Not surprisingly, Canadian press was scornful of Chretien for “not acting swiftly enough” to protect the country’s national interest following 9/11. CanWest director David Asper insured that the wardrums raged in his 13 dailies and 11 television stations in eight provinces, which reach 94 per cent of English-speaking Canadians. Canada was slow to react, Asper said, because of a “latent stream of anti-Americanism that’s become part of Canadian culture.” It was, according to Asper and his mass media army, anti-American at the time not to commit the nation’s army to decimating a comparatively defenseless country in the Gulf. But contrary to popular sentiment expressed by the press in assertions like Asper’s, Canada was an “aggressive international partner” in the “war on terror” from the start, in the words of Chretien.

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If Canada is asserting itself as a “middle power,” its government has consistently acted as if it were a superpower. The war in Afghanistan is only the latest in a number of historical precedents indicating Canada is simply partner to behemoth. One historical precedent that comes to mind is the reassessment of Canada’s participation in NATO as part of Trudeau’s 1968 election promise. Reading statements from ’69, the tone of the discussion comes off as woefully idealistic given today’s foreign policy. Serious demands for withdrawal from NATO were made in Cabinet, and there was a genuine interest in an independent Canadian policy. As the country’s NATO commitments were under discussion, journalist Dalton Camp stressed the importance of “thoughtful discussion” and “careful examination” of Canada’s priorities. Yet, Camp wrote,

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Note: This is a long response. We refuse to accept this white wash. Take your time reading it. Then help us get a criminal investigation going. Thank you. MNN

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Courtesy The Real News

“Robin Hahnel spoke at UT-Austin to scholars, students, and activists. He discusses alternatives to corporate capitalism, different economic visions, and Venezuela’s social economy, which he describes as ‘the first great social experiment of the 21^st. Century.’

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“A renowned actor, director and writer, Robbins used his keynote address at the National Association of Broadcasters conference on April 14 to speak out about the ‘dangerous lack of diversity of opinion’ that characterizes the state of broadcasting today.”