From a Canadian Woman's Point of View - Pamella Wallin

[bulldog]

I have read this speech several times, and this is a person I can respect if she truly backs what she says. Sometimes I get the feeling that this forum is mostly male and could do with a gentler touch/a more tolerant outlook/a dash of humour/and a splash of
pink.

The speech is far too long to copy and paste, but here are a couple of excerpts that I liked.

Pamela Wallin, Canadian Consul General to New York City

For Americans,the reality is that the war in Iraq began on September the 11th. It's part of a continuum with the war—just another step along the way to remove terrorist threats. Americans see the war as preemptive. Much has been made of the so-called, new Bush doctrine of preemptive action and the administration's ideology in general. But actually it's not all that new. Bill Clinton was talking about regime change and while some elements of the president's approach may be more startling to some, we should not see it as a massive departure in U.S. policy or practice. Indulge me while I read you one quote: "These are extraordinary times, and we face an extraordinary challenge. Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed on this nation the role of leader in freedom's cause. We stand for freedom. No friend, no neutral, no adversary should think otherwise."

The hawkish words of George Bush on the eve of the war? No, JFK in 1961

So the Americans, in fact all of us, are facing a lot of new challenges. And you'd think with all of these problems and the insecurities they feel at home, that they might be running scared, retreating or hiding out. Not so.

They're drawing on their own personal resources to find comfort, to the extent possible in what we now call the new normal. We're spending more time with friends and family, and it takes me back to my original point that this is a precisely why I believe there is such an opportunity at this time: because on the basic values we really do share common cause.

For the entire speech, here is the link:

http://www.cna-acj.ca/client/cna/cna.nsf/PopUpPages/SC2003wallin?OpenDocument&Click=[url] Bull Dog