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| President
Bush Ridicules 'Conspiracy Theorists' On North American
Union |
| President Bush sidestepped a direct question about
whether he'd be willing to categorically deny there is a plan
to create the North American Union. Instead, he ridiculed
those who believe that it is taking place are conspiracy
theorists. |
| The exchange came at a news
conference held by Bush, Mexico's President Felipe Calderon,
and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper on August 21st,
2007, who met at a
resort in Quebec to discuss their latest work on the Security
and Prosperity Partnership. After the trio presented their
prepared statement about the SPP, several reporters who had
been selected in advance were allowed to ask questions.
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When it came time for a
question from a Fox News reporter, Bush was asked if he would
be willing to categorically deny that there is a plan to
create a North American Union, or that there are plans to
create NAFTA Superhighways.
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| The question was...
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| "As you three leaders meet
here, there are a growing number of people in each of your countries
who have expressed concern about the Security and Prosperity
Partnership. This is addressed to all three of you. Can you say today
that this is not a prelude to a North American Union, similar to a
European Union? Are there plans to build some kind of superhighway
connecting all three countries? And do you believe all of these
theories about a possible erosion of national identity stem from a
lack of transparency from this partnership?"
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Reporters at the news conference
said he sidestepped, instead adopting the tactic that those who are
arguing the European Union model of integrating nations into a larger
continental union is being used in North America should be ridiculed.
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He called it an old political scare
tactic, to try to create a wild conspiracy and then demand that those
who "are not engaged" prove that it isn't happening.
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Bush's answer was...
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"We represent three great nations. We each
respect each other's sovereignty. You know, there are some who would
like to frighten our fellow citizens into believing that relations
between us are harmful for our respective peoples. I just believe
they're wrong. I believe it's in our interest to trade; I believe
it's in our interest to dialogue; I believe it's in our interest to
work out common problems for the good of our people.
"And I'm amused by some of the
speculation, some of the old – you can call them political scare
tactics. If you've been in politics as long as I have, you get used
to that kind of technique where you lay out a conspiracy and then
force people to try to prove it doesn't exist. That's just the way
some people operate. I'm here representing my nation. I feel
strongly that the United States is a force for good, and I feel
strongly that by working with our neighbors we can a stronger force
for good.
"So I appreciate that question. I'm
amused by the difference between what actually takes place in the
meetings and what some are trying to say takes place. It's quite
comical, actually, when you realize the difference between reality
and what some people are talking on TV about."
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Harper joined in. There's not going
to be any NAFTA Superhighway connecting the three nations, he said,
and it's "not going to go interplanetary either," he said.
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