Assertive U.S. makes life tough for Canada

The rise of a unipolar American empire is now complete. If anyone still has any doubts about this, they must surely have been erased after the UN Security Council vote on Iraq last week.

U.S. President George W. Bush has not only got UN endorsement for his hard-line Iraqi stance, he secured the resolution with unanimous backing of the entire Security Council membership - Russia, France, China and surprise, surprise, Syria included. Not even Bush was willing to predict that outcome two months ago.

In fact, his initial hesitation to take the Iraqi issue to the UN was prompted by fear that it might be vetoed or voted down by Baghdad's friends in the Security Council.

To be sure, these friends hemmed and hawed for two months, demanding change, insisting on the removal of any hidden triggers in the resolution. But in the end they all threw in the towel and handed Bush and the Americans what they essentially wanted - a resolution threatening force again.

In the view of some, the resolution requires the Security Council to "consider" further action should Iraq not comply. In the view of others, the word "consider" means the council must specifically authorise military force after another debate.

The U.S. interprets the "consider" to mean nothing more than holding a meeting, not to authorise force, but merely to review the situation. It considers free to decide what to do or how to respond, if President Saddam Hussain prevaricates again. If the Iraqi response is considered inadequate, Bush will order the bombers to head to Baghdad.

Perhaps France and Russia and China know something that the rest of the world doesn't. Perhaps they have received secret assurances from Washington that Bush would indeed consult the Security Council before dispatching the bombers.

But he says he doesn't have to, and there is nothing really in the resolution to hold him back. United States could act at the slightest mis-step by Iraq. It is toothless in that respect, a cop out by the veto-wielding big powers and others in the Security Council.

Instead of setting out in clear-cut terms what they intend to do in the event of Iraqi non-compliance, they have ended up providing enough political cover and international legitimacy for Bush to act, if he deemed it necessary.

This has made life exceedingly difficult for countries like Canada. Their hopes that somehow France, Russia, China by themselves or together with others in the Security Council would hold off the Americans have been shattered. They are now reduced to twiddling their thumbs, hoping for a miracle to avoid becoming involved in a war they don't want - the miracle of Saddam agreeing to disarm on his own.

That is not all. The unanimous Security Council endorsement also has the effect of pushing Bush from the ambiguous edge to the uncompromising centre. With an overwhelming U.S. Congressional resolution, authorising force against Iraq already in the bag, and the support of the American public offered as never before - the president's party now controls all three limbs of the government after the Republican success in this month's mid term polls - he now has all the authority he needs to deal with any threat, real or imagined. Saddam has only to thumb his nose at the UN one more time, and Bush will be all over him in no time.

Canadians understand this and are increasingly nervous. Just as leaders in many other capitals around the world must be feeling, the people in charge in Ottawa are anxiously watching as an increasingly assertive superpower rattles the sabres next door.

They know Bush now has the green light, that he is free to shake off policy and diplomatic shackles to go after Saddam, that he is remarkably free to impose his will not just on America, but on his neighbours in the continent and countries around the world as well.

The implications for Canada are enormous. Immediately, the pressure is mounting on Ottawa to join U.S. and Britain in a new international coalition to disarm Iraq, if Saddam refuses to comply with the UN resolution, or if he complies but still give the run around to the arms control inspectors. After insisting all these months that Bush should work through the UN system to end Iraq's UN defiance, leaders here now find they no longer have any excuse not to lend support to the Americans.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, however, have made no public commitment yet. But after the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell this week, there is already a sense of resignation in the country, a feeling that Canadian participation in an allied coalition is now a done deal, that the government has no option but to commit troops to a U.S.-led international force to destroy the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, if Saddam decides to defy the UN again.

For their part, an increasingly assertive U.S. officialdom has started turning the screws on nations, which are trying to stay out of the fray. Canadians clearly want no part in this fight, but being allies, sharing a continent, they are being made aware that they cannot expect a free pass.

The word from across the border is that Bush expects full cooperation, not only with regard to Iraq, but also to secure the continent as they jointly pursue the war against terrorism. It seems, for a president who is casting the struggle against international terrorism simply as one between Americans and those who support them and those who don't, anything less is unacceptable.

To drive home the message, Americans are toughening up at the U.S.-Canada border. A new inspection regime has been put in place from last week, which calls for fingerprinting and photographing of Canadian citizens born outside Canada and landed immigrants, especially if they are Arabs or Muslims.

According to U.S. border patrol officials, the new measures have been deemed necessary for homeland security. "Bottom line, we are here to be vigilant about the safety and security of the American people," U.S. Immigration spokesman Greg Palmore, says.

In that scenario, trampling the rights of law-abiding people of other countries doesn't seem to matter. "No country is exempt in the war against terrorism," U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft declared in Niagara Falls, last week. Canadians, he said, are not exempt from this new security policy. That's regardless of whether they hold Canadian citizenship, dual citizenship, or where they were born.

Community organisations representing thousands of immigrants, refugees and minorities are naturally peeved. They want the Canadian government to intervene, protect Canadian residents from harsh treatment at the U.S. border.

Graham says he has protested, but increasingly the sense in Ottawa these days is that, in the current climate of fear, no amount of protests would matter. Americans, traumatised by the mayhem of 14 months ago, have temporarily lost their moral compass, and until they regain their balance and secure their homeland, they will not relent.

Just like the pressure Canada is feeling to beef up the military and join the U.S. in the anti-ballistic missile defence system as part of a larger commitment towards continental defence.

With the first batteries of