Yes:
No:
Thoughts?
- The US is our largest trading partner, therefore we should support anything that helps preserve their economy so we may continue to exploit this huge market;
- Canada deserves to be at the table in regards to continental defence, so participating in the program gives Canada a voice into decisions about the system and deployment;
- The reality is that the US Administration is going to go ahead with it whether we like it or not, so best to stay onside with them rather than be isolated;
- Since Canada effectively handed over continental defence in 1964, we must, by necessity, depend on the US umbrella for protection.
No:
- It is far too expensive;
- The systems do nothing to deal with the potential terrorist threat of, say, a suitcase bomb, conventional attacks on US soil or attacks on US interests in other places around the world;
- The effect of the system will destabilize an already powder-keg situation, thereby providing a window for a terrorist attack before the system becomes operational;
- The root of the problem - inequity, human rights, fanaticism, the perception (rightly or wrongly) of the US being a global bully, led by Christian fudamentalists bent on bringing about the Second Coming - is ignored.
Thoughts?