Editing Jean Chrétien (section)

==== Refusal to join the Iraq War ====

Chrétien's government did not support the US-led [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. His reasoning was that the war lacked UN Security Council sanction; while not a member of the Security Council, Canada nevertheless attempted to build a consensus for a resolution authorizing the use of force after a short (two- to three-month) extension to UN weapon inspections in Iraq. Critics also noted that, while in opposition, he had also opposed the first US-led [[Gulf War]], which had been approved by the UN Security Council and in 1999 supported NATO air strikes against Serbia, which had no Security Council approval. In order to avoid damaging relations with the United States, Chrétien agreed to another and larger deployment of Canadian troops to Afghanistan on February 12, 2003, in order to prove that Canada was still a good American ally, despite opposing the upcoming Iraq war.<ref>{{cite news | last = Spector | first = Norman | author-link = Norman Spector | title = Jean Chrétien's war | work = The Globe and Mail |date= July 16, 2009 |url = https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/jean-chretiens-war/article787932/ | access-date = August 24, 2013 | location=Toronto}}</ref> Canada sent 2,000 soldiers to Afghanistan in the summer of 2003.<ref name="http">{{cite news | title = Chrétien's government rejected military's advice on Afghan deployment: ex-army chief | publisher = [[CBC News]] |date= October 18, 2006 | url = https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/chr%C3%A3-tien-government-rejected-military-s-advice-on-afghan-deployment-ex-army-chief-1.606203 | access-date = August 24, 2013}}</ref> Twenty years later, in a French-language interview, Chretien recalled the personalities and events that led up to his refusal. At the time some in the business community were petrified that the US would look elsewhere for Canadian products; 85% of Canadian trade was with the US.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}