Bush was not trying to strong-arm Canadians, U.S. officials say, page 1

US officials have released a statement regarding accusations that George Bush pressured Paul Martin on the Missile Defense program. The fact that it would have come as a surprise to Canadian officials was acknowledged, as it has been made clear that Canada is nowhere near making a decision on this. Terry Breese, with the State Department, is quoted as saying "That's what happens with leaders. They get to raise what they want to raise."

www.cbc.ca
President George W. Bush wasn't trying to strong-arm Canadians on missile defence in a private meeting last month with Prime Minister Paul Martin, U.S. officials said Monday.

"We clearly would disagree," said one White House source who did advance work on the trip. "He took a conciliatory message to Canada, about moving beyond Iraq and moving forward," said the source who didn't want to be identified. The official couldn't confirm exactly what Bush said behind closed doors.

The Washington Post newspaper quoted an unidentified Canadian official who was in the room as saying Bush waved off attempts to explain how contentious the issue is for Martin's minority government.

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In the article it states that the reporting on this piece was shaped with political intentions. I, for one, can totally accept that. This is what governments do. If Paul Martin signs on to this program, it will be the end of his political career. My feeling is that the truth is somewhere in between. I am sure the Bush government was surprised at a anonymous source from inside the meeting, I don't think there is as much communication with the press in the US, and it wouldn't occur to him that Canadian MP's don't always toe the party line.

In the interest of fairness, because I submitted the original story to ATSNN, I felt it important to submit this one as well.

[edit on 29-3-2005 by Spectre]