RSS Feed MenuAt last week’s Liberal policy conference (aimed at preserving Michael Ignatieff’s job), Robert Fowler sounded off on both Liberals and Conservatives.
The long-standing diplomat (38 years) gets top marks for candour and bluntness; Low marks for logic and accuracy.
Fowler was UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s personal representative in Niger who was kidnapped by African al-Qaeda factions and held three months before being released to become a diplomatic celebrity.
Prior to that, his resume boasts that he was Canada’s longest serving UN ambassador. He was an advisor to prime ministers and involved in a UN report that led to Jonas Savimbi’s UNITA movement against Marxism in Angola being defeated.
Others remember Fowler as Deputy Defence Minister with more power than any of the many ministers he served under. He was known as DND’s chief operating officer at a time when Canada’s military was hopelessly inadequate, starved of equipment and direction. Retired Gen. Rick Hillier called it the “dark decades,” and NATO’s deputy commander, Lt. Gen. Sir Hew Pike, opined that the Canadian army had become “just a peacekeeping force,” incapable of fighting a real war.
That was then, this is now – but at the Liberal conference Bob Fowler belittled Canada’s foreign policy and lamented that our influence on the international stage has diminished, as both Liberals and Tories pander for votes rather than uphold principles.
He sees Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan as doomed – “will not prevail.” We should pull our troops out immediately, if not sooner. He also lambasted Canada’s support of Israel as misguided – aimed at appeasing Israel and Jewish voters.
This, from a man who purports to be a foreign affairs expert. Not only does he dismiss support for Israel as cynical and insincere, but his suggestion that Canada has lost stature because of Afghanistan and forfeited credibility is, arguably, 100% wrong.
To suggest Canada had international influence during the peacekeeping days of Fowler as deputy minister is ludicrous – witness Hillier’s and Sir Hew Pike’s observations. More, check the assessment of Canadian soldiers and the rest of the world.
At the G-8 conference U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Canada to continue its presence in Afghanistan – not stroking Canadian sensitivities, but because our soldiers are so damn good as allies. Arguably, the best-trained soldiers of the coalition.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says after 2011, no Canadian troops will be in Afghanistan, only a civilian mission – aid workers, and such. If Harper’s serious, he’s taking an awful risk with Canadian lives. Afghanistan will not stop being Afghanistan after 2011. Without the security of Canadian soldiers, Canadian “civilians” will have no security. That’s a given.
Now that our military has progressed beyond the doldrum days when Bob Fowler ran DND (and “civilianized” the department, with more civvy equivalent of generals than the 130-odd generals then on staff – today reduced by half), the PM should take pains not to trim the military back to what it was in the “dark decades.”
Fowler’s view that political parties are election-oriented at the expense of the country, has merit. But his view that Canada needs to regain the influence it had when he was in Ottawa, is hogwash, and reflects on whatever advice he gave Trudeau, Mulroney, Turner and Chretien.
May his retirement be fruitful – nostalgia for a Canada we don’t want repeated.
Independent // Mar 31, 2010 at 2:16 pm
No offense to you, Peter, but I didn’t think Canada has earned any place on the world stage. They’ve been missing in action on the world stage, cowering in the orchestra pit with French communists and Spainish monarchists.
Unless someone puts a porta-potty up there… then Canada’s rightful place is to wait patiently until the real world leaders use said potty and some hapless Canadian govt wag steps on the world stage to empty it.
Honestly, when Canadians start thinking they are actually a country and not just a forgotten appendage of America will be the day we need to go back there, kick some ass and finish the job we started in 1776 at the Battle of the Cedars.
“Canadians” and “world stage” shouldn’t ever be used in the same sentence. You dishonor real leadership by real countries involved in correcting the world’s ills, Peter.
iveyguy // Mar 31, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Independent,
As always, your mouth (or your fingers) are engaged long before your brain. Before you decide to “go back there, kick some ass and finish the job we started in 1776″, you might have taken a moment to do a little research. You actually did try to, as you put it “finish the job”, and in 1813 you sacked York (Toronto, as it is now known) –incidently the hometown of Mr. Frum.
However, in retalition we sacked Washington. burned the White House, the buildings housing the Senate and House of Representatives, the Treasury building and a few other places for good measure.
If I borrow inspiration from Churchill, rather than “some chicken, some neck”, I observe “some finish, some job.”
saveur // Mar 31, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Worthington is free to argue if he wishes that the higher stature of Canada on the international stage under the Liberals is a myth and that Fowler is wrong.
However, the teaser for this article on the front page said “Under PM Harper, however, the truth is that Canada’s influence in the world has grown.” As far as I can see, Worthington’s article makes no attempt to argue that. It alludes to how the Afghan deployment won Canada brownie points though that was started under the Liberals; furthermore it criticizes Harper’s decision to pull troops out by 2011.
Where did this misleading synopsis of Worthington’s point come from?
Independent // Mar 31, 2010 at 6:20 pm
iveyguy sneers: “…you might have taken a moment to do a little research. You actually did try to, as you put it “finish the job”, and in 1813 you sacked York –incidently the hometown of Mr. Frum”.
Actually, we didn’t finish the job, iveyguy –that would have required an annexation of Canada onto the US and, thankfully, that didn’t happen.
As for your claim the Canadians sacked Washington, I can’t say enough about yet another incidence of Canadians trying to claim credit for something someone else did… it happens all the time –like Canadians trying to project an image of warriors in Afghanistan when we all know they hide in their posts, fail in their patrols and run from any gunfire.
The British, iveyguy, specifically an Irishman named General Robert Ross with British troops from the British garrisons in various Atlantic islands, took Washington. Not the Canadians. They were still in hiding, shaking, cowardly avoiding the conflict.
Ross was later killed by a pair of teenaged boys from a famr outside Baltimore. His body was pickeled in rum and ultimately transported to a safe burial spot in Halifax. I’ve visited his unremarkable tomb.
What is it about Canadians always in need of claiming credit for the heroism of others –my God, you sound like a modern day American Democrat.
vandelay // Mar 31, 2010 at 7:03 pm
You realize that Canada as such didn’t exist until 1867. Until then, we were all British (except for the French). You’re pretty stupid.
sinz54 // Mar 31, 2010 at 7:45 pm
at the Liberal conference Bob Fowler belittled Canada’s foreign policy and lamented that our influence on the international stage has diminished
Of course it’s diminished.
With a conservative (Harper) as PM, all the European left-wing intelligentsia no longer look to Canada to lead a socialist bloc against the U.S., as they did when Trudeau or Chretien was PM of Canada.
It’s the same claptrap that Obama’s supporters have used: The best way to have “influence” with them to surrender to enemies like al-Qaeda and become meek, weak, humble, appeasing, self-effacing–and dead.
sunroof // Mar 31, 2010 at 10:11 pm
I love these comments where one midget says “We’re going to finish the job we started” and another says “you tried in 1813 and we burned the White House, made it look like cajun catfish!”
Who is “we”?
Were you personally present at Concord, or Queenston Heights, or New Orleans?
I doubt any of you were even present at Normandy.
So don’t talk like you’ve commanded vast armies; you can’t even command a decent discussion of history.
Stefano // Apr 1, 2010 at 1:06 am
Independent:
“No offense to you, Peter, but I didn’t think Canada has earned any place on the world stage. They’ve been missing in action on the world stage, cowering in the orchestra pit with French communists and Spainish monarchists.”
First, what in the hell are you talking about? While the last sentence uses words, I can’t figure out what you are trying to say. Why is there orchestra pit, and why are there communists and monarchists in said pit? Also, since the former tend to hate the latter, their usage of the same space makes no sense. Finally, why would communists from one country be consorting with the monarchists of another? Do you think that communists from one country would be bothered to relocate to another country and try to oust that country’s king (or queen)?
Did you actually think that mixing metaphors would create some sort of epic, mega-metaphor?
Stefano // Apr 1, 2010 at 1:13 am
Sinz:
“It’s the same claptrap that Obama’s supporters have used: The best way to have “influence” with them to surrender to enemies like al-Qaeda and become meek, weak, humble, appeasing, self-effacing–and dead.”
Actually, no… it is the same claptrap that Republicans and their supporters keep pushing in order to win votes. Unless you have access to some special news feed, NO ONE has surrendered to Al-Qaeda, including the US. In fact, under President Obama, he has sent more troops to Afghanistan, something that the previous administration failed to do because it was too busy starting a war in Iraq.
iveyguy // Apr 1, 2010 at 9:54 am
The word “we” was not as Canadians, for as you correctly point out, Canada did not exist as a soverign country prior to 1867. “We” was for the King’s soldiers and sailors.
Independent // Apr 1, 2010 at 10:31 am
Stefano, no on the mixed metaphors inquiry.
Let’s see if we can connect the dots for you… I may have gone to fast or you may have been spinning like a whirling Dervish to avoid reality’s caustic touch.
Stages have orchestra pits. They move up. They move down. Sometimes, you can look at a stage and it appears there’s no pit. But after some unionized stagehand is awakened from their contractual 25 minute nap every 2 hours, they push a button and hydraulic pistons move part of the stage down below the remaining stage’s level and you get a orchestra pit. Presto.
Now, if you’re on the world stage… you can’t really see the people in the pit unless you get close to the edge of the stage.
Canada, keeping with that metaphor, doesn’t belong on any stage, any where. The country’s utter failure in being a responsible player in world affairs denies them a place on the world stage.
Like the French communists who wanted to work with Saddam to keep him in power, the Canadians belong down in the orchestra pit –out of sight, out of mind, out of the lights. Like the Spanish Monarchists who worked to appease the muslim terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan after the Madrid bombings, they too belong with the cowardly Canadians cowering in the pit.
See how that works?
Maybe we need to come up with a special sidebar for explaining complicated ideas to Stefano?
Canadians don’t belong on any world stage. They belong in the orchestra pit with the other nations, cowering.
Stefano // Apr 1, 2010 at 11:25 am
So, if you are in the orchestra pit, that means your are less important than those on the stage?
*This just in, Independent knows better than music world! Orchestra pit not important, says Frum Forum poster, because they are less than those on the stage.*
Independent is obviously not a musician, otherwise he wouldn’t be belittling those who work in the pit. I think you need the sidebar, Independent, and preferably to an news or information site that includes actual facts. Here is a link to start you off:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestra_pit
As for rest of your convoluted post, France has elected right-of-center presidents for the past decade (Chirac, Sarkozy). It is the president of France who is responsible for the armed forces of that country. I point this out to you because you are making the accusation that communists made the decision not to invade Iraq, which is factually incorrect.
*Historical note, French communists fought the Nazi occupation of French during WWII. This may come as a shock to you, but communists and nazis don’t like each other!
Regarding Spain, I think the governing party would think you are nuts, since they are not monarchists, but socialists (which you probably think are evil). They were always against the war in Iraq, and campaigned on getting out of the mess your former president created. They wanted to withdraw from Iraq before the Madrid bombings, and after the Madrid bombings. It was the people of Spain who elected them and, SURPRISE, they kept their campaign promise.
As for Canada, I am proud that we did not go to war in Iraq. And, if that decision relegates us to the pit, then so much the better. By the way, I am not sure if you were aware of this, but when an orchestra is used for a production, it is the person running the pit, i.e. the conductor, who is also running the show on the stage, making the pit all that more important. I should know, since I’ve actually done many productions that included orchestras. Maybe you should check it out sometime, but I doubt you will, since you probably think it a waste of time.
John Frodo // Apr 1, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Not since PET peed on Lyndon Johnson’s grass has Canada received such a tongue lashing from our indefensible neighbor. Unlike PET Harper is on the wrong side of civilization. Canada under Harper has spent decades of hard won rave reviews on the world stage. The brand is diminished daily. The irony is that Harper has screwed up so badly he can’t even do the right thing and hang on until the helicopter come to the rooftops in Afghanistan. Neo Con talk with neo mush thinking. Watch what happens when a seat on the security council goes to anybody but Canada. Seventy percent of Canadians who think Harper is the worst Prime Minister ever will cheer that the world still loves us.
Sunny // Apr 4, 2010 at 7:04 pm
“As for Canada, I am proud that we did not go to war in Iraq.”
Some of us in the states, however, noticed that as our own armed forces got stretched pretty thin between two conflicts, Canada quietly increased its troop strength in Afghanistan.
And some of us who followed both conflicts religiously noticed that for a long time, Canada (and the UK) was doing most of not only the fighting but the dying in Afghanistan, compared for instance to other NATO troops.
Canada’s a good neighbor, and however you sort out your politics, the visitors you send to the southern climes know how to have a rolicking good time!