Is It So Damn Hard To Say Sorry, Stephen?

You have to love the conditionality of the following "apology", uttered this morning by Stephen Harper: “If anybody is kept out of any of our events that’s there to hear our message, we obviously apologize to them,”. "If"? Is Harper questioning the reality of the incidents cataloged over the past week? Our PM must think his ass will fall off if he just says "We screwed up and we are sorry."

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Looking For The Oasis

Nicholas Kristof on America's Middle East policy:

The truth is that the United States has been behind the curve not only in Tunisia and Egypt for the last few weeks, but in the entire Middle East for decades. We supported corrupt autocrats as long as they kept oil flowing and weren’t too aggressive toward Israel.

If you substituted Canada for United States, this would be a perfect summary of Harper's Middle East policy, too. If it is good for Alberta oil interests and gets the nod from Jerusalem, it is good for Stephen Harper. No wonder no one gives a shit what Canada thinks anymore.

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Paralyzed Force, Gesture Without Motion

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

T.S. Eliot The Hollow Men

Motion: “We are running out of time. The time for talk is over. It is better for us to act than to talk. The question is whether we move forward together or split apart.” Obama on Friday.

Act: "This breakthrough lays the foundation for international action in the years to come." Obama, on his way back from the summit.

Falls the Shadow:

Today rich countries led by the United States are pressuring poorer nations to ditch the UN process and sign onto the Copenhagen Accord. They are threatening poor nations that refuse to sign on with the loss of their share of the $100 billion that rich countries have pledged to compensate for climate impacts the rich countries themselves have caused.

UN officials are struggling to figure out what the Accord even means and how it's related to the UN process, but what's is clear is that it was not approved by the 192 countries that are members of the UNFCCC.

By signing onto the Accord, poor countries risk displacing the legitimate negotiation process taking place under the auspices of the UN.

The US is so desperate to claim a Copenhagen success that it is now attempting to destroy the existing climate process and sideline 20 years of real multilateral negotiation.

Nnimmo Bassey, Friends of the Earth International Chair, said:

"First the US came to Copenhagen with nothing new to offer, and now it's trying to package the weak, flawed, unjust 'Copenhagen Accord' as a replacement for the UN process -- and armtwist poor countries into signing on.

"President Bush ignored the UN process, now President Obama risks to torpedo it.

Obama's approach sounds awfully familiar, doesn't it? Obama has his own coalition of the willing and this time, Stephen Harper is in a position to jump on board.

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but with a whimper

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