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In a television interview that aired on the anniversary of the
September 11th attacks, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
suggested a link between the terrorist acts on the United States
and uneven distribution of wealth and power in the world. He
said, "I do think the Western world is getting too rich in
relation to the poor world and necessarily, you know, we're
looked upon as being more arrogant, self-satisfied, greedy with
no limits. And September 11th is an occasion for me
to realize it even more". His "blame the
victim" remarks are disgustingly embarrassing, and are akin
to blaming the victim of a mugging for wearing expensive
clothes.
Chrétien's comments were so outrageous that when ABC News
anchor Peter Jennings--a Canadian citizen--was asked about them
in a phone call to CNN's Larry King Live, Jennings said that he
"wouldn't believe for five seconds" that Chrétien had
actually made the remarks. Jennings went on to say
that he believed "any Canadian politician who said that
today would find his career practically doomed". It
looks like Jennings has lost touch with the political landscape
of his homeland, because Chrétien's political career IS, in
effect, doomed. He has already announced that he will
step down within the next 18 months as the leader of the
left-leaning Liberal party, and will not seek another term as
Prime Minister. Unfortunately, if he's going to keep
making remarks of this nature that are embarrassing to all
Canadians, he couldn't step down soon enough.
Reality check: Canada, the United States, and other
so-called "wealthy Western" countries have given
oodles of money and aid to the poorer nations of the world. Poverty
has decreased, literacy has increased, and--what do you
know--terrorism is still alive and well. Why? Because
terrorism is fueled by fundamentalist Islamic radicals whose
ultimate goal is the extermination of all people who do not
submit to Islamic rule and law. It has everything to
do with religious brainwashing, and nothing to do with poverty. In
fact, none of the al Qaeda terrorists who were identified as
participants in the 9/11 attacks came from the slums. Ringleader
Mohammed Atta was the son of an Egyptian lawyer. He
was working on his Masters degree in Architecture in Germany at
the time he fantasized about turning an American passenger jet
into a missile. One of the terrorists who was on
United Airlines flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania was given
a brand-new Mercedes 300 by his father two days before the
attacks. Osama bin Laden himself is highly educated
and is far more wealthy than the vast majority of Westerners.
Chrétien has bought into the notion that these radicals can be
appeased with money, and that if we Westerners were only a
little more generous towards them, they'd see the errors of
their ways. He has bought into exactly what the
terrorists would like us to believe. The reality is
that they will only ever be appeased when the whole world has
converted to Islam and is worshipping Allah. Western
wealth isn't their problem, our very existence is.
Before the Second World War, there was a statesman who had a
similar mindset to that of Chrétien. His name was
Neville Chamberlain, and he was the Prime Minister of Great
Britain in 1937. He was so committed to avoiding war
with Hitler that he adopted a policy of appeasement. He
figured that if the Western democracies were just a bit more
generous with Hitler, then Hitler and his thugs would simmer
down. Chamberlain's strategy culminated in the Munich
Pact in 1938, which led to the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia
by Nazi Germany and Mussolini's Fascist Italy. It
turned out to be the worst possible strategy to employ, as
Hitler was merely stalling for time. Much bloodshed
could have been avoided if Chamberlain would have put his foot
down earlier.
Chrétien's perspective of the War on Terrorism is naively
Socialist in theory. It may appease his left-leaning
power base, the pointy-headed academics, and the campus crowds,
but--as history has shown--it will do little to solve the
current problem. In fact, it may even prove to be the
most detrimental approach of all. Thank goodness it's
almost time for Chrétien to exit stage Left.
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