Turkey and Poland: We'll take Peter MacKay to block

Much like his on again, off again political career, the bold dream of Peter MacKay becoming NATO chief MAY be somewhat back on again, if these reports are to be believed:

A senior Turkish legislator says his country does not back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO's next secretary general.

Suat Kiniklioglu, a top foreign policy official in Turkey's government, says Ankara favours Canadian Defence Minister Peter MacKay for the role, even though MacKay has said he prefers to keep his current job.

Fogh Rasmussen is seen as the front-runner to replace Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as NATO secretary general when his term ends at the end of July.

But Turkey, a NATO member, objects to Fogh Rasmussen because of the 2006 Prophet cartoon crisis, his reported opposition to Turkey's EU membership and his stance on Kurdish rebels.

And this report, via Wells:

According to press reports, Poland is to join Turkey in opposing the candidature of the Dane, Anders Fogh Rasmussen for the post of NATO secretary-general. Warsaw will instead back the Canadian defence minister Peter MacKay for the post, it is being speculated.

Poland says they’re backing the MacKay and want to block the Dane because the Canadian is “young, super-intelligent, dynamic and resourceful” (have they met our Peter?) but Turkey is making it clear they don’t want Rasmussen because, among a number of reasons, of his strident support of the right of the Danish newspapers to publish the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad:

"It is unacceptable that NATO be headed by an individual who has in the past rudely disrespected our values and religious beliefs," Kiniklioglu said in reference to Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked Muslim protests worldwide.

Fogh Rasmussen defended freedom of speech amid the protests.

It’s still a long shot, but I’m rooting for Peter MacKay to get the job now more than ever, if only to see the reaction from Conservatives as they try to balance their pride in Peter’s success, Canada's back, yada yada, with the fact he only got the job because Rasmussen strongly supported publishing the Danish cartoons and was therefore deemed an unacceptable NATO boss.

I particularly look forward to Ezra’s commentary.
_____
**Help send a BCer to BC for the Liberal convention. Donations are tax deductible. Any support is greatly appreciated.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers

Peter MacKay, our face to the world?

While I still really don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance on Kandahar of Peter MacKay being tapped as the next NATO chieftain, with US VP Joe Biden supposedly stumping for him I suppose I need to take it at least semi-seriously.

While I really don’t think it should be Peter MacKay, I do think there’s no reason why a Canadian shouldn’t be given due consideration and no reason why there couldn’t be a Canadian in the NATO post.

The commonly-held view is that a Canadian could never hold the top NATO post, for reasons of geography. The NATO military head is usually a US general and so the NATO civilian head must be a European. So fairness supposedly dictates, and so the tradition has been.

That’s all well and good, but what about Canada? Why, for reasons of geography, should Canada be excluded from playing a leading role in NATO, an organization that we have made a major commitment to since its founding? We had a substantial military presence in France and Germany during the Cold War (and by the way US, we left when it was over) committed to NATO. We’ve been a strong contributor to NATO missions over the years. Most notably, the current Afghan mission, where we’re punching substantially above our weight with the largest commitment after the US and the UK.

So, absolutely, a Canadian should be considered a serious contender for the NATO role. To exclude us for reasons of politics and geography is insulting and unacceptable.

That said, Peter MacKay? I’d like to think we could do better. His record as defence minister hardly inspires faith in his competence for the position, which will require the incumbent to deal with some major challenges, such as getting more support for the Afghan mission, NATO expansion in EasternEurope, and an annoyed Russia.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers

How Peter McKay's NATO chief campaign will end

According to the Toronto Star, Peter MacKay is now actively, if haphazardly, running for head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Or NATO to its friends.

His chance of becoming the next head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been described as a long shot; he would be the first Canadian to hold the post of secretary general in the alliance.

But sources close to the deliberations have another word to describe the young Tory's campaign: clumsy.

"There are some elements that are a little bit strange. He's lobbying for it, but he keeps it to himself for the time being," one western diplomatic source told the Star.

"MacKay is trying to have quite intensive consultations with a number of his counterparts. Apparently he has tried to meet our minister of defence recently. ... He wanted to meet him without giving a particular reason."

Don't write Peter off. He's got moxie, and leadership campaign experience. Here's how I see this playing out.

Peter's campaign builds a lot of support, but not enough to get him over the top. To get the last boost he needs, he promises Poland (on a napkin) he'll take a tough stand against Russian expansionism in its former satellite states. Poland brings enough support to McKay to give him the NATO job.

Then, a few months later, MacKay begins secret merger talks with Vladimir Putin. The end result? NATO merges with a secretly-revived Warsaw Pact, headed by Putin. McKay gets a minor job, and many of the moderate former NATO members (and his girlfriend) go join a newly-revived SEATO instead.

Remember, you heard it here first.

Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers