I served alongside Americans. Now I feel utterly betrayed by them

Article content material

I served three years as a Canadian liaison officer with the U.S. navy. My American colleagues typically joked about Canada being the 51st state. I by no means discovered it notably humorous, however I understood the sentiment: You’re one in all us. It was lighthearted, albeit slightly clumsy, however by no means mean-spirited. When one in all them bought too insistent, I’d counter with ”How would you prefer to turn out to be the eleventh province?” That normally earned me an ungainly chuckle, the type folks give after they out of the blue understand a joke can minimize each methods.

Article content material

Then Donald Trump got here alongside, calling Canada the 51st state for the primary time and referring to our head of state as a governor. Not for a minute did I believe he was merely joking. Quickly after, he threatened us with heavy tariffs, branding us as a horrible neighbour who permits unlawful migrants and floods the streets of America with fentanyl. However the very numbers supplied by the U.S. administration don’t match the declare. The northern border makes up for under a tiny fraction of America’s downside with medication and unlawful immigration.

There’s a saying in French: “If you wish to drown your canine, accuse it of getting rabies.” Trump’s false accusations serve one goal: paving the best way for annexation. If that sounds alarmist, hearken to his former chief strategist, Steve Bannon; he speaks overtly about it. Why would Trump need Canada? As a result of that’s how he thinks, plain and easy. Simply as he covets Gaza, Greenland and Panama, he sees Canada a bit of land ripe for taking. The Arctic is wealthy in sources. Controlling Canada’s Arctic, Greenland and the straits round Iceland would give the U.S. a formidable grip on the North Atlantic.

Article content material

However even that is perhaps giving Trump an excessive amount of credit score. Extra probably, he sees Canada as open land for U.S. enlargement — very like the Midwest and West Coast have been within the nineteenth century. In his thoughts, absorbing Canada is simply one other step in America’s Manifest Destiny.

Our closest ally is threatening to convey our economic system to its knees as a step towards forcing us into its fold. As somebody who served alongside Individuals, I really feel a deep sense of betrayal. Buddies don’t threaten buddies. They don’t scheme to undermine their economic system or devise methods to take their land.

Buddies don’t threaten buddies. They don’t scheme to undermine their economic system or devise methods to take their land.

Simply as I considered my U.S. navy counterpart as my buddies, as a nation we consider Individuals as our pure buddies — and for probably the most half, they are. However the laborious fact is the common American thinks about Canada as a lot as the common Canadian thinks about … Iceland. I had been residing and dealing in Washington, D.C., for a 12 months earlier than I even heard Canada talked about on the radio. The host stated, ” this chilly entrance we’re experiencing? It’s coming from Canada.” That was it.

Make no mistake: we all know it’s the Trump administration that’s threatening us, not the American folks. However the place are our U.S. buddies? The place are the political leaders, veterans, or company executives prepared to face up and say: Not in my title. We don’t betray our allies. We don’t do that to our Canadian buddies. Their silence is deafening.

Article content material

Those that oppose Trump appear too busy chasing the chaos, scrambling to resolve which of his insurance policies offends them probably the most. They appear incapable of mounting a targeted response within the flurry of Government Orders. And let’s be trustworthy, the proposed annexation of Canada shouldn’t be that top on the opposition’s agenda. Their lack of shock tells me one painful factor: it doesn’t actually offend them.

I really feel betrayed. I served alongside Individuals, of their homeland and overseas. We took of their planes and passengers on 9/11. We share sports activities groups. We’ve an built-in economic system. We preserve the longest unprotected border on the earth — as a result of we’re buddies. But when the White Home threatens us, the American folks stay conspicuously silent.

Martin Luther King Jr. as soon as stated, ”Our lives start to finish the day we turn out to be silent about issues that matter.” Right now, that silence speaks louder than phrases. The indifference of the American elite tells me that Canada’s sovereignty doesn’t actually matter to them. The sensation of betrayal is all too actual.

Eric Sauvé is a former infantry and intelligence officer. He served from 1992 to 2014.

Article content material