On Afghanistan - CAP Responds To Media

We condemn the sham and pretence of a debate that just occurred in Parliament. An uninformed or deliberate blind eye vote serves only to support a foreign country’s ‘war agenda’. As a sovereign nation, any deployment of our military must be done with full consultation of our elected officials following the will of the citizens. Canadians must be capable of holding our elected officials accountable to us for their decisions. Members of Parliament ought to disclose fully the financial cost to taxpayers. Over and over Canadians are being told there is no money for our cherished social programs, yet there is an abundance for spending especially military equipment and of weapons research and development and manufacture. Over and over Canadian polls show Canadians put military spending very low on their priorities of spending. The guaranteed fatalities to Canadian military, i.e., youth, is not what Canadians support. Parliamentarians owe a duty to Canadians of honesty of this human cost. Canadians only ever have supported a war effort of defence, not aggression. Canadians have a right to honest discussion about the purpose of any Canadian mission in Afghanistan, the reasons behind it and the expected outcome. The truth is that the USA is facing a growing resistance from its own people to the increasing losses in Iraq. The US needs to free up its military from Afghanistan so they can reroute them to Iraq to avoid fresh recruits for Iraq. The US demand that Canada pick up the slack in Afghanistan to relieve the US losses is not an acceptable role for Canada to play. We are expected to subject our youth as cannon fodder to a mission conceived in Hell. A fully informed Canadian electorate would not support this role. We should never have agreed to go in to Afghanistan without full and complete discussion in Parliament. We should have determined this mission through the U.N. A sovereign nation is entitled to decide its own military role by its own political house, not be commanded by a foreign political /military voice. Canadian military leaders spouting military policy mimicking the US military language of aggression of warmongering needs to be reigned in immediately. The military is not supposed to be calling the shots in Canada. Our Parliament has a duty to restore their own role as decision makers .The Parliament must familiarize themselves with the power of the US Northern Command and reign it in. Our MP's have a duty to decide whether they intend to run this country as a peaceful democratic nation, or whether they are going to continue to abandon it to increasing military rule. Failure to do so is a pathetic, public acknowledgement that they are sniveling puppets. What a disgrace!!!!! The new Canadian Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor says, "Must we wait for terrorist to appear in Vancouver, Montreal or Ottawa…" . This is an example of foreign military influence and effort to indoctrinate Canadians. http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1144878609715&call_pageid=968256290204 This is the same song that the U.S. administration has used for several years. What no one wants to address is the root of terrorism. The fear card is the most widely used and most effective tool for waging war. Furthermore, there are many significant questions about the real role of the "anti-terrorist" movement that must be answered. Terrorism has always existed in various forms. Projecting "anti- terrorism" cataclysmically into the public face as justification for outrageous aggression, and the destruction of civil liberties at home, and trashing democratic constitutions is a form of treachery. It must be confronted if we treasure liberty. War could end tomorrow and rebuilding begin, if there was a collective political will to do so. Q2.What methods is the CAP using to reach the goal of a parliamentary debate? How successful have such attempts been in the past? CAP Response: CAP is a legally registered federal political party and as such is part of the opposition. It is our role to bring awareness of this subject to the people of Canada. Our goal is to empower the people to demand true, transparent accountability from their elected members. The Charade of a Parliamentary debate held on April 10, 2006 which began with minimum attendance and ended with approximately 10% of elected MP’s, for all intents and purposes was not a debate. It is proof positive that our MP's are content to be lickspittle lackeys, bootlickers. Any questioning of this mission is met with the rhetoric, "We can’t debate for fear of eroding morale and not supporting the troops!" This is utter hogwash! A soldier's job is to follow orders. An elected member of parliament’s job is to ensure that the orders the soldier follows are the will of the people and in the best interest of this nation. CAP’s role is to help the people hold our government accountable to us. The Canadian people will make the sacrifices for the decisions our elected officials make on our behalf provided the decisions come within the scope of Canadian morality. If the elected officials allow unelected bureaucrats or the administration, or unaccountable, unelected military, Canadian or U.S., to force us into decisions without consultation, full disclosure and accountability to the people, then they have failed in their duties to act in Canadians’ best interests. CAP measures our success by our ability to educate the Canadian public on matters, which are critical to our freedom, sovereignty and quality of life. We are a voice for the silent majority, those who cannot speak or are afraid to speak out, who find a vehicle in CAP. We are a political tool for the people, uninfluenced by corporations or multinationals, bureaucrats, military, or foreign countries. Our strength is in our ability to represent the people, their interests and no other. Canadians as well as many people from around the world look to CAP for truth in the midst of so much hype and rhetoric. We pride ourselves on sifting through the propaganda. Our party leadership is driven by the membership and the people of Canada, as any responsible political party in a democracy should be! When Canada has regained its strength as a sovereign free nation, been relieved of the binding, threatening trade deals that attack our independence as a nation, and restores democracy in its truest from,(from the people and for the people)CAP will consider our mission a success! Until such time we have much work to do on behalf of Canadians. Q3.What does the CAP believe is the distinction between peacekeeping and forceful occupation? CAP Response: CAP believes strongly in the values of social justice, democracy and freedom. Peacekeeping is a process of aiding a foreign nation at the request of that nation’s government, or people, or under a request from the United Nations to assist in stabilization. Forceful occupation will always be seen as such by the people occupied. The United States invaded Afghanistan under the guise of chasing an elusive bin Laden, destroying many innocent people, infrastructure and a way of life in that process. The premise for hunting bin Laden was in retaliation for 911. There was no invasion or attack of the U.S by Afghanistan people or government. That horrific attack of the twin towers in New York was never satisfactorily investigated. The crime scene was never secured enough to rely on the evidence, according to a growing number of citizens around the world as well as experts in the various fields. The integrity of the evidence was compromised and therefore the resulting invasion of Afghanistan must be questioned. We are not in Afghanistan to simply stabilize a country. Our military is proclaiming the words of the U.S. and their mission, to ‘fight the enemy over there’ and to hunt and kill the Taliban. The values behind peacekeeping, to win the hearts and minds of the people, cannot be realized at the end of a gun barrel. The old perception of ‘my enemy’s enemy is my friend’ translates also to, ‘my enemy’s friend is my enemy’. To align ourselves with the U.S. in this occupation is to erode the concept of Peacekeeping. Historically Canadians have been peace-leaders around the world, we will now be considered war followers and that is not something most Canadians are prepared to accept. Worse yet, we will be seen as duplicitous, and therefore become subject to retaliation. Q4.What actions is the military undertaking that crosses these lines? CAP response: The posturing of our military in the media and through our government has become more aggressive, more ‘warlike’ and less peace motivated. The major problem is that Canadians have been lied to. The Toronto Star reported that "after repeatedly saying that the Canadian contingent in Kandahar is part of a 'multinational,' NATO-led, United Nations-backed mission," both the government and the opposition Liberals came clean that our soldiers are indeed under U.S. command, carrying out a U.S. mission.” http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly&c=Article&cid=1144878609715&call_pageid=968256290204 Our government’s decision to place our troops under U.S. command, following a U.S. agenda is complicated by the fact that the U.S. does not recognize the World Court, but Canada does. Our troops will be subjected to trials, judgment and prosecution by the World Court for following instructions by those who are not held accountable to the standards of the World Court. The questions we need answered are why are we in Afghanistan. Are we simply cleaning up the mess created by the lust for conquest and war by the U.S.? Are we helping to clear the path and stabilize the area for the pipeline? Are we relieving the burden on the U.S. to free up troops for their next invasion? The war in Iraq was deemed illegal, based on lies at best, fabrication and unreliable information which is still being revealed. The de-stabilization of the entire Middle East is being witnessed day by day and yet we are joining without question, without debate and certainly without the informed consent of the Canadian people. Bin Laden was trained, supported and empowered by the Bush administration. So was Saddam Hussein. Both were allies of the U.S. so long as it suited the U.S. These relationships were mutually beneficial to the players but not to the people of their respective countries. They and the multinational corporations are also reaping the benefits of the rebuilding the countries they have destroyed. Certain elements of society always profit from war, but those who pay the price are the soldiers and the innocent civilians. Canada will lose our reputation as peacemakers and peacekeepers around the world if we continue to submit to the will of a war machine. Q5.Your release says that "like the majority of Canadians," you oppose our troops' involvement. Is there a study you could provide me with to give an exact figure of how many Canadians support and oppose this? CAP Response: Various polls reveal varying results. Ipsos Reid polls, “Half (52%) Feel Troops Are Performing Vital Mission And Should Stay, Other Half (48%) Say “Bring Our Troops Home” . A CTV ,poll in February 2006 had 62 % against and 41 % for deployment of troops. 73 per cent of respondents said the decision to send troops to Afghanistan should require parliamentary approval, while 20 per cent said it should not.” http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060312/afghanistan_poll_060313/20060313?hub=TopStories. Maclean’s reader’s poll in March had 65% of Canadians saying no to our involvement in Afghanistan. http://www.macleans.ca/switchboard/article.jsp?content=20060320_123598_123598 The vast majority of Canadians are being asked to vote in polls etc without being given the information they need to make an informed vote, much like our politicians are doing in Parliament. Canadians are more than willing to give aide, to help their fellow man, to help eradicate poverty, build infrastructure, facilitate freedom and democracy. If they believe that is what our troops are doing, they will support that mission. The truth, however, would not receive the same level of support. It is the truth that Canadians deserve. It is our sons and daughters whose lives are on the line. www.canadianactionparty.ca Canadian Action Party Leader, Connie Fogal Canadian Action Party/ Parti Action Canadienne Telephone (604) 872 2128 home; Fax: (604) 872 1504 E-mail: conniefogal@telus.net #385- 916 West Broadway, Vancouver B.C. V5Z1K7 Tel: (604) 708-3372;Fax: (604) 872 1504; e- mail: info@canadianactionparty.ca Canadian Action Party President, Catherine Whelan Costen cathpublish@wildroseinternet.ca Ph: 403-660-0449

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