Monday, June 13, 2005

Misplaced Fears

A poll commissioned for the Department of National Defence suggests that Canadians think George W. Bush is as grave a threat to our national security as Osama Bin Laden, the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix reports:

The 1,500 people contacted for the poll, conducted last February for the Department of National Defence, listed "International Organized Crime" as the top danger, with 38 per cent ranking it as a great threat to security concern and another 50 per cent listing it as moderate.

But tied for second in the poll were "U.S. Foreign Policy" and "Terrorism," with 37 per cent rating it a great risk. Just behind those worries came "Climate Change and Global Warming."

Amazing what a steady diet of anti-American media propaganda will do to a people already conditioned to regard self-defence and naked aggression as morally equivalent.

If Al-Qaeda were to fly planes into the CN Tower and DND Headquarters tomorrow, the MSM would scream that the Americans were to blame because Al-Qaeda wouldn't have struck back at us if the Americans had addressed the root causes of terrorism instead of fighting back.

On the other hand:
Most of those contacted for the poll had "great confidence" in the Canadian Forces' ability to respond to natural disasters in Canada, but only 25 per cent felt the same way about how our military would handle a terrorist attack on Canadian soil.

People know our armed forces aren't equipped to handle the national defence properly and are resentful that the Americans are, and might have to bail us out. If our governing classes were not enthralled by myths of soft power, they wouldn't have to fear the Americans' hard power. The people get it about national sovereignty, in their confused way. Too bad our government doesn't.

1 comment:

Les Mackenzie said...

We couldn't defend Toronto from a properly placed Al Q snowball. Have you been to CFB Trenton lately?