I won't go off about how this visit is a symbolic slap in the face, since she's visited some 30 odd other countries first - and Canada is the other half of the world's longest unprotected border - that would just get me mad.
No, I'll stick to what she had to say, partly because it's so incredibly stupid, it's beyond reason.
Item #1:
"It is important not to speak in apocalyptic language about this issue. It is a trade dispute. Frankly, I think we'll get through it."
Bullfeathers! You come into my country, and tell me "we should act all nice about this" - and then this woman turns around and comes up with:
When asked how Washington's refusal to accept the NAFTA ruling will affect its credibility in the international community, Rice said the U.S. track record is solid.
"The word of the U.S. has been as good as gold in international dealings and agreements," said Rice.
How clueless is this bunch in Washington? Do they really think the world sees it that way?
The US stance since 2000 on anything that they haven't "got their way" on has been obdurate, intransigent and unreasonable. In the softwood lumber dispute, Canada has appealed to the very processes and rules established within the NAFTA agreement, has in fact won case after case on the topic, and BushCo wants a "negotiated" settlement?
It's a bit past negotiating time.
I'm more than a little peeved with the sense of entitlement that the Bush Administration is walking around with these days:
1. Ambassador Cellucci seemed to think he was "Governer-in-Residence", with every speech he gave being yet another admonition to Canada about how we should run our country.
2. Obdurate ignorance of the very trade agreements that they are party to.
3. Softwood Lumber, Mad Cow and several other assorted trade issues - all of which are basically bogus.
4. Testosterone-laden foreign policy that mostly seems to involve diplomacy implemented at the end of a gun.
Fortunately, Canada's governments in the past few years have had the collective wisdom to recognize that we neither should, nor need to, align ourselves with a government in the United States that is so obviously clueless about anything outside of Crawford, Texas.
3 comments:
Unless of course we are stupid enough to elect Stephen Harper and his merry band of Yankee wannabes. The provincial and federal Tories are so far up dubya's ass, they're seeing out his eyes.
Harper's solution to any problem we have with the US is to agree with them without question. Klein's government does agree with the Americans without question, even if that agreement causes pain to Albertans.
JN
www.nishiyama.tzo.com
Fortunately, Alberta does not constitute a majority of voters in Canada.
Quite the visible dignitary, isn't she?
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