Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 5, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba A10 Winnipeg free press monday july 5, 2004 Freedom of Trade comment editor Terence Moore 697-7044 Liberty of religion Equality of civil rights editorials on time in Iraq two Days before the june 30 deadline it had set for transition of authority the United states handed Power Over to Iraq a new government. The Transi Tion was moved ahead by 48 hours to foil any terrorists attacks that might have been planned to disrupt it and it went smoothly. Precisely on schedule former dictator Saddam Hussein was handed Over to iraqi jurisdiction and the Butcher of Baghdad appeared in a courtroom before iraqi judges to face charges of crimes against humanity and War crimes Saddam at first appeared slightly intimidated ? perhaps just confused ? by the court room appearance but he soon regained his old bravado sensing perhaps the pos sible vulnerability of his prosecutors and the new government they represent. The interim govern ment of prime minister Iyad Allawin however May have More Confidence than the old Butch or presumes. It May have in fact More Confidence than its american mentors might prefer ? on the weekend his ministers hinted they might extend amnesty to iraqi rebels their word who have fought against and killed coalition soldiers since the end of the War. The pardoning of these terrorists most Peoples word for them might not sit particularly Well with the american officials or the american Public but it does make a certain amount of sense if Iraq a horrible wounds Are to heal it May not be too High a Price to pay to see an Arab democracy emerge that will serve As a Beacon for the rest of the Arab world. Already Jordan the least oppressive of Arab states and the one most favourably disposed to the West has suggested that it would consider a Mili tary and economic role in the rebuilding of Iraq the first and As yet Only nation in the Region to do so. In fact despite the continuing violence in Iraq and the spillover effect it has had in saudi Arabia As Al Zaeda Steps up its violence even As it watches its influence Wane the great satan or the United states and its allies As we More familiarly know it does seem to be accomplishing what it set out to do. The easy part was winning the War and ousting Saddam and his Little band of Bloodthirsty Brothers. The harder part and it has yet to be finished is win Ning the peace. That can probably not be done until the hardest part of All is accomplished ? convincing iraqis those currently in Power those who Are hoping to run for office in next years elections and the vast majority who simply want to enjoy a Pri vate life free from fear that their future is in their own hands that they must seize it but that they have friends in the . And elsewhere who will help them hold on to it. The image of Saddam posturing and pompous in a Baghdad courtroom is much diminished by the shackles that bind him the Fate that awaits him. Iraqis should take courage from that. And although it might be hard for them to do today As bullets still Fly and bombs explode they should take heart that despite the very real sacrifices that have been made despite the naysayers who worm away at Western courage the will of Washington and its allies has remained Strong. The West has not failed Iraq yet and Iraq is winning because of that. Shoot score there Are some canadians who think that soccer could be a Fine game if Only a few changes were made. One might reduce the size of the Field and put boards around it pave the Sward dying it Green perhaps in a nod to tradition and put some padding on the players legs arms and shoulders and let them go at it like real men ? no More yellow cards. It could be As Good a game As hockey. These canadians May be too far removed from their old country roots to truly appreciate the game of soccer. Certainly no matter what old country they or their ancestors came from it is much More Likely that soccer was played there than hockey. There is a vestigial soccer fan hiding within most canadians. That May be Why across Canada every year thou Sands of children play soccer ? it is cheaper safer and requires at least the level of physical condition ing that hockey does. That is also Why it is puzzling that soccer has never caught on As a professional sport in North America. As the world ? including Canada ? watched the euro 2004 soccer championship at a rate that hockey could never dream of attaining we Are left to wonder Why every attempt to promote professional soccer in North America has fizzled worse than hockey in Houston. Soccer and hockey have much in common. Both Are fast games that require extraordinary skills and Superb Levels of physical conditioning. Both have legions of devoted fans ? hockey a followers Pale in number to soccer a hordes but neither has made an Impact on the huge and lucrative american Market. That May be changing at least for soccer. Canadians saw in euro 2004 the almost fanatical obsession with which some of their compatriots follow soccer some will begin to follow it themselves and this will be a Richer nation for it. The Long languid sip of the wine of an old world soccer game enjoyed just As much the great gulp of the cold Canadian Beer of a hockey game. What a country where one can say with equal passion go Portugal go Greece go Canada we shoot we score ? every time. A dirty Campaign continues my Favourite explanation of what happened in last week s election comes from Reg Alcock the Liberal who was elected without my help to represent the constituency in which i live. Its my Favourite because it has no foundation in fact lacks any reasonable analysis contains several blatant falsehoods and strains credibility. Its my Favourite because it is so so lib eral. Or. Alcock told jobs Charles Adler that the liberals had won a minority govern ment mainly because really smart voters did not buy into All those negative conservative attack ads. Most people i have mentioned or. Alcocks opinion to have responded by asking what negative conservative attack ads did or. Alcock consider that and showing Money being thrown into a dumpster an attack and was the commercial showing a cookie Jar being emptied a vicious and unprincipled attack and in the radio interview i listened to it was Clear that or. Alcock did to appreciate legitimate questions. He could Only Dodge and weave when or. Adler asked him whether in the Light of his earlier statement that smart voters cast their ballots for liberals he was implying that Manitoba voters who by and Large did not were less than smart i suspect that or. Alcocks bizarre interpretation of the election results will soon become Liberal gospel and that before Long Many canadians will be persuaded that it was the conservatives and not the desperate liberals who built their Campaign around Down and dirty negative advertising. The election Campaign i watched was punctuated by negative Liberal advertising which warned us of a hidden conservative Agenda to destroy Canadas health care in favor of world class aircraft carriers. The Liberal Campaign emphasized that Stephen Harper was a scary Guy. It just never got around to mentioning that to a lot of voters in Ontario using the word scary is another Way of saying Westerner. If there was a hidden conservative Agenda based on secret policies Only the liberals knew about it. I seem to recall that the election was called by a Liberal prime minister before the conservatives had the time to Call their first National policy convention after picking their new Leader. Before this begins to smell of sour grapes and Reg Alcocks reasons for the outcome aside most of us realize that the election results speak for themselves. Ontario voters still prefer the corruption they know to the fear of change. All the years of getting welfare bread on the table easily beats in Atlantic Canada the uncertainty of standing on ones own feet. Unless memory fails or. Harper mentioned this situation sometime Long before this elec Tion. This was dragged out repeatedly to prove that or. Harper did not support True Canadian values. He preferred hard work to helping oth ers. No one should expect Paul Martin to make too Many mistakes in the near future. The nip May make a lot of noise but in reality they can to afford to fight another Battle before they Start collecting the gobs of Money they will get under the new election financing legislation. Liberals will keep telling us they alone can keep Canada United. They Are not Likely to men Tion that their new election financing will give the bloc a huge War Chest to promote separatism. Some Unity platform. Obviously time for More payoff Flag advertising More Nega Tive spin. Eventually there will be another election. Now that it has been proven that negative advertising works in Canada perhaps next time Well see some of Reg Alcocks imaginary conservative attack ads. Paul Martin could be shown morphing into Dalton Mcguinty. Tom Wappel and Dan Mcteague could be featured with their Bash ing of same sex marriage and abortion As representative of Liberal values. This would be As fair As those Liberal ads involving Brian mul Roney and Mike Harris. The last Campaign had indications that the bums might at last be thrown out. They weren to. Columnists in the Toronto Star Are already talking As if the last election was but a Blip that wont be repeated As Paul Martin continues As prime minister until 2010 and beyond. They May be right. Besides those canadians who would vote Liberal regardless there Are As we now know thousands of others who Are frightened out of their wits of change no mat Ter How attractive that change May appear to the rest of us. As Barbara Kay has written in the National Post Canadian voters Are not necessarily sheep. Many Are More like horses. You can try to Rescue them from the burning barn but their deepest instincts Are to return to the flames. Or. Moore a left Wing Pep rally by James Klurfeld new Day lets stipulate this from the beginning on one level president George w. Bush and com Pany richly deserve the unfair distorted and highly partisan treatment they receive in Michael Moore a fahrenheit 9/11. Or. Moore is doing to or. Bush no More and no less than what the right Wing demagogues did to Bill Clinton and others they have considered insufficiently dedicated to their causes. But that does to make it right. As i left the movie theatre monday night and it was nearly filled Felt As if i had just sat through a two hour plus Campaign com Mercial. Fahrenheit 9/11 is not a documentary that attempts to present real events in an objective and factual manner. Its a work of political propaganda. And i a frankly wary of film critics who rave about the movie because it Hap pens to coincide with their political predilections. Its downright tedious in parts and could have been Cut by 50 per cent. I a not suggesting that people Don to go see this piece of propaganda or that or. Moore does to have a perfect right to have put it together. In the political Arena free speech is As much about the right to be wrong unfair distorted and even untruth Ful As it is to be objective. Let it All hang out and let the people judge As John Mil ton might have said. But or. Moore also should to be taken at face value with his outrageous assertions unchallenged or his Opin ions taken As fact because he uses a popular medium movies and pre sents his opinions As if they were a documentary. That he is gifted at what he does just makes the product More dangerous. At the heart of or. Moore a movie is the con Tention that or. Bush not Only displayed bad judgment in invading Iraq or that the administration has not done an effective Job of fight ing the War on terrorism it is that or. Bush has been somehow motivated to do what he has done because of Long standing ties Between the Bush family and the saudi Royal family. Or. Moore is questioning or. Bush a very patriotism suggesting he and his father Are More motivated by their business ties with the Royal family than protecting the nations vital interests. Or. Moore does to make his Case through a careful compilation of facts but rather through Broad Gross assertions that suggest some kind of grand conspiracy. The undertone of his together. But of course he never can Docu ment his Case Only drop a hint there an insinuation Here and a Wink and a nod As if we All understand what the game is. What bothers me is that some Liberal democrats want to take or. Moore at face value. I understand that Many liberals have been look ing for their version of Rush Limbaugh or the Wall Street journal editorial Page. Its comforting to listen to or read somebody who affirms your beliefs Day after Day no matter what the facts might suggest. To the degree that or. Moore can help motivate the Liberal base of the democratic party Fine. But liberals ought not to fall into the same trap that the right Wing has in recent years the hatred and venom and ideological thinking that leads to the politics of personal destruction. I Don to much care for Many of the policies of the Bush administration or the manner in which it has carried out . Foreign policy unilaterally and arrogantly. But i Don to question or. Bush a belief that he is trying to do the right thing for the country. Or for that matter that trying to Deal with terrorism in to a devilishly difficult task in which the policy options Are not All Black and White Good and bad. If people Are flocking to the movie because they believe he is going to unlock the mystery of Why or. Bush chose to invade Iraq unilaterally they ought to be warned that or. Moore is dealing in fiction not fact. Better to suffer through the Bob Woodward Book or a much better written one by Richard Clarke. But if they want to go to a lefty Pep rally then or. Moore is the ticket. James Klurfeld is editor of new Day a editorial pages. president up Canadian newspapers limited partnership Murdoch Davis / publisher ? 2004 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian newspapers limited partnership published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 ;