Most of the buddies I‘ve had in the Military were not perfect. Well, buddies anywhere, for that matter. At some point, you and your chums form a bond, and there‘s an unspoken rule that you‘ll watch each others‘ back, and help each other out. Some of my buddies drank too much. Some were uncouth. Some were loud; some were arrogant. If it was too much, we didn‘t become buddies. I aligned myself with people who were similar-thinking and acting. Other people, I chose not to be friends with, and that‘s fine too. I didn‘t pretend to be someone‘s friend because they were popular, or strong, or had money. Now you and some of your buddies are in a bar. One of your pals gets attacked, and he squares off. By now there‘s a crowd gathering. The other guys‘ cronies, your bunch, and the onlookers. I never saw anyone debate much, whether the friends defense was excessive, whether he deserved it, whether he was justified. You stood side by side, if the guy was a jacka55, you told him after. Lets put all the political ins and outs, and strategic ramblings aside for a minute, and think about it on that level. If your friend didn‘t come to your aid, because he didn‘t think you were right, how would you feel? We‘re all armchair quarterbacks here; all experts. But consider it again, on it‘s most basic level. I‘m not saying the analogy is accurate, I‘m saying many Americans just see it as us not standing by them. Plain and simple. If the US is indeed an empire-building bully, then we shouldn‘t try to pass ourselves off as their friend. What if someone threatened Canada, and the US balked, for whatever reason? I think subconsciously, we expect them to look after us - well at least the average person. "We‘re safe, with the Yanks next door". Don‘t agree? Why don‘t we have a military big enough to defend ourselves against any threat, including the US? I can tell you something else - I am positive that many attitudes would be different, if Canada had been attacked. Watch the CN tower collapse on TV, and see what it does to your psyche. Regardless of whether the "US deserved it" like many seem to think - the politicians weren‘t attacked - innocent people were. People are scared, maybe paranoid, and rightfully so. Canada has had some misguided internal and foreign policies - do its citizens deserve to die, or live in fear? On the other hand, the avg American does forget how much Canada has done for them, and that we have helped, without blinking, on most occasions. There are indeed 2 sides to every story, with the truth usually somewhere in between. These are not necessarily my personal opinions - more of my observations. Interpretations on why people may feel the way they do. I saw F-16s flying CAPs over Phoenix, after 9-11. I lived 9-11, in the US. I have to believe it‘s different, when it is someone elses country. Seriously - imagine some Japanese radicals killing 3000 or so Canadian citizens, in a day, as payback for the internments.
My opinion? The US is far from perfect. Pick your friends, and stick with them. If they are not nice people, don‘t be their friends. Sorry for rambling, but I believe I have a unique perspective. Being a proud Canadian, living in the US, I have a good idea how the rest of the world views the US. I had stereotypes that ended up not being true. I also get to see Canada, how the US sees her. I get to hear people talk, on a daily basis. I‘m not reciting cliches, quotes, or soundbites from network news. What irritates me sometimes is recited opinions, or learned responses - not (my perception) original thought.
The kicker for me was Britain‘s commitment to this war. I doubt you could find 2 more politically opposite leaders than Bush or Blair. Blair faced a tremendous amount of opposition to his decision. Could he have had access to info that some of us on this board weren‘t privy to? The Govt was chastised for not doing more, pre 911. Now they‘re doing too much. What if a jar of whatever HAD gotten into the hands of a terrorist, and ultimately, New York, or some other city. Impossible? Unlikely? Who‘s willing to make that bet? Then what? Ooops, I guess we were wrong? No, we haven‘t eliminated the possibility - I believe we have reduced it. To this day, I am not positive that the US did the right thing. I think they did. My instincts say they did, but I‘m not positive. If I had a choice of mistakenly liberating an oppressed country, while limiting their involvement in terrorism OR "waiting to see" or "waiting for more info" I guess I‘d take the former. "RUSH" to war? Hussein had 12 years to comply. If the UNs demands were not reasonable, we should have debated it, 11 years ago.
Fire away, my learned friends...
