Whatever. Not like its stopping Quebecers from using Interstate 87 as their driveway to get to Florida.
Still angry that Gretzky moved to California, eh? (geddit? eh? eh? haha! I kill myself) Anyway, what a dumb and meaningless survey/question. Did terrorists hit america for our foreign policy, or because they were mad at our domestic policies on gay marriage, gun control, the pledge of allegiance, etc?
valanjak is still pissed because I called him out on Iran's "military technology". He'll neg rep anyone that calls him out.
It's a useless poll. US policy may be the root of the cause for many radicals, but that doesn't mean the policy is wrong. The poll asked for causes of 9/11...certainly radical perception of US policy would be a cause. But the writer/headline writer uses the perjorative word blame.
Guys whats happened here is some telemarketer in Toronto has hired the only people he can find to work for minimum wage in Ontario, which are either uneducated or uncouth. They've gone and called all their friends in the trailerparks and welfare castles and suddenly the whole country is painted as an anti-US entity. As soon as Quebec jumps ship this sort of thing will die down. As a former resident of Canada "most Canadians" can't agree on what colo(u)r the sky is, how to spell neighbo(u)r or if the CFL will ever get a viable team in Ottawa. Let alone on if the USA caused 9-11 because of its domestic policy. All the USA has to do is threaten to pull US TV off of the Canadian airwaves and a huge "come-to-Jesus" realization will take place. Canucks know what side of the bread is buttered, and it ain't Islam.
How is the poll anti-US? The poll shows that a majority believe US foreign policy is one the principle root causes behind 9/11, not the US itself.
Most Canadians have no concept of how lucky they are that they are our neighbor and thus don't hve to pay for a large scale defense force.
so valanjak if i were to sock you in the nose, could I blame your original post? I'm certainly OK with criticism of the US, but the anti-American sentiment these days is largely lowest-common-denominator stuff...whether it's Saudi Arabia, Europe, Venezuela or Canada, appealing to halfwits with anti-US demagoguery is the order of the day. And the halfwits are eating it up... The European left is shooting itself in the foot while we all watch, I think. There's populism, then there's letting the special ed students drive the bus...
Under a different scenario, with a hostile neighbor, plenty might make a try. The oil fields in the west and/or full control of the St. Lawrence in the east might be quite the prize to a different state (or states) to the south that had less than cordial relations. It's a hypothetical that's very difficult to imagine because we're so used to the US-Canadian cooperation and friendly border that's been in existence for so long. But if natural geography stayed the same and political history was vastly different, Canada might not have necessarily gotten a free pass just because they're so nice.
True but given the extreme weather conditions, geographic mass etc it's only the US who could have a go at holding what they won. Plus they're just really, really nice - it would be like kicking a puppy in the head after it came up to you to be stroked
Ah, but no one would bother trying to hold the entire territory. Control of the oil in the west and/or water in the east would probably be the only strategic goals, short of a true Northwest Passage developing. Right, but there have been evil, puppy-kicking regimes throughout history.
It's painful for Canadians to take, but they're starting to own up for cutting the Forces budget and things are starting to change.
Sadly, the journalist writing this particular take on the poll in question missed the real significance of the poll. The very same poll questions posed only one year after 9/11 found less than 30% of Canadians blaming US foreign policy for the attack...so why has this point of view doubled over the last 4 years? I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. And on the matter of defence, since 1928, the only potential enemy the Canadian army has even bother to draft a plan of defence against is the United States since there are no other credible threats. They still refresh it every few years. We don't sit in the middle of Europe so we don't owe the US a damn thing when it come to our defence needs beyond a thank you for not invading.
Agreed with most of the above. One of the saddest things in the past few years is the fact that Bush and his administration squandered all the political capital and worldwide goodwill which came in the aftermath of the attacks. The world is a much more divided and dangerous place since then, due in part to the unilateral approach adopted by the US, UK and others. And i disagree on no credible threats. If things go badly wrong, Canada could be held in a pincer movement by the US to its south, the Inuit Defence League to the North and not forgetting Santa's Elves and Reindeer Brigade even further North. You should kiss the ground the US administration walks on for unselfishly protecting your sorry asses all this time
This is also roughly the same time that the US grew to become an world power. In effect, the US stablized this region of the world. US policy has been to not allow any force to destablize the region. Every government in the region that is friendly with the US knows that no one can pose a threat to them without the US intervening. So while Canada may not owe the US a damn thing, they certainly have benefitted from there relationship with the US.
There was DEFINATELY a plan drawn up against the Soviet Union, there is DEFINATELY a plan still in place to combat Russia, there is DEFINATELY a plan drawn up to combat China and there is, I believe, a plan for a North Korean missile attack, as well as a plan for Nazi Germany (goes back a few years). I've seen the plans. The plan for USSR, Russia and China is a armed withdrawal pulling back until the US and the UK arrive. The plan for the NK missile I have no knowledge of.