A LESSON FROM THE SWISS
by George Jonas
National Post
May 2, 2005

The true North may still be free, more or less, but it's no longer
strong.
If there's an election (make this "when") one issue will be how successive
Liberal governments have neglected Canada's armed forces. (Make this
"wrecked.") It won't be a top issue, but it'll play a role.

Few dispute that under Liberal rule Canada's gradual withdrawal
from its
former status as a military middle-power has turned into a rout. The
dispute
is about whether it matters.

Why is it important for a country to project an image of military
strength?
Why is it important for Canada? Who wants to attack us? If anybody does,
won't the United States protect us anyway? Why does Canada need military
muscle to be a "soft power" of moral suasion in the world?

Why this macho preoccupation with martial matters? Doesn't building
up of
your forces in peace-time amount to needless sabre-rattling? Isn't it safer
to appear non-threatening? Isn't it wiser to have your enemies
underestimate
you?

Answering the last question is a breeze. No, it isn't wiser.

From the end of the Truman presidency to the Reagan years, the
United States
projected an image that eventually elicited Mao Ze-Dong's famous sneer
about
America being a "paper tiger." Cultivating such an image was partly
situational, partly deliberate. Progressive intellectuals had a distaste
for
strutting. They feared being provocative. They were concerned about
appearing as Ugly Americans. This East Coast liberal reticence was combined
with the Western tradition of the strong silent type, the taciturn cowboy
who minds his own business until he's forced to unholster his gun: a
self-confident Teddy Roosevelt-figure who talks softly and carries a big
stick.

It was a fine mixture, but when viewed from a distance, such as
China, it had
a way of looking like a paper tiger.

"May your enemies always underestimate you" is a half-truth.
Statesmen who
tempt their antagonists by projecting an image of weakness and irresolution
are often compelled to fight their enemies to prove them wrong. Being
underestimated is a mixed blessing if one is forced into a fight that could
have avoided by projecting resolve and strength.

Historically, palace guards and peace officers were selected for
size and
fierce appearance, often enhanced by busbies to make them appear even
taller. It was understood that the best way to keep the peace was to make
breaching the peace appear too costly. This was an instinctive rather than
a
rational calculation: Many species of animals puff themselves up when
alarmed. Animal instincts may not be sophisticated, but they're seldom
wrong.

"May your enemies always underestimate you" is useful advice when
fighting is
inevitable. But when the aim is to avoid fighting, "may your enemies always
overestimate you" is by far the wiser counsel.

But why must we think in terms of enemies? Is Canada required to
take sides?
We know all sides are flawed. What's wrong with neutrality? Why shouldn't
Canada be the Switzerland of the Western Hemisphere? Aren't we, too,
protected by our geography?

No doubt, latitudes, longitudes and oceans shield Canada, just as
mountains
shield Switzerland. (At least against invaders - climate and terrain offer
little protection against infiltrators.) In any event, whatever may be good
or bad about neutrality, the Swiss haven't relied on the Alps to protect
theirs. They've relied on crack troops equipped with state-of-the-art
weaponry embedded in Alpine strongholds.

Pacific, neutral Switzerland is an armed camp. Few people realize
that the
home of the Geneva Conventions has the largest militia in the world
(200,000, including reserves). The Federal Constitution makes military
service obligatory for Swiss men. A stint in the army means 17 weeks of
basic training as well as annual three-week-refresher courses until a
rank-related number of service days (300 for privates) has been reached.
This takes years, so middle-aged men reporting for summertime military duty
isn't an unusual sight in Switzerland. Service for women is voluntary, but
otherwise identical. Citizen-soldiers must keep their service weapons at
home, making the land of international peace conferences bristle with
submachine guns.

This, by the way, doesn't only deter external foes. It also makes
Swiss
criminals think twice before embarking on a career of
breaking-and-entering.
"Burglary isn't safe here," was the dry reply of Inspector Nicolas Margot
of the Lausanne constabulary when I asked him abut the subject some years
ago.

Making it unsafe for invaders - or infiltrators - to enter one's
home or
homeland isn't only advisable for members of military alliances. It's also
the essence of successful neutrality. It wasn't for their alpine charms
that
the Vatican turned to the Swiss 500 years ago when Pope Julius II wanted to
recruit guards for the Papal State's protection. The Swiss had a reputation
for valuing military virtues and technology to safeguard their
independence,
as exemplified by their mythical hero, William Tell.

Governments in Bern know something governments in Ottawa have
forgotten. The
Alps defend the Swiss because the Swiss defend the Alps. The seas and the
longitudes will not defend Canadians unless Canadians defend the longitudes
and the seas.

National Post

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