Hmmmm. Did Canada ever warn the Soviet Union that it could not violate Canadian airspace if it launched on the US? :-)
I'd bet the biggest nuclear threats to the United States aren't missile-based. Even if rogue states manage to manufacture workable nukes, they're more likely to sneak them into the States on container ships than on the tips of ICBMs.
I'll buy that. Currently the biggest nuke threat is likely to be in the hold of a leaky cargo ship.
They weren't asking us to site their interceptor missiles on Canadian soil or cede control of our national air defences to their generals.
Basically, they were asking us for just two things: an endorsement and real-time warning of inbound missiles. And we were already giving them the one they really want -- the real-time warning.
Hmmmm. Canada's the other part of NORAD. The NORAD commander is jointly appointed by the US President and the Canadian Prime Minister.
If the Soviets ever sent bombers into North America, I thought Canadian fighters were supposed to help shoot them down. No?
Nor does BMD "weaponize space," as so many Canadian critics contend. ICBMs travel through space. Anyone who fired them at the United States would have weaponized space already.
Which is an interesting point. National control of airspace ends where space begins. If BMD missiles were, say, over 100 miles up (which they very could be) by the time they reached the Canadian border, theit flight does not violate Canadian rights.
More irritating still is the likelihood that the Libs blew off the Americans to keep BMD from ripping apart their biennial convention in Ottawa next weekend.
Thanks to our withdrawal from BMD, the Americans now have every excuse to refuse to co-operate on trade, mad cow disease, border security and a host of other issues. It is bad enough that we would provoke them in this way. That we would do so not because of real differences over missile policy, but rather to ensure some big Liberal gathering goes smoothly, is an additional disgrace.
If true, they're crazy. As he says, much more important issues than they think could be on the table here.
This is BAD. And sad. |
