Commentary

Is the Liberal Flirtation with Anti-Americanism Over?

During the U.S. aggression against Iraq and the build up towards it, the Chretien government won praise from many in the anti-war movement for its stand against the war. Members of the caucus made various anti-war or anti-American statements, with a federal cabinet minister describing George W. Bush as a failed statesmen.

This was certainly politically valuable to the Liberals, given that public opinion firmly opposed the war. The only federal party that openly supported the war - the Canadian Alliance - continues to loose ground in the polls.

While the Liberals were making a lot of noise, though, they took several concrete measures to assist the Americans in their aggression against the Iraqi people, including deploying troops to Afghanistan to free up American forces for transfer to the Gulf and deploying two ships to the Gulf region. All the while they kept the rhetoric up.

However, since the American victory in Iraq and the establishment of its colonial regime there, the Liberals have begun to reassess even paying lip service to opposing U.S. military aggression. "Mending the relationship" with the U.S. has become the catch phrase in Ottawa since the end of April, and Canada's non-participation in the war has been blamed for everything from the cancellation of a planned state visit by President Bush to the imposition of further tariffs on Canadian wheat.

The key thrust of the relationship-mending the Liberals are engaging in seems to be participation in Bush's National Missile Defence Plan - a refined version of the Star Wars plan first proposed during the Cold War by Ronald Reagan.

Last week, the Bush administration made public some of the information relating to the plan through the release of a White House policy paper. The paper claims the plan is necessary to protect the United States from attack either by hostile states or by terrorists.

Under the multi-billion dollar plan, preliminary anti-missile defence systems will be in place in Alaska and California by September of next year. These systems are supposed to have the capability to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles launched against any North American target, although several media investigations have raised doubts about the validity of these claims. The next stage in the plan's implementation has not been made public, although various countries have raised concerns that the underlying aim of the plan will be to ensure American military hegemony in space.

While very little about the plan is known, including its final cost and its potential to actually work, the Chretien government has given several indications that it wants to participate in developing and implementing the plan as much as possible.

Canadian branch-plant companies like Boeing, the aerospace giant, stand to make vast sums of money from contracts related to the Star Wars plan. However, this economic benefit doesn't seem enough to explain the Chretien government's sudden desire to play along with a plan which is viewed internationally with great hostility.

It may be that the quick American victory in Iraq, coupled with public threats of retaliation against Canada for its non-participation, have convinced the Liberals to give up their flirtation with anti-Americanism. This could pose a serious challenge for them politically, given the growing concerns Canadians have been expressing about the need for a sovereign foreign policy.