The Globe and Mail: In the most scathing condemnation of Canada's growing silence before the world, Robert Fowler, the eminent diplomat who was kidnapped by Al Qaeda... relentlessly catalogued the 'wanton squandering of Canada's reputation,' as a respected voice within the dialogue of nations.
Domestic political posturing 'by politicians of every stripe in Canada as they compete to corner the 'ethnic vote' coupled with what he described as a relentless pandering to the superpower to the south has led to a 'small-minded, mean-spirited, me-first, little-Canada, whatever-the-Americans-want foreign policy.'...
Specifically, 'the scramble to lock up the Jewish vote in Canada' has caused this country to 'sell out our widely admired and long-established reputation for fairness and justice in the Middle East, in particular, for the cause of just settlement for the Palestinian people.'...
Mr. Fowler urged the abandonment of the mission in Afghanistan, arguing 'we will not prevail' because Canada and its allies are 'simply not prepared to foot the massive price in blood and treasure which it would take to effectively colonize Afghanistan... and replace their culture with ours, for that seems to be what we seek, and the Taliban share that view.'
Maclean's: Fowler charged the Liberals in the room with standing for little or nothing when it comes to foreign policy. He was even harder on the absent Conservatives, accusing their government of abandoning a Canadian legacy in the world, and, more specifically, of adopting an 'Israel, right or wrong' policy that has undermined Ottawa's credibility abroad. He asserted that there's an 'iron-clad link' between a failure to push for a fair resolution to the Israel-Palestine problem and the rise of Islamic terrorism.
For making this connection, he anticipated the ugliest sort of attack. 'It seems that anybody who presumes to acknowledge this blindingly obvious linkage is immediately labeled anti-Semitic,' Fowler said. He went on: 'I guess we are supposed to presume that the allure of jihad will inexorably dim as Israel builds ever more settlements in illegally occupied territories in contravention of a myriad of international judgments.'
Image: Canadian Press
