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At Issue
Americans Like to Win, and Always Do
Tuesday, September 24, 2002
Nobody could ever accuse me of being a fashion template. A local Dresden girl recently became the fashion editor of Style magazine, the leading fashion trade magazine in Canada. I kid her about getting me a gig writing for her magazine. She goes to trade shows featuring French lingerie in Paris. The best I could do, is the new trends in work boots. Something tells me those two things would never mix.Nevertheless, there I was last Thursday night at a fashion show put on by the "Friends of the Library" in Dresden. It has become a tradition in Dresden for the "friends" to produce the show on an annual basis. It even featured the best in fashion for municipal politicians, as Chatham-Kent councillors Rex Crawford and Bill Weaver both took part on the runway.
At the end of fashion show, Rex Crawford in his remarks made mention of our American friends, spurred on by some of the models who were wearing American flags on their sweaters. Crawford praised those symbols of patriotism and said Canadians should do more of that too.
Whether that happens or not, I don't know. But the latest manifestations of the American government will surely test American patriotism. A day after 9/11, President Bush went the United Nations to outline his plans for Iraq. He couldn't have been more clear. If the United Nations didn't act on Iraq, it would simply become irrelevant. From an American perspective, he couldn't have said it any better.
But it was the American perspective. As all Canadians know, that's not necessarily what is conventional wisdom in Canada. Saddam Hussein may be a treacherous dictator, but he certainly doesn't have a monopoly on that designation. Their are a few of those folks in China with Tinammen Square blood on their hands, but they are powerful and rich. Saddam Hussein is clearly in the American cross hairs. He might as well buy a Republican
party card. As all Canadians know, Americans like to win and always do. Saddam Hussein will soon be gone.
It might get messy. It might also involve Canada. For all the times when we stand up and gasp at American hyperbole, we fall into line. George Bush Sr. asked for a little help in 1991 and he got it from a compliant Brian Mulroney. Eleven years later Dubya Bush asked for help with Afghanistan and he got it from a reticent Jean Chretien. Now with Iraq II on the docket, something tells me Canadians will find themselves in harms way.
The messiness of this proposed war with Iraq will surely have an effect on our financial markets. Skittishness and nervousness in a part of the world where most of the oil is can only cause economic anxiety. A war that drags on will only add to instability within these markets.
Having said that, this isn't Japan, China, Russia or Germany. Iraq is a very weak country with some unusual circumstances. Not everybody, including the basic run of the mill dictators have "weapons of mass destruction." That's something the Americans won't tolerate, at least with Saddam. General Musarraf, the dictator of Pakistan has nukes, but that seems to be O.K. Saddam, on the other hand, doesn't have a prayer when it comes to this war.
In the gulf war, I remember very clearly the effect on our local area. It happened squarely at the gas pump. Prices of gas and diesel fuel rose substantially as American bombs rained down on Baghdad. Why should we expect anything different this time? The oil companies never fail to fan the hysteria when apparent shortages are on consumer's minds.
When it is all over, life won't be much different. But there still will be a few bugaboos in American foreign policy. There is still Cuba, that poor backward nation off Florida's coast that the US won't trade with. On the contrary, it is one of Canada's favourite tourist destinations, and regular trading partners. America's attitude toward Cuba, simply makes no
sense.
So with Iraq, one can see how Saddam Hussein has become a thorn in the American psyche? After having much of his country reduced to dust 11 years ago, he has survived. But he's been a festering blister since then, always threatening to grow stronger. And he's ignored those UN resolutions, which makes him an even bigger bad guy.
For that, our American friends will make him pay, even though American allies like Israel have ignored UN resolutions for over 50 years. He should have learned what every Canadian knows. The Americans are great folks. But they like to win, and always do. This time will be no different.
Philip Shaw, farms 830 acres near Dresden, Ontario. He holds a Masters of Agricultural Economics and Business Degree from the University of Guelph and is a well-known commentator on agricultural issues in print, on radio and over satellite in Canada and the United States. In the Chatham-Kent Times, Phil will use his frank and forthright writing style to address political and economic issues from the local to the international stage. He is a keen observer of political life at all levels, reads widely and has travelled the world to gather fodder for his column. See what's At Issue this week.
