One conservative with his head screwed on the right way, for a change.
December 14, 2004
Bush evoking World War II
By David Orchard
“Evoking World War II, Bush prods Canadians,� read the headlines after the U.S. president’s recent visit to Canada. Mr. Bush used the keynote speech of his Canadian visit to “stiffen Ottawa’s resolve,� read one commentary and, seeking to rally support for his position in Iraq, Mr. Bush quoted a 1942 speech by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King: “We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste.�
Listening to Mr. Bush use this quotation in defence of his actions in Iraq one can only be struck by incredulity.
Mackenzie King delivered his message in response to the actions of Nazi Germany -- at the time the greatest military power on earth. It had invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, committing atrocities later held to be war crimes.
King was urging his countrymen to stand up to the bully of Europe, to come to the aid of Great Britain which, battling under the leadership of Winston Churchill, stood almost alone against the might of the Third Reich.
Where is the parallel today? The U.S. is by far the world’s most powerful nation, with an arsenal and military budget roughly equal to that of the rest of the world combined. In comparative and absolute terms U.S. power vastly exceeds that of World War II Germany. It is the U.S. that has invaded a succession of countries in recent decades, in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia -- leaving six million killed and wounded in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos alone.
Under Prime Minister Diefenbaker Canada said no to the U.S. request to send troops to Vietnam. And history has proved our country correct in that decision.
con't
December 14, 2004
Bush evoking World War II
By David Orchard
“Evoking World War II, Bush prods Canadians,� read the headlines after the U.S. president’s recent visit to Canada. Mr. Bush used the keynote speech of his Canadian visit to “stiffen Ottawa’s resolve,� read one commentary and, seeking to rally support for his position in Iraq, Mr. Bush quoted a 1942 speech by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King: “We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste.�
Listening to Mr. Bush use this quotation in defence of his actions in Iraq one can only be struck by incredulity.
Mackenzie King delivered his message in response to the actions of Nazi Germany -- at the time the greatest military power on earth. It had invaded Czechoslovakia and Poland, committing atrocities later held to be war crimes.
King was urging his countrymen to stand up to the bully of Europe, to come to the aid of Great Britain which, battling under the leadership of Winston Churchill, stood almost alone against the might of the Third Reich.
Where is the parallel today? The U.S. is by far the world’s most powerful nation, with an arsenal and military budget roughly equal to that of the rest of the world combined. In comparative and absolute terms U.S. power vastly exceeds that of World War II Germany. It is the U.S. that has invaded a succession of countries in recent decades, in Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia -- leaving six million killed and wounded in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos alone.
Under Prime Minister Diefenbaker Canada said no to the U.S. request to send troops to Vietnam. And history has proved our country correct in that decision.
con't