855fd5d53&sponsor=
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Re: Liberal ad links Harper, Bush, Oct. 6.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=9c02edab-130b-4871-ab6f-9a4753222d28
The Liberal ad says: "Remember how proud you felt when the Liberals told Bush 'no way' on Iraq." That was not what happened at all.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien made no independent decision not to take part in the Iraq war. He simply said Canada would go along with whatever the UN Security Council authorized.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/attack/2003/0218Canada.htm
The council did not authorize an attack and no vote was even held because of certain French and Russian vetoes. The Canadian government then said "no" definitively because there was no UN resolution -- the decision was made by default.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030318.ucana0318/BNStory/politics
In other words, a vital decision of Canadian foreign policy was put into the hands of France and Russia. Some brave, independent, policy. Yet somehow the myth has taken hold that Mr. Chrétien courageously stood up to George W. Bush and on his own kept us out of war. A myth the Liberals are now relying on to help save their election campaign.
Mark Collins, Ottawa
Mark
Ottawa