eCitizen

It's the revolt of the pawns ! When people start throwing themselves on the tracks, governments would do well to ask themselves why.

In fora such as this, people start threads like this for many reasons... Some times they do it in the spirit of the old debating societies - "Be it proposed that...and for the yeas we have... and for the neys we have". Some times they are not particularly sophisticated and really do believe what they are saying. Some times they are simply interested in propagandizing the public space. I'll leave it to the individual members why this thread was started, but I've made my decision. Have a nice day.

"The poster" being me I suppose. The first time I saw you post this I thought it wasn't worth taking seriously. If one of the complaints so often made by the Israelis, the Americans, the British, and everybody else, is that Hamas must recognize Israel. By the way, there was an interesting moment at the talks which took place in Spain some time ago. One of the Arab participants held up a picture of an old British wanted poster featuring Itzhak Shamir. What was he wanted for? Terrorism.

Your comments about why you thought Baird was a good choice for Foreign Affairs was so bizarre I would never had credited you with knowing the name of the building.

Well, it's been spun in any case. Given your previous posts and the spirit of the OP, you're unlikely to be as skeptical as the situation warrants. As you can see here, Ha'aretz is standing by its story... http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/thanks-canada-but-netanyahu-needs-obama-1.364882 As for your second point, I clearly said that were he to be really seeking balance, he would have worked for the inclusion of balancing statements that contributed momentum to the peace process. Instead he gave blind support to Netenyahu, whom even pro-Israel voices like Thomas Friedman have come to call an obstacle to peace. With respect to your toss-in that "it's in Harper's nature to be pro-Israel", I just rolled my eyes. The man represents a nation and not himself. But given that he is now compelling senior bureaucrats to use the expression "Harper government" in place of "Government of Canada", I suppose it would be in keeping with the cult of personality he appears to be seeking. Who knows, maybe some day I'll return to see you referring to him as "Dear Leader". I doubt it will do any good, but here is a comment piece in today's Independent by Robert Fisk concerning the current state of affairs in the Middle East... http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/who-cares-in-the-middle-east-what-obama-says-2290761.html

Now THAT's an interesting reason to appoint somebody to a position as important as Foreign Affairs. Many leaders would have appointed someone with experience afield who knows the ropes. It's more likely Baird was appointed because he's the consummate yes man and will vigorously push Harper's policies no questions asked. That is, after all, his track record to date. Baird is no Kissinger to Harper's Nixon. No doubt some would argue Harper is no Nixon either, but you brought him up. Speaking of which... Are you sure there are no votes in it? There are many who would argue that Harper's stance on Israel has won him a lot of votes in North Toronto and the evangelical community. Finally with respect to Pearson bureaucrats, I imagine they're all long gone by now and Trudeau era bureaucrats too. The most important people at Foreign Affairs are the High Commissioners, Ambassadors, and Deputies, all of whom serve at the PM's discretion; he's had 5 years to take care of any he doesn't like.

Indeed. In his press conference, Harper said that he wanted it blocked because it was unbalanced, but if that were the case, he could have fought for the inclusion of a statement saying that Hamas must officially recognise Israel - something that would probably have gotten support from the other leaders. He didn't do that and the revelation by Ha'aretz is embarrassing.

Ha'aretz is reporting this morning that Harper blocked the 1967 border idea at the G8 because Netenyahu asked him to... http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/netanyahu-asked-canada-pm-to-thwart-g8-support-for-1967-borders-1.364635 I guess that makes him Bibi's b1tch.