The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 2/20/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Adrian Wyld - AP Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper laughs as he talks with President Barack Obama while walking through the halls of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Thursday.

OTTAWA - President Barack Obama stepped cautiously in his first foreign trip Thursday, refraining from asking Canada to rethink its plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and saying changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement can wait.

The new U.S. president was cheered by crowds in the snowy Canadian capital and responded by declaring "I love this country" at a news conference. On his way out of town, he stopped at a downtown market, where he delighted onlookers by buying gifts for his family, using Canadian dollars.

In the news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama acknowledged that he has said NAFTA does too little to protect U.S. workers and the environment. Canada, the United State's largest trading partner, is leery of changes to the deal, and Obama said robust trade helps both nations.

Noting that NAFTA has side agreements on labor and the environment, he added, "If those side agreements mean anything, then they might as well be incorporated into the main body of the agreements so that they can be effectively enforced." He said he hopes there eventually will be a way to do so "that is not disruptive to the extraordinarily important trade relationships" between the U.S. and Canada.

Both leaders said that as economies around the world face crises, it's important for the U.S. and others to resist calls for protectionism. Obama made his sharpest criticisms of NAFTA last year while campaigning for the Democratic nomination in hard-hit industrial states where many people blame the trade deal for robbing the United States of manufacturing jobs.

As for Afghanistan, Canada plans to pull its 2,500 combat troops from the volatile south in 2011, following the loss of more than 100 troops killed in the country since 2001. Obama is headed the other direction, dispatching 17,000 more U.S. troops to the war zone.

Obama said Thursday he did not press Harper to reconsider. Instead, he said he praised Canada for its sacrifices and for making Afghanistan its largest recipient of foreign aid.

Both the U.S. and Canada have urged other NATO countries to contribute more to stabilize Afghanistan, where insurgents have gained new strength and the top U.S commander is warning of a "tough year." But Canada's people say they have shouldered their burden long enough.

Obama declined to say how long U.S. troops might be committed to fighting in Afghanistan. The answer will depend largely on the outcome of his administration's 60-day review of the situation, he said. He said he ordered the additional 17,000 troops "because I felt it was necessary to stabilize the situation there in advance of the elections that are coming up."

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