To many Liberals, Frank McKenna has long been their dream candidate for party leader and prime minister. I never could get very enthusiastic about the guy. He always struck me as the type who couldn't be counted on to be ready to stand up for Canada in tough situations.
Comments made in a paper McKenna released today confirm my doubts. He claims Canada blundered by abjectly refusing to join America's anti-missile defence scheme. McKenna claims we weren't very good at communicating our position. Let's see - he was our ambassador to the United States. Wasn't it his job to see the message was properly communicated? McKenna, according to reports, seems to think we should revisit that decision, a position recently echoed by the Canadian senate.
McKenna misses the point. Putting weapons in space should be opposed by every sensible nation on the planet. Once one nation puts weapons in space, other will feel the need to do the same. There is no way, utterly none, that space weapons will be confined to defensive systems only. As surely as night follows day, defensive weapons will soon give way to dual-purpose weapons that will, in turn, be followed by offensive weapons.
The risks of a space-based weapons race far outweigh any slim benefit that could possibly accrue to American security. The risk to the planet of those weapons ever being used could be cataclysmic.
Thank God McKenna isn't going to be leading the Liberal Party or this nation.
If Mckenna had entered the race, there would be no actual race. There are many out there who strongly believe he would have obtained %50+ in the first ballot. (Asusming no Manley and Tobin)
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, his endorsement of any of the current candidates will change the dyanamics of the race for good.