US, Canada Still Disagree on Iraq War

By Andre DeNesnera

President Bush traveled to Canada recently on his first trip abroad since his re-election. The war in Iraq still divides the two neighboring nations that have traditionally enjoyed close cultural, economic and political ties over the years.

Many foreign policy experts described President Bush's trip last week to Ottawa and Halifax as an attempt to improve relations between the United States and Canada.

Relations between the two countries reached a low point during the later years of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's tenure¹ (1993-2003). A great majority of Canadians opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But tensions rose even higher when Mr. Chretien decided² not to send troops as part of an international coalition³.

Reginald Stuart, an expert on U.S.-Canada relations at Mount Saint Vincent University (in Halifax, Nova Scotia), says relations simply ground to a halt.

"They just stopped," said Reginald Stuart. "And I know from the time that I was down in Washington DC that the senior Bush advisers⁴ in the White House just simply said: 'Fine, we'll wait for the next guy [next Prime Minister]. We're just not going to bother dealing⁵ - we'll leave everything up to the lower levels, to the embassies, and the staffers, and the ambassadors. And things will continue, but we'll wait for the next person.' And that turned out to be Mr. Martin."

Paul Martin succeeded Jean Chretien as Canadian prime minister in December of last year. He retained his position at the head of a minority government, following parliamentary elections last June.

Gill Troy, professor of Political Science at McGill University (in Montreal) says relations between Washington and Ottawa should get better.

"The tensions that had accumulated had a lot to do with the personal differences between Bush and Chretien," said Gill Troy. "And simply by having Paul Martin come in and say he's not going to be Chretien, that changed the tone. And, I think, when Bush was re-elected, his desire to make this the first official visit - his visit to Canada - was a way of saying 'thank you' to Paul Martin for not being Jean Chretien."

While Mr. Martin is indeed not Jean Chretien, Canada's position on sending troops to Iraq remains⁶ the same. But Professor Stuart from Mount Saint Vincent University says the recent Bush-Martin meeting tried to put those differences aside.

"What both of them were trying to do on this trip was move a bit past that," he said. "Canada has offered to help train some Iraqi policemen. It has forgiven part of the Iraqi debt to Canada that the old regime had run up, and there is talk as well of Canada sending observers for the January elections."

However, Kim Nossel, director of Political Studies at Queen's University (in Kingston, Ontario), says even sending observers might be risky⁷ for Mr. Martin's minority government.

"I'll be interested to see precisely⁸ what the terms of engagement are very simply, because of the security situation," said Kim Nossel. "A number of commentators⁹ in Canada have noted¹⁰ that if, for example, an observer should be kidnapped and held to ransom¹¹ and executed on television, this would put the Canadian government in an absolutely impossible situation."

Mr. Nossel says, while publicly, the Canadian government is against sending troops to Iraq, Ottawa has provided logistical support to U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf¹².

"Basically, the Canadian government was, and the Canadian armed forces were active in the Gulf," he said. "But the Canadian government always argued that Canadian military activity in the Gulf was engaged in the war against terror, not the war against Iraq. Now, in reality, the war against terror and the war against Iraq got so conflated combined, that what Canadians were doing in the Gulf was, you could argue, assisting the United States."

Canadians have a distinguished¹³ history in peacekeeping operations around the world, operations that are sanctioned by an international body, such as the United Nations.

In late 1956, the world faced an international crisis over the Suez Canal, following its takeover by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Britain, France and Israel attacked Egypt in an effort to seize control of the vital canal. Tensions rose, as the conflict threatened to spread.

In a November 3, 1956, speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Canadian External Affairs Minister Lester Pearson offered a resolution creating a completely new force.

"Requests, as a matter of priority, the Secretary-General to submit to it [General Assembly] within 48 hours a plan for the setting up, with the consent of the nations concerned, of an emergency international United Nations force to secure and supervise the cessation of hostilities," said Lester Pearson.

That resolution passed overwhelmingly. It led to the creation of the United Nations Emergency Force - the U.N's first ever peacekeeping force. Its members became known as the Blue Berets, for the color of their headgear. That force was dispatched to the region, and helped defuse the crisis.

In 1957, Lester Pearson was awarded the Nobel Peace prize, the only Canadian to ever win that honor.
注释：
Ottawa 渥太华（加拿大城市）
Halifax 哈利法克斯（加拿大省会）
attempt 努力
embassy 大使馆
parliamentary 议会的
observer 观察员
headgear 帽子

1 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

11 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

12 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

13 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。