This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. Send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for more info. --------------75BA3FF15BB1 At the signing ceremony for Ukraine s admission into the aggressive U.S.-led NATO military alliance, Prime Minister Jean Chretien is reported to have made "unguarded comments" while chatting with Belgian President Jean-Luc Dehaene in front of a microphone he thought was turned off. The comments highlight the deep crisis of the Canadian bourgeoisie in producing statesmen and stateswomen with any credibility. In public, Chretien has said that the expansion of NATO is a matter of security and "peace in Europe." In private he said that the position of the U.S., which stands at the head of the NATO expansion, has nothing to do with security. "I know the reasons, it's not the reasons of state. It's for political reasons, short-term political reasons, to win the next elections." He did not comment as to who is going to benefit from the NATO expansion, but it is well-known that the military-industrial complex in all the NATO countries will hand over lots of money for election campaigns, not only in the United States, but in Canada as well. Over $30 billion worth of armaments is at stake. In terms of U.S-Canada relations, and particularly the use of Canadian troops to do the dirty work for the U.S., Chretien said: "(Clinton) goes to Haiti with soldiers. The next year, Congress doesn t allow him to go back. So he phones me. Okay, I send my soldiers, and then afterwards, I ask for something else in exchange." On the Helm-Burton legislation, Chretien boasted he was the first to oppose it and added, "I like to stand up to the Americans. It's popular. But you have to be very careful because they're our friends." According to reports, Chretien said that American politicians "sell their votes." He said Clinton won support for NATO by promising to build bridges. He said that if politicians did the same thing in Canada or in Belgium they "would be in prison." It would be laughable, were it not such a serious matter, that in the same breath that Chretien admits he sent Canadian troops to Haiti "in exchange for something else," he is castigating the U.S. politicians for their deal-making. The criticism of the parliamentary "opposition" has further revealed the deep crisis of the bourgeoisie, as the only concern they raised was how Chretien's comments may damage relations with the U.S. imperialists. What is revealed by Chretien's comments is the utterly unprincipled and double-faced nature of the bourgeois ruling circles. They reveal the "sell-your-mother-for-a-dime" pragmatism which can justify anything, and do anything to advance the interests of imperialism at the cost of the rights and freedoms and lives of the people of Canada and of other countries, all the while claiming to stand for all the best in the world. The opposition could not complain of such things because they too have the sole interest of advancing the aims of the most economically powerful, at home and abroad. While Chretien has shrugged off the issue, his comments are now going to haunt and stymie the Liberals, particularly in their foreign policy affairs, which they try to present as being based on the highest and most lofty "Canadian values." CPC(M-L) Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------75BA3FF15BB1--