Terrorism is today only in Afghanistan?

   
Edmonton - Tuesday, February 19, 2002 - by: Ron Thornton
   

 

"We are with (the USA) on terrorism. And terrorism today is in Afghanistan."

Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada

 

 

out
of
loop

So claims the Prime Minister of Canada who apparently believes terrorism, like a stop on some world concert series, can today only be found within the borders of a single nation. Maybe no one in his cabinet bothered to tell him about the latest suicide bomber on the West Bank. Maybe they left him out of the loop on the news some nations outside of Afghanistan support and train terrorists.

 

 

cowboy
vigilantes

Then again, maybe our Prime Minister knows something we don't know. Maybe the Americans have no evidence and are merely a band of cowboy vigilantes besmirching the good name of Saddam Hussein. Maybe our Prime Minister feels we can only support action based on real evidence, only under the auspices of the United Nations, or only when our own security is at risk.

 

 

bad
hair
day

Maybe Canada no longer has the will for war, or maybe we simply can't afford it. Maybe we wish the rest of the world to do the fighting while we receive the benefits of their sacrifice. Maybe the Prime Minister sees that the risks attached to such an exercise far outweigh any benefits. Maybe we have made plans to wash our hair that day.

 

 

village
Idiot

There are questions we, including our leaders, should be asking ourselves before becoming involved in a conflict with Iraq or anyone else. However, our Prime Minister claiming on one hand to be with the Americans on terrorism while on the other claiming terrorism can be found only in Afghanistan merely makes us come across as the village idiot of the industrialized world.

 

 

 

Ron Thornton
   
Reference:
  PM Doubtful On Move On Iraq, by: Shawn McCarthy, Globe and Mail
   
  CBC story on Prime Minister's support for the war on terrorism shortly after September 11, attack.
   
  Canoe has a short and consise biography of the Prime Minister.
   
  A rather interesting view of Jean Chretien as seen by the ABC