www.heatherwokusch.com/
Transcript:
Listen to today's Commentary
Introduction:
Prime Minister Martin steps onto the international stage today at the Summit
of Americas meeting in Monterrey, Mexico. It's a chance to meet President
Bush face to face. Heather Wokusch is an American freelance journalist who
lives in Austria. She says one issue that's hovering in the background is
the deteriorating relations between the U-S and France. And on Commentary
she warns Canada not to be trapped by Bush.
Heather Wokusch:
Last year it was France's strong opposition to the war in Iraq that angered
the U.S. but since then there's been a sharp jump in transatlantic tensions.
At Christmas-time six flights between Paris and Los Angeles were halted
because the FBI said it had found "suspicious" names on passenger lists. It
later turned out that none of suspected passengers posed any security risk
whatsoever - one was a child. France immediately accused the FBI of
sloppiness, and U.S. officials shot back by saying Air France was
infiltrated by Islamic extremists.
But then political fires were stoked last month when it was reported a
prominent French judge hadd indicated he might take U.S. Vice President Dick
Cheney to court over allegations of bribery and money laundering. It
concerns a time when Cheney was CEO of the energy giant Halliburton, and it
was negotiating a lucrative deal in Nigeria. This will not sit well with the
White House, especially in an election year.
But the Bush Administration is fighting back. Pentagon adviser Richard Perle
just released a book entitled, "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on
Terror", which claims, among other revelations, that France should be
treated as an enemy: "We should force European governments to choose between
Paris and Washington".
And this is where the new Canadian Prime Minister comes in.
Jean Chretien, of course, had angered the White House by refusing to send
troops to Iraq, and in response Canada got the cold shoulder from Bush. In
contrast, Martin has pledged to improve the relationship between Canada and
its southern neighbor, but he's walking on thin ice, because if Pentagon
advisers publicly warn Europe to choose the U.S. over France, where does
that put Canada?
The Bush administration's "You're with us or against us" policy leaves
little room to manoeuvre. And Perle's book also calls for aggressive action
against Syria and North Korea. Of course, the White House would love
Canadian troops to participate.
So Prime Minister Martin, and indeed every Canadian, has a choice: either
support the United States in its so-called pre-emptive wars or instead,
choose the path of international diplomacy. Either risk the lives of
Canadian troops in Bush's ongoing battles or simply refuse. Because
ultimately it isn't a choice between the United States and France, but
rather a choice between perpetual war or sustainable peace.
In my view, a strong and opinionated Canada is a powerful counterbalance to
U.S. intransigence, and one that will be ever more crucial in the years
ahead.
For Commentary, I'm Heather Wokusch in Vienna.
