Here is how the President Bush "working visit" played according to Jim Travers at the Toronto Star:
...Sift through the rhetoric on shared prosperity, multilateral co-operation and common values and find a second-term president determined to advance U.S. economic and defence interests, fight the war on terrorism his way and forcefully export an American package of democracy and open markets.
Clearly and as anticipated, the Bush message, delivered mostly privately in Ottawa and publicly in Halifax, is intended to land with a thud across Canada, in European capitals and at the United Nations.
Indeed. Now I agreed with President Bush all along but this new multi-lateralism boils down to I was right all along, now get on board.
...Where the president's visit leaves the Prime Minister is in a bit of a political bind. As much as Martin shares with Bush an interest in more robust international intervention, the U.S. is asking too much on missile defence — not to mention what sounds a lot like unquestioning obedience on foreign policy — while giving almost nothing on the trade disputes that matter most domestically.
As for asking too much, both the Conservatives and Chretienites (namely Axworthy on Politics with Don Newman last night) agree that our government has already signed on to what the Americans wanted out of us in BMD. This summer we agreed that NORAD would give radar information to the BMD shield. Really the only other thing we can provide is some land in the Artic.
President Bush seems to have cornered Prime Minister Martin on this issue and of late PM Martin is looking more and more like the blue Liberal we all suspected he ways. I wonder how long he can keep this up. I will have more on this later.
