Woe, Canada

I was going to be commenting on the head-scratching implications of Canada opting out of North American missile defense -- which, as someone pointed out, is essentially giving "diplomatic immunity" to missiles attacking us!

But there's a new Canadian blog that's been covering the topic already quite well, so you can read all about it there!

I'll just remark on the most obvious points:

So, we're supposed to "consult" before launching interceptors over Canada, according to their PM, when their airspace has already been violated by an aggressor? At least our response was a blunt, "yeah, right." Good for Ambassador Cellucci!

OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday that Canada has to be involved in any U.S. decision to shoot down an enemy missile in Canadian airspace, but the American ambassador said the country had given up its right to be involved in any such decision.

Paul Cellucci, the U.S. ambassador, made the remarks just after Mr. Martin officially announced Canada would not join the controversial missile-defence shield.
"We will deploy," Mr. Cellucci said. "We will defend North America.
"We simply cannot understand why Canada would in effect give up its sovereignty, its seat at the table, to decide what to do about a missile that might be coming towards Canada."

Moments earlier, Mr. Martin had told reporters he expected the United States to consult with Canada.

"Canada is a sovereign nation and we would expect and insist on being consulted on any intrusion into our space," Mr. Martin said.

He did not explain what kind of consultation he expects out of the Americans in the event of a missile attack, and federal officials refused to expand on the scenario.