 American soldiers escort Iraqi soldiers who surrendered in southern Iraq in the first few days of the war. Photo By Lance Cpl. Brian L. Wickliffe, U.S. Marine Corps
Until recently, that is.
Waves of support for the war have made headlines after so many anti-war protests made news literally around the globe. Though must of the pro-war arguments have come from politicians, voices from the hockey world have even weighed in on the issue to make their unpopular positions known.
The latest salvo in the debate about whether this war should be occurring came from U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, who has often chided Canada for not participating in the war.
But the former Massachusetts governor recently uttered his harshest words ever on the subject, slamming Canada for not backing up their neighbours to the south.
"For Canada the priority is trade, for us the priority is security," Cellucci said in a March 25 speech to the Bay St. crowd.
"Security trumps trade."
He said the U.S. would back Canada if the situation were reversed.
"There is no security threat to Canada that the United States would not be ready, willing and able to help with," he said.
"There would be no debate. There would be no hesitation. We would be there for Canada, part of our family. And that is why so many in the United States are disappointed and upset that Canada is not fully supporting us now."
But while the anti-war protestors disagree, others wished Prime Minister Jean Chrétien had sent Canadian troops to Iraq.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper said the relationship Canada shares with the U.S. is too valuable to risk, and not supporting them in Iraq jeopardizes that.
"Alliances are a two-way process. Where we are in agreement we should not leave it to the United States to do all the heavy lifting just because it is the world’s only superpower. To do so, I believe, will inevitably undermine one of the most important relationships that we have," Harper said in a speech to the House of Commons.
"In an increasingly globalized and borderless world, the relationship between Canada and the United States is essential to our prosperity, to our democracy and to our future."
Harper said Canada would be two-faced to continue to embrace its relationship with the U.S. when it isn’t willing to support it during the Iraq war.
"My great fear (is a) country that does not embrace its own friends and allies in a dangerous world but thinks it can use them and reject them at will. Such a country will in time endanger its own existence," he said.
Alberta Premier Ralph Klein was forced to defend himself after speaking out in favour of the war in Iraq and criticizing Chrétien.
"I’m entitled to my opinion and I’ll express it — we ought to stand by our friends — that’s what friends do," the Conservative premier told the Alberta Legislature.
"War is a dirty, rotten thing, but so is terrorism, the United States has taken the campaign to secure world peace and make sure things like Sept. 11 don’t happen again."
Even former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney weighed in on the issue.
"At a crucial, seminal moment in our history, we have repudiated our allies and our coalition partners of the past," he said in an interview with <I>Global News</I>.
But the most surprising person to support the war came from professional hockey.
Officials at the CBC had to rap the knuckles of <I>Hockey Night in Canada</I> host Ron MacLean and <I>Coaches Corner’s</I> Don Cherry after their short debate about the war during the March 22 broadcast.
"The CBC does not feel Hockey Night In Canada is the appropriate place for discussion on the war in Iraq," CBC spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles said.
Wearing a star-spangled tie, Cherry criticized the booing of the American national anthem by fans at a Montreal Canadiens game. He added that Canada should be participating in the war.
"I hate to see them go it alone. We have a country that comes to our rescue, and we’re just riding their coattails," Cherry said.
And in the days that followed, Wayne Gretzky, whose children and wife are American citizens, said he too is supportive of the war.
"The president of the United States is a great leader, I happen to think he’s a wonderful man and if he believes what he’s doing is right I back him 100 per cent," Gretzky said in a news conference in Calgary.
"If the president decides to go to war he must know more than we know, or we hear about. He must have good reason to go and we have to back that."
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