We should Sit At Peace Table or Watch PM

[maplesyrup]

We should sit at peace table

Interestingly, Canada has been one of the key players in the battle to keep weapons out of space, and in the overall disarmament talks.

This doesn't fit with the image of Canada painted by Canadian right-wingers, as a faded power, long past its prime as a serious player on the world stage.

In fact, Canada has been a feisty, independent force on the international stage when it comes to championing disarmament — something that matters a lot to most of the civilized world.

Arms control expert Theresa Hitchens, vice-president of the Washington-based Centre for Defence Information, says Canada has been a leading voice for disarmament since the Geneva talks were established by the United Nations in 1979.

"Your government has been in the forefront in calling for a ban on space weapons," she said in an interview last week, adding that when disarmament talks bogged down in recent years, Canada put great effort into overcoming the impasse: "Canada was quite creative and very strong."

Canada's impressive past performance is at odds with Ottawa's apparent readiness now to embrace George W. Bush's National Missile Defence (NMD) system — one of the reasons thousands are expected to protest when Bush visits Ottawa on Tuesday.

Ottawa insists Canada would not be compromising its stand against weapons in space by joining NMD.

That's "truly disingenuous," says Hitchens. "Missile defence is the first foray into fighting in space ... That's something your government hasn't wanted to own up to."

She notes that U.S. military documents clearly set out Washington's intention to have missile defence systems based on land, air, sea, and in space.

And while "missile defence" sounds defensive, it is simply the foot in the door, paving the way for offensive weapons. "It breaks the political taboo against weapons in space," says Hitchens.

In fact, Washington is pretty frank about its aggressive intentions in space. A document entitled "Counterspace Operations," released by the U.S. Air Force last August, refers openly to the importance of the U.S. achieving "space superiority."

It calls for the U.S. to have space capabilities with both "defensive and offensive elements." The document defines "space control" as "combat, combat support and combat service support operations to ensure freedom of action in space for the U.S. and its allies and, when directed, deny an adversary freedom of action in space."

Lyin' Paulie is at it again. PM Martin is such a compulsive liar that sometimes I think he believes his own bullshit.

[ndpnic]

I'd say you phrased that rather nicely!

[Big Blue Machine]

Very nicely indeed. People have fit a square peg in a round hole. I'm sure Mr. Martin will represent us well at the peace table. You have to believe everything you say, maplesyrup, If you don't blieve what you're saying, why say it?