Friday, September 07, 2007

The Damage Being Done to Our Credibility

Many of us said this a year ago and of course Harper and friends dismissed it out of hand. Now, once again, our assertions have been borne out. Better late than never I suppose.

Opposition MPs charged yesterday that the Conservatives decided to kill any hint of MP Wajid Khan's report on the Middle East last year because he met with criticisms of Stephen Harper's Conservative government.

Khan denied this last year of course as did Harper. We were assured that our relationships with these countries was strong and our credibility was intact.

A heavily censored series of summaries of meetings drafted by Foreign Affairs official Sam Hanson showed that Mr. Khan was told in meetings that Canada had lost credibility in the region because Mr. Harper's government had become too pro-Israel.

There was a consensus view that, diplomatically, Canada is well-placed to play a constructive role, but also that Canada's credibility in the region has recently been damaged by a perceived shift in Canadian rhetoric on the Middle East ..." Mr. Hanson wrote.

Just one more lie in a list that is growing so long, it's sickening.

9 comments:

Gayle said...

knb - I have a relative who until recently was a high placed diplomat in the Middle East, so I know this to be true first hand. Obviously I cannot name names, so hopefully you can take my word on it.

My relative complained about how all the advice from foreign officials is being completely ignored by Ottawa. This culminated in the "measured response" comment, which resulted in many a disgusted email and faxes between embassies sent by people who had to deal with the flack.

The problem is that the government is allowing their ideology to determine foreign policy rather than take advice from experts in the field.

My relative served under Mulroney as well, so this is not a liberal v conservative thing. In fact, this person voted for Harper in the last election, believing we need a change.

Karen said...

Gayle, of course I take your word. Personally I have never had any doubt about the reaction. It was patently obvious to me at the time, that ideology was being employed and it really started me thinking about just how much damage this government was capable of.

The really sad thing of course, is that our reputation is being damaged on many fronts, around the world.

Harper's lack of tact with China, his treatment of the Kyoto Agreement and how he presents us to the world on that matter, the non support of the UN Aboriginal Agreement, etc.

There is so much damage being done in fact, it's difficult to know how long it will take a Liberal government to correct it.

I'm not trying to self promote here, but did you see my previous post? I'm really curious about the reaction to Klein's theory.

Watching that vid, too much rings true to ignore, imho.

Gayle said...

I just watched that video. I thought it was an interesting theory. Pretty powerful video too. I am going to have to read the book before I decide if I agree with it, but it gives me something to think about.

Karen said...

I agree Gayle. I think what I particularly like is the fact that it is not about "conspiracy theories", often touted by the left. It would seem to look at actual situations, facts, and what happened after the fact.

Using Milton Friedman and his teachings as her base, makes it intriguing to me.

Anonymous said...

I believe Gayle. Just looking back, I don't recall Canada having foreign relations problems, no matter what government was in UNTIL NOW.

The fact is, Harper is taking the current White House administration's stance and we all know how successful they've been.

This makes me wonder - Harper may be smart, a tactician, but is he "streets smart"? Doesn't seem so.

burlivespipe said...

And a large part of the MsM ignores things like this because it doesn't play to their 'agenda'... Harper, spending tonnes of (ill-gotten?) funds to smear his opponent, is getting so much help to hide his true ideology, it's amazing that he's stuck at 33%. But that's one reason why we've been unable to churn any real momentum out of the convention...

Anonymous said...

KNB i took your advice after all i create my own
blog (The Right is Where its At) there is nothing
i just started today
thanks for thee advice!

Anonymous said...

KNB The Right is Where its At its me John.

Karen said...

Good for you John. Try to join the Blogging Tories if you want a response to your blog.

You'll still get opposing views, but without an aggregator, people won't find you.

Small point, you use "Has you know", frequently. There is no H, it's actually "As you know..."