But, the former Canadian enforcer thinks otherwise. "US authorities have fired upon and disabled vessels from other countries in the past and will do so again. I personally would have preferred we did not arm our vessels, but having taken the decision to do so, it would be irresponsible not to use the weapons and rely on the goodwill of others to enforce our laws."
So central indeed is sovereignty to a people's self-image that nations have gone to war to erase any doubt about their readiness to uphold it when it is threatened. But, precisely because war is costly and no nation should court one, governments have the duty to avoid provocative language, and to be circumspect in the use of lethal force.
The Canadian example shows how this form of restraint can be built into a government's operational responses. But, even more important, it illustrates the need to build reservoirs of goodwill between nations that can drown the most bellicose rhetoric from their leaders. COPYRIGHT: ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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