Dear Editor:

Briefly, to Xeynon: some of what you say is true. Canada's treatment of natives, for example, is horrible and a national shame. (On the other hand, the natives are slowly making progress in the courts in getting the treaties that they signed honoured). That being said, I would never want to live in the US. Every time I cross the border, I can't wait to get back to Canada. The image of the US as violent and backwards is, in many ways, absolutely true. And what passes for political dialogue in the US is horrifying. Indeed, even though our present government is Conservative, many of its policies would not be out of place with the Democrats in the US - and I think that is unfortunate on both counts, since it wasn't that long ago that the Conservative Party here would have been far to the left of the Democrats. Canada certainly has its problems but - while it may be somewhat self-righteous to say this - I have no qualms in believing that Canada is a much better country than the US and I hope it stays that way.

Of course, it may not if the Harper government remains in power much longer. It is important to note, however, that even though Canadians voted for Harper, he still only has a minority government. Moreover, in terms of domestic policy, his Conservative government has been forced to moderate its positions on some important issues (such as the environment) because of public pressure. Even after having made all of these changes, public opinion polls show that if an election were held today, the Conservatives would still only win with a minority. To put this in perspective: right now, the government has the support of about 34% of the public. 66% of the public would vote against them.

It is really only in the area of foreign policy that the Harper government has been able to exercise its bizarre ideological leanings. As the article notes, Harper seems to have a strange fascination with American foreign policy and wants to create a mirror-image here in Canada. Again, that generally does not enjoy much support in the country as a whole, but most people don't vote on foreign policy issues.

Finally, Canadian public opinion does seem split on the issue of war deserters for the reasons stated above by others: there is a general sense that if one volunteers for military service, one should not leave when the going gets tough. If a soldier really does believe that his/her service is wrong, then refuse to fight and face the consequences. This attitude is a bit callous,however, given that many American soldiers (like the American public) were fed a line about Iraq and were essentially duped into going to war. Moreover, many Americans enter the military because of their economic circumstances; should they be punished because they were poor and their options limited? So, the issue is more complex than many Canadians realize.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine

Dear Editor,

I find a lot of the responses here to be really disturbing. For one thing, some people seem to feel that racism/bigotry only runs one-way - i.e., if you're anti-Israel you are bigoted. Isn't it apparent that a lot of pro-Israel sentiment can also be virulently bigoted? Some of the things that some Salon letter-writers have said about Arabs and Muslims, for example, is almost unbelievable and certainly could not be said about any other group in our society without evoking immediate and universal condemnation. Yet, many of these people have no qualms or shame about expressing what appears to be outright hatred.

Re: the question of why "progressives" are so often anti-Israel: again, the question of race is an issue. It's impossible for someone to be, for example, anti-colonialist and not also recognize that the history around Israel's creation and it's ongoing treatment of the Palestinians is a problem. Under these circumstances, being anti-Israel - or at least, opposed to the policies and actions of Israeli governments for the past 30 years - is simply being morally and ethically consistent. I'm more puzzled by the people who can denounce racism - for example, be genuinely upset about the treatment of Africans under apartheid or the ongoing treatment of native peoples in all European colonial states - yet are somehow able to find ways to excuse Israeli conduct. Even if one believed that Israel had to be created (even at the expense of the Palestinians) it does not follow that the current Israeli occupation of the West Bank and other Arab lands is excusable.

Sincerely,

Shaun Narine