Thanks again, Jean

The international illegality of 'regime change' is being noted across the blogosphere today. Here is Informed Comment : ". . . As Michael Smith reports for the London Times, 'regime change' is illegal in international law without a United Nations Security Council resolution or other recognized sanction (national self-defense, or rescuing a population from genocide). "
Regardless of how sleazy the sponsorship scandal proves Chretien to be, or how much I dislike his propensity to undermine Martin, I will always be grateful that Chretien did his job as prime minister.
He kept Canada out of an illegal war. He said in 2003 that the US stated goal of regime change in Iraq was illegal. Here's the Reuters story of March 1, 2003: "Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien on Friday strongly criticized U.S. calls for the removal of President Saddam Hussein and told the United States to limit its ambitions in Iraq to disarmament. "If you start changing regimes, where do you stop, this is the problem. Who is next? Give me the list, the priorities," Chretien said on a visit to Mexico City. He said there was nothing about ending Saddam's rule in U.N. Security Council resolution 1441, the legal and diplomatic basis for much of the international pressure on Baghdad. "I think that if I read 1441, it's talking about disarmament of the government of Saddam Hussein. That is the resolution that we are working on. If you read it it is not talking about a regime change," he said. Speaking to reporters at his hotel in the Mexican capital, Chretien was visibly agitated. He clenched his fists and held them in the air while speaking."
Oh, and from the same news story, here is Ari Fleischer saying "The president has made it clear his policy remains to settle this peacefully. He hopes it can be done peacefully, but the goal remains disarmament and regime change."
Just one more proof that the "Everybody always knew the US was going to war" line is just another convenient lie.