The cartel parties have no remorse about Canada’s crimes after 9/11

After 20 years, they said we need to reflect

We are in the midst of the 6th federal election held since 9/11. The Chretien Liberals were in power in 2001 and it was on October 7 that the Prime Minister officially announced Canada’s participation in the so-called “war on terror,” with warships deployed from Halifax in mid-October and 40 members of the Joint Task Force, the army’s secret special forces unit being deployed in December. This was in the midst of Canada’s hosting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly which launched the justification of the operation of the NATO alliance outside of the North Atlantic in the name of ensuring the “defence and security of North America and Europe.”

Flashback: The day the war broke out

Halifax, March 20, 2003. Hundreds upon hundreds of people take to the streets to condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq the night before.

In this article from our archives, TONY SEED chronicles the response of Haligonians – and authority – to the first day of the U.S. war against Iraq. Similar demonstrations take place in Shelburne, Wolfville and Antigonish and a silent vigil in Sydney, Cape Breton, as well as in Fredericton, New Brunswick (see below), across Canada and around the world. History shows the correctness of this just stand. The war and ensuing occupation, endorsed and supported by the Chrétien government and every daily newspaper in Canada, caused a terrible tragedy for the people of Iraq and West Asia (Middle East): the number of Iraqis slaughtered is an estimated 1,455,590 people. From reports submitted to Shunpiking Magazine and TML Daily.

(HALIFAX, 20 March 2003) – TODAY a mass democracy meeting broke out at Dalhousie University on Canada’s Atlantic coast against Bush’s barbarous war against Iraq, beginning a day of mass opposition and upheaval that swept across the nation, from east to west, continuing a wave of protest unfolding around the globe, first Oceania, then Asia, the Middle East and Europe and onto the Americas as surely as the earth travels around the sun.

Flashback: Global Day of Action – Halifax rally condemns U.S.-led aggression against Iraq

On Saturday, March 22, over 3,000 people in Halifax again demonstrated against the war on Iraq in open sympathy with the Iraqi people

From our archives: ten years ago today, Canadians massively responded as part of the powerful determination of the world’s people to condemn and oppose the Anglo-American war of aggression against Iraq. This Global Day of Action involved over fifteen million people worldwide, including over 50,000 in Toronto and over 200,000 people in Montreal – “an ocean of people against the war” – at the time the largest political demonstration in the history of Québec and larger than any demonstration in the United States.

By TONY SEED

(Halifax, March 22, 2003) – ON MARCH 22, the people of Halifax joined people across Canada and around the world to demand that the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq be stopped immediately. More than 3,000 people from all walks of life gathered at the Halifax Commons before marching through the streets of the provincial capital to the U.S. consulate. The flags of Palestine and Iraq were held high and cheered by the crowds as people chanted slogans in support of the growing global revolt against the American war machine. In the heart of the march, behind a giant Iraqi flag proudly held aloft by Iraqi Canadians, different political groups and their supporters gathered together on the basis of Unity in Action to vigorously shout anti-imperialist, anti-war slogans as one.

Cuba’s dreamcatcher role in Haiti

By the Canadian Network on Cuba

Havana, Cuba, May 5, 2010: Raciel Proenxa Rodríguez (second from left) and Isaac Saney (second from right).

ON MAY 5, 2010 a moving ceremony was held in Havana, Cuba to mark the continuing success of the Canadian Network on Cuba (CNC)’s Cuba for Haiti Campaign. The campaign, launched in January 2010 in response to the earthquake disaster has thus far raised nearly $100,000 to support the Cuban Henry Reeve Medical Brigade in Haiti.

The Government of Canada’s foreign policy review

By SANDRA L. SMITH*

SINCE JANUARY, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) has been on the road with what it calls public consultations to get input of Canadians on the direction which Canada’s foreign policy should take. Staff at the constituency office of Foreign Minister Bill Graham mentioned that the Minister was somewhat frustrated because everywhere he goes, Canadians are only concerned with discussing the Iraq war and current affairs, specifically denouncing Canada’s duplicity as concerns the U.S. aggression against Iraq and the violation of international law. They are not addressing the questions DFAIT is posing in its review, they said. This is very revealing because it goes to the heart of the matter of this review.

An ex-soldier speaks out: An Open Letter to Defence Minister McCallum

1 April, 2003

Dear Shunpiking,

I thought you might find this interesting given the topic of the talk of Tony’s recent radio program, “Canada’s Secret Military Record.” The attached is a letter I sent to the PM and McCallum, the Defence Minister. The references are to comments by NDP Ms. Libby Davies in the House of Commons regarding the status of Canadian soldiers serving as exchange personnel with US/UK forces in or near Iraq. The question being

(1) are these members at war?; or

(2) if not directly at war, what are there rules of engagement if they find themselves coming under effective enemy fire? In the end similar questions ­– with serious ramifications.

It is my contention, as the letter states, that the Minister of Defence, in NOT defining their role, is acting in dereliction of duty. He is ultimately responsible for setting policy, but what is the policy?

Cheers,

Will

Sharing the burdens of empire: Canadian participation in war crimes in Iraq

No Harbour for War

By JON ELMER*

Halifax, March 20, 2003. Hundreds upon hundreds of people take to the streets to condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq the night before.

HALIFAX (20 March 2003) – SINCE the “official” war will surely begin before this issue is off the newsstands, outlining the terror and mayhem of “shock and awe” bombing raids in a city the size of Paris is perhaps an unhelpful conjecture: it will be massive, it will be brutal and it will be deadly – “liberation” as defined by the American Empire always is.

For months now, as the diplomatic wrangling at the United Nations Security Council consumed our attention, Canada’s stance on supporting the American Empire’s adventurism in Iraq relied on Security Council approval. Chrétien said as much when he came to Halifax in late February for a $400-a-plate Liberal Party fund-raiser. On the day of Bush’s infantile “moment of truth” address to the world, Chrétien affirmed to Parliament that Canadian Forces would not be joining the massacre of Iraqis. He lied.

Canada’s announcement that it will not participate in U.S. military action

Commentary, The Marxist-Leninist Daily, 18 March 2003

Protest against the deployment to the Persian Gulf of the HMCS Iroquois, Halifax, on February 24, 2003

SPEAKING in the House of Commons as it reconvened March 17 after a two week break, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien stated that “Canada will not participate” in the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq. At the same time Chrétien stated that Canada will be part of “rebuilding” a post-war Iraq. He stated that Canada will not pull its three ships out of the region saying they are needed to fulfill this country’s commitment to the war on terror. They are essentially protecting ships of the U.S., its allies and other powers in the area, he said. He also stated that 31 Canadian soldiers on exchange with British and American units in the Gulf region will be allowed to remain with their units, but would be unlikely to see battle in Iraq.

The serious dilemma facing the UN

By SANDRA L. SMITH*

THE PRO-U.S. war camp at the UN is facing increasing difficulties. The British and Americans have been going all out to guarantee nine votes in favour of their resolution and, necessarily, no veto. The Germans, French, Russians, Chinese and Syria are guaranteed on the other side, but nobody can be sure whether or not the veto powers would use their veto. The pressure on the so-called six swing votes comprised of Angola, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico, Chile and Pakistan is unprecedented as it is on the veto powers not to use their veto.

‘Dialogue on Foreign Policy’: Atlantic Canadians denounce Canada’s conciliation with Iraq war

By TONY SEED

(Halifax, March 6, 2003) – THROUGHOUT ATLANTIC CANADA between March 4-6, hundreds of Canadians spoke out against the national “dialogue on foreign policy” launched by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in January and denounced Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham for Canada’s conciliation with Iraq war preparations. So-called “town hall meetings” have been held in St. John’s, Charlottetown, Halifax and Saint John. Yet the much-advertised “dialogue” is in crisis. The indignation with and the credibility of the “Canadian position” is such that promised reports on the meetings have not appeared on the department’s own web site – despite repeated claims of “interactivity” to promote citizen involvement – since the inaugural meeting in Winnipeg in February. Similarly, reports on the “dialogue” have evaporated from the monopoly media, while the local media emphasizes Mr Graham’s arrogant lecturing and haranguing of participants as the main content of the “dialogue.”

Waging war on Iraq: A timeline of Canadian intervention since 1990

By JON ELMER and VALERIE ZINK*

Protest against the deployment of the HMCS Iroquois, Halifax, on February 24, 2003

The Canadian government long ago joined this war on Iraq: for the past 12 years the Canadian Navy has been enforcing a senseless and cruel economic war on the civilians of Iraq which has cost more than one million lives. 

Fourth of a series on Canada’s involvement in the Iraq war, Shunpiking Online. Please note that the timeline ends in February, 2003 and hence does not cover the ensuing material (export of arms, provision of territory and infrastructure), military, political-ideological participation of Canada in the war against Iraq.

The grim reality unfolding right in front of our eyes

An overview of war preparations in Halifax and Canadian ports

By TONY SEED*

Second of a series on Canada’s involvement in the Iraq war

(HALIFAX, 13 February 2003) – HOW CAN WE shut our eyes to the grim reality unfolding in front of us?

Preparation for war are “crimes against the peace,” according to the Charter of the United Nations and the Nuremburg Trials.

Yet, while the Canadian government postures about defending peace through the UN Security Council by presenting an “alternative” method of “internationalizing” the impending aggression against Iraq, it has already embarked on planning to commit precisely “crimes against the peace.”

We need look no farther than the simmering waters of the harbour for evidence.

Canadian military offers 3,000 troops to invade Iraq

“Putting everything on the table” – revelations in the media concerning the extent of the preparations for war by the “military planners” of the Canadian Forces. In this regard, it may be significant to note the tactics which the U.S. is using on Canada. According to the National Post, “US military planners appear to have had it with Ottawa’s dithering, and are taking out their displeasure on Canadian soldiers stationed at the US army’s Florida-based headquarters for Middle East operations … our officers will be excluded from war games and meetings related to Iraq.” But such revelations do not explain why Canadian solders are stationed there in the first place, nor why “military planners” have capitulated to the Pentagon nor why the Canadian government should capitulate to the U.S. if its stand for peace is as principled as it claims.

Opposing the war is a matter of conscience

By SANDRA L. SMITH*

WHAT prompted Canada to give the U.S. the “statement of support” it demanded to launch aggression against Iraq? Canadian opposition to Bush’s war is so widespread that even Liberal MPs admit that their constituency offices are flooded with calls and e-mails from their own Liberal supporters enraged by Canada’s announcement that it is prepared to join Bush’s war without UN sanction.

While these MPs claim to oppose Canada’s participation in such a war, the Canadian working class and people must be very clear that every conceivable argument is being put forward to conciliate with Bush’s war. One Liberal MP who claims to oppose going to war says it can only be justified “in two extreme cases”: if the UN is deadlocked and thereby unable to make a decision, and if there is indisputable proof that Iraq has weapons of mass destruction.

Canada must not commit crimes against the peace! NO TO BUSH’S WAR!

— Statement of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), January 17, 2003 —

Scene from anti-war demonstration in Halifax on Saturday, January 18 as part of the Global Day of Action

FOLLOWING the defeat of the Nazi-fascist forces in World War Two, the United Nations was founded “to maintain international peace and security,” “to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace” and “to bring about by peaceful means” for the settlement of international disputes. The UN Charter declares its founding as necessary “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” When the Nuremberg Trials took place, “crimes against the peace” were declared to be even worse than atrocities committed in the course of war.