Bush Presses Canada on Ballistic Missile Defense

[Rose Siding]

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) - President Bush caught Canadian officials off guard on Wednesday in calling openly for joint action on a continental missile defense shield.

Bush made clear his desire for Canada's support in setting up an anti-missile system in Alaska to protect western North America, a politically sensitive issue that Canadian officials said before his visit was unlikely to be raised.

"I hope we'll ... move forward on ballistic missile defense cooperation to protect the next generation of Canadians and Americans from the threats we know will arise," Bush said in a foreign policy speech in Canada's Atlantic port of Halifax.

Bush, paying his first official visit to Canada, encouraged Ottawa to sign on during private talks with Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin on Tuesday, officials said.

The proposed system, which has become a political minefield for Canada's minority Liberal government and main Conservative opposition, is a land-based shield designed to shoot down missiles from so-called rogue states like North Korea.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=6970240&src=rss/ElectionCoverage

Maybe the whole reason for this trip is to threaten, bribe and strong arm about this weapons system.

[ewagner]

1. Check me on this

weren't Tax Cuts and Missle Defense the two pillars of Dubya's agenda pre-9/11 ?

It seems he's put 9/11, OBL and Saddam behind him and he's back to his original agenda.

[Guarionex]

2. How crass of Bush...

to push a militarist agenda against the wishes of a liberal Canadian audience, on a supposed "restoration of goodwill" trip. "Let's bury the hatchet, pardner....say, could I interest you in...." - NO CLASS

Wasting billions of dollars on a system whose test runs have all failed...only defense industries profit from the billions wasted on its research and deployment

[Ducks In A Row]

3. Randi talked about this, how bush** embarrassed the PM, bringing it up

bush** is a moron who only destroys everyone around him

[Lautremont]

4. He can shove those missle defences

up his ass sideways and fuck off while he's doing it.

That's my polite Canadian reaction.

[Liberaltarian]

14. I certainly hope that the rest of my future countrymen feel this way...

Canadians HAVE to be smarter than Americans about this giant money sink-hole.

The government should tell him what a farcical idea the whole thing is.

[maddezmom]

5. nah, they weren't off guard...it was discussed yesterday

Touchy question of ballistic missile defence raised in Bush-Martin talks
OTTAWA (CP) - Ballistic missile defence, which has become an anti-American touchstone for many Canadians, wasn't supposed to be discussed when U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) visited Tuesday.



But it was - and that's likely to stoke the political fires under the controversial issue. Talks between Bush and Prime Minister Paul Martin were to have covered a range of topics, from mad cow disease to border security. But missile defence wasn't on the list outlined by officials.


Bush said however that it did come up.


"We also discussed ways to strengthen the security partnership that for more than six decades has helped to keep this continent peaceful and secure," he told a news conference following his meeting with Martin.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=737&e=2&u=/cpress/20041130/ca_pr_on_na/bush_cda_missile_defence

[GAspnes]

6. guy can't even get 'thank you' right

Don't get me started on the NMD. Won't work, can't work, money down the rathole.

But this is a non-sequitur of Presidential proportions.

[iverglas]

7. no maybe about it

Star Wars was the entire purpose of his visit. Did anybody think he'd travel to Canada specifically to thank a bunch of people for something they did over 3 years ago?? (The government, for allowing all the US-bound flights on 11/9/01 to land at Canadian airports without any idea of what might be on any of them, and individuals and communities for the humanitarian assistance given to the thousands of people on those flights -- mention of both having been cut out of his post-9/11 "thank you" speech in Washington.)

That's why the continental missile "defence" system was the second focus of our anti-Bush protests, along with the occupation of Iraq.

And as for this being an insult to a "liberal" audience, well ha.

The audience to which Bush spoke in Halifax was composed of Liberal politicians and their cronies, and carefully hand-picked members of the public. Liberal politicians like Paul Martin are not quite a hostile audience when it comes to Bush's missile defence plans. And that's why the second target of our protests, along with Bush, was Martin, who is nothing but a corporate profiteer himself. Most Liberal politicians are not "liberal" (a word that really has little meaning or currency in Canadian politics).

Nonetheless, given widespread Canadian opposition to Bush and his foreign policies in general, and missile defence in particular, Martin will not have an easy time when it comes to signing on, so yes: "threaten, bribe and strong arm" is a not inappropriate description.

[Hand]

19. Roger that!!!

I'm getting more and more disgusted with Martin every day. He's our own budding Poodle Boy, and the only one who benefits is the psycho Harper.

Feh. I think the theme of Martin's PMship should be "Be careful what you wish for..."

:grr:

[MrPrax]

8. Since there must be an agreement in principle...

and Martin and his corrupt LPC, decided, a visited from POTUS, was more important than any of the OTHER 'schtick handled' crap about the UN, international law and sovereignty...then it seems a fait accomplii that defence.ca might be involved in the humilation and spin!

[Charlie Brown]

9. Isn't this gonna cost a fortune?

With the neocons eliminating the income tax, where is the money going to come from? Consumption taxes? VATs? Why should ordinary people fit the bill for something that will not benefit them? (If China or North Korea decide to bomb us, the world as we know it will end anyway).

[Barkley]

10. Translation: 'help us pay for building missile defense ...

and your defense contractor can bid on American contracts.

[Ima]

11. You beat me to it!!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

17. It's gotta be said.

[Brundle_Fly]

12. convo....

American: Sign on to the Ballistic Missile Shield

Canadian: We don't need it

American: You're fucking lucky we're here, ass wipe, without America the fucking terrorists would have invaded and kicked your ass by now.

Canadian: Actually, no, we have a pretty decent foreign policy, of aide and helping. I see no chance of invasion, we haven't done anything to affect the Muslim community.

American: They hate you for your freedom, ass wipe, you're fucking lucky we protect your asses. Other wise you'd be toast.

Canadian: Well we really don't think we can afford or help implement a ballistic missile shield at this point. The next time we tamper with other cultures, and kill innocents for progression of financial gains, we'll make sure to ask for some help in your defense weapon.

American: Aint gonna happen, we're gonna fuck you up for not helping us out in Iraq, and in our defenses. Were gonna annihilate you fuck wad.

Canadian: Who are the terrorists again?

[CAN_for_Kerry]

13. i love it Convo

that is awesome!! oh so sad cause true.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

15. A couple of years ago Bush sent a representative to Canada

to "suggest strongly" (which came across as a demand) that the country increase the percentage of its GNP that it budgets for defense. Their response was the same as this time: "Canada is a sovereign nation which will act in its own interests."

If you look up the word "arrogant" in the dictionary, you'll find a picture of Smirk.

[Liberaltarian]

16. the BEST defense...

is to not go around trying to impose your will on other countries and peoples, giving honest consideration to their grievences, and trying to act as a member of the world community, NOT it's self-appointed ruler and "protector"...

[Vidar]

18. Star Wars revisited--yet another Bush treaty violation.

[iverglas]

20. had I got around to making a sign to carry at the protests

... it would have said

Go Home
George W
BUSH

ROGUE
head of
STATE

with a printout of this stuck underneath:



(the copy I printed out omitted the "Charing Cross" line)

(On the other side, it would have said "Remember Stan Faulder, Canadian executed without fair trial by Gov. Bush, Texas 1999". I'd emailed Bush at that time to tell him that if he ever did visit Canada as head of state, there would be people, including me, on the streets to tell him we remembered. Since I was too disorganized to get around to making my sign, I just thought of Stan Faulder as I marched.)

[Bragi]

21. How bizarre

The most bizarre things about Star Wars II are a)it is out of sync with current security needs, which need to focus on combatting terrorism, not on states with long-range nukes, against which the US is already well-defended, and b)most expertrs think it probably won't work anyway for its intended purpose.

Quite bizarre really.

[zann725]

22. Not as bizarre as huge billboards of Bush going up around the country...

with the caption, "Our Leader!"...as confirmed by Mike Pappantonion on AAR's "Unfiltered Show" today.:crazy: