Re: National Missile Defence System - NORAD
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Posted by J.O. from Canada on March 01, 2021 at 17:48:06:
In Reply to: National Missile Defence System - NORAD posted by Magoo on March 01, 2021 at 16:10:06:
This is a delicate question. On the one hand, canada has its international reputation at stake; it has always supported international disarmament treaties such as the ABM agreement between Russia and the United States, and joining with the U.S. in this project would likely damage our relations with Russia and China, not to mention fly against our European allies' concerns about the whole thing. On the other hand, the United States is our most important ally and trading partner, and we do share the continent with them; we need NORAD for our own defence, as we could not handle that sort of an air defence network on our own, and of course we do owe it to the Americans, who have assumed most of the responsibility for continental (and therefore Canadian) defence, to do our part in continental security measures.
So the dilemma is this: do we, as Canadians, want to possibly harm our pro-disarmament reputation and possibly threaten the ABM treaty by participating, or do we threaten one of our most important military alliances with our most important and most powerful ally by opposing the project, and possibly lose the only means Canada has to defend its own airspace and sovereignty? The questions that must be answered before approaching this dilemma, therefore, are:
- Is there a possible threat of missile attack against North America from these rogue states?
- Would deploying a limited system like the one the Americans are proposing really break the ABM treaty?
- If there is a threat to the U.S. - and, as their NATO ally and most important trading partner, therefore to Canada - might it be in our interest to risk our reputation, whatever that might be, to help them in defending against it?
These are tough questions, and everyone will have an opinion. Personally, I think that if the Americans feel this is a threat and is important, we owe it to them as neighbors and allies to participate -- as long as the system WILL really work, and therefore be worth the effort and cost. But that's just me, and I don't pretend to know all the answers or issues - anyone else have any other ideas?
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