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| Great White North |
| Anti-war demos call for end to Afghan mission |
| 2008-03-16 |
| Anti-war protesters held rallies across Canada Saturday against the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Demonstrators organized rallies in 20 communities, including Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. At the Toronto rally -- where about 1,000 protesters showed up -- they shouted, "End it, don't extend it," in reference to Canada's military mission in war-torn Afghanistan. The protests come after Parliament voted 198-77 on Thursday to extend the Afghan mission until December 2011. They also marked the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion on March 19. In Canada, the Conservatives and Liberals voted for the motion, while the NDP and Bloc Quebecois opposed the extension. NDP Leader Jack Layton attended the Toronto demonstration, which was held at the Ontario legislature. "Canada should be on a path towards peace in Afghanistan," he told CTV News at the rally. "We should be a voice calling for the end to this kind of conflict, but instead our government is prolonging it -- and that's wrong." The Canadian Peace Alliance, which helped organize Saturday's protests, said in a news release that the Afghan war has "nothing to do with the defense of democracy or women's rights in Afghanistan and everything to do with advancing U.S. strategic interests in the region. The release said that Canadian soldiers were being used as "cannon fodder." Eighty Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002, along with one diplomat and a civilian aid worker. Foreign troops have operated in Afghanistan since the fall of 2001. They helped push the Taliban from power for harbouring al Qaeda, the Islamist terror group whose members carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on U.S. soil. Canada has 2,500 soldiers serving in southern Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Stabilization Assistance Force (ISAF). They are operating the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kandahar province, one of the most volatile and dangerous parts of Afghanistan. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 Another appears to be mickey d. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-16 20:10 |
| #7 The Afghanistan Canada Research Group was formed in 2006 by a group of York University graduate students concerned with the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. The focus of our work over the past two years was to document Afghan opinions of the international intervention in Afghanistan. In June and July of 2007, I spent five weeks travelling in Afghanistan with another researcher. Based out of Kabul, we travelled to Bamiyan and Yawkawlang in the central region of Afghanistan, north into Parwan province, and as far south as the city of Ghazni. The purpose of our visit was to ask ordinary Afghans – particularly workers and students who do not have a voice in either the international or Afghan media – what they think about the international military intervention in their homeland. Many Afghans told us they consider the current military mission the same way as they consider previous invasions by British and Soviet military forces. We were reminded the invading forces in both those cases claimed to represent the best interests of Afghans, but both occupations proved to serve the geopolitical interests of these powerful states at the expense of most Afghans. Numerous Afghans told us variations of the phrase: “If you come as a guest we will treat you with the greatest hospitality, but if you come as an invader we will resist and ultimately overcome your force.” We had a close encounter, when our taxi driver mistakenly pulled into an intersection in front of an ISAF convoy. Our driver stated we were fortunate the soldiers were Turkish rather than Canadian or American, because the Canadians and Americans are known to shoot the occupants of the car in such cases. While NATO leaders claim insurgents are at fault for civilian deaths, because they hide among civilians, this rationalisation is clearly unacceptable. Such a rationalisation is akin to giving a police force here in Canada the right to bomb an entire neighbourhood, because criminals might be hiding in some of the houses. A security tactic we would never accept for our own population has been given carte blanche approval in Afghanistan. Many Afghans also indicated a number of geopolitical and economic reasons why they believe Canada and the other international forces continue to occupy their country. http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet090.html |
| Posted by: mac-d-only 2008-03-16 20:06 |
| #6 And one of them is CR. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-03-16 19:37 |
| #5 The same 1000 t*rds that show up for every demonstration. |
| Posted by: Canuckistan sniper 2008-03-16 19:34 |
| #4 At the Toronto rally -- where about 1,000 protesters showed up This doesn't compare very well to the anti-Iraq thingies in 2003, if I remember correctly. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-03-16 14:28 |
| #3 "We should be a voice calling for the end to this kind of conflict, but instead our government is prolonging it -- and that's wrong." Because this strategy has worked out so well for Tibet, Burma, Darfur... |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-03-16 07:09 |
| #2 The protests come after Parliament voted 198-77 on Thursday to extend the Afghan mission until December 2011. They also marked the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion on March 19. Cognitive dissonance at its best. These people aren't anti-afghan, more like anti-american. Pre-9/11, the same types were clamouring for intervention against the taliban for their practices. Now, their most heart-felt feelings are coming to fore. |
| Posted by: Vanc 2008-03-16 05:06 |
| #1 Canada is turning out to be a brave force, a very brave force for good in life. Bless Canada and Bless your Soldiers Canada. You are all I ever wanted and more for North. |
| Posted by: newc 2008-03-16 00:39 |