Posted on 09/13/2002 6:55:18 AM PDT by Lorenb420
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien provoked a firestorm of criticism yesterday by suggesting a link between the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the uneven distribution of wealth and power in the world.
Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper blasted Mr. Chrétien for his "shameful" remarks, which were made in a CBC interview, aired on the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
And in an interview with The Globe and Mail, former prime minister Brian Mulroney, a frequent critic of Mr. Chrétien's U.S. policy, slammed the Prime Minister's CBC comment as "a uniquely disgraceful statement."
However, Tory Leader Joe Clark defended the PM for suggesting poverty can cause terrorism.
The Prime Minister's Office said Mr. Chrétien was not blaming the United States for the attacks, but was merely taking the opportunity to point out the need for Western countries to consider the long-term consequence of the growing divide between rich and poor.
"It is a gross misconstruction of his remarks to suggest he was blaming the United States for the attacks," read a statement released by his office. "Indeed, the forceful action Canada has taken, shoulder to shoulder with the United States, to track down and bring to justice those behind the attacks is unequivocal proof of the views of the Prime Minister, the government, and the people of Canada as to who is responsible for Sept. 11."
While it is clear Mr. Chrétien did not blame the U.S. for the events of Sept. 11, 2001, he did link the attacks to growing poverty and to the projection of U.S. and Western power in the developing world.
Yesterday, the PMO released a transcript of the interview, which includes a passage that was not part of the broadcast and appears to link the Sept. 11 tragedy even more directly to global poverty.
At the end of the interview, which had covered the events of Sept. 11, CBC broadcaster Peter Mansbridge asked the Prime Minister: "By the end of the day, what were you thinking about in terms of how the world had changed? "
Replied Mr. Chrétien: "But I've said that it is a division in the world that is building up. And I knew that it was inspiration for it.
"For me, I think the rest of the world is a bit too selfish and that there is a lot of resentment."
Mr. Chrétien gave the interview in July, soon after wrapping up a year-long bid to get more aid and a better economic deal for Africa. His officials said he was reflecting as much on what he saw in Africa as on Sept. 11 itself.
Still, Canadians appear to endorse the view that U.S. policies in some way led to the Sept. 11 tragedy. In a recent Ipsos-Reid poll, some 84 per cent of respondents said the U.S. was at least partly responsible for the attack.
Pollster Frank Graves, of Ekos Consulting, said yesterday that Mr. Chrétien was reflecting majority opinion in Canada, which does not blame the Americans for Sept. 11, but does acknowledge that the way in which the U.S. projects its power throughout the world comes at a price.
"Most Canadians feel the primary cause [of Sept. 11] was fanaticism and hatred, but there is a sense that there is shared culpability with the Western world for ongoing problems," Mr. Graves said.
Mr. Mulroney, who has close ties to U.S. President George W. Bush, said there should be no suggestion that U.S. economic success or international clout was in part the provocation for such an action.
"This is a false, shocking and morally specious statement," he said. "It is essentially the case the terrorists have tried to make."
He rejected any suggestion that poverty and disenfranchisement are "root causes" of terrorism. And he noted that Osama bin Laden and the suicide hijackers were affluent and well-educated.
"The root causes of terrorism are terrorists," Mr. Mulroney said. "We must hunt them down, bring them to justice, seize their assets and destroy their networks. . . . It is simply a choice between right and wrong, between good and evil and Prime Minister Chrétien should know this."
Mr. Harper echoed Mr. Mulroney's comments.
"What was behind the events of Sept. 11 are forces of evil and hatred. These must be resisted by free and democratic societies and their leaders," he said.
However, Mr. Clark defended the Prime Minister.
"I have read carefully the transcript of what he said with regard to the relations of poverty, extremism and terror," Mr. Clark said. "And I think it is beyond question that there is a direct relation between those phenomena and I think it was appropriate for the Prime Minister to say so."
But, he criticized Mr. Chrétien for presiding over huge cuts to Canada's foreign-aid budget.
"What troubles me about Jean Chrétien is the continuing distance between his word and his deeds. If he were really concerned about conditions in the Third World, then he would not have presided for a decade over cuts to official development assistance in Canadian foreign aid."
When presented in this light, it actually helps define WHO our enemies are.
Let our enemies at home and abroad be exposed, and let them be destroyed.
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