Op-Ed by Catherine Whelan Costen
Of course we know that our MP’s represent the people of the nation, so their vote is our vote.
How can they know our desires when we are so uninformed regarding this issue? Canadians would respond better to the situation if we knew more about what is really going on. Canadians and people all over the world are seeking peace. Historically speaking though, peace is never as profitable as war. So, is peace really desirable? Are we on a peace mission? Are we aspiring to create peace?
Many Canadians believe Canada’s soldiers are peacekeepers, however as long as there is no peace, they have nothing to ‘keep’. Soldiers are trained to kill, as General Hillier was quoted as saying. Canadians by virtue of our government, have sent our young men and women to Afghanistan to kill or be killed. They have gone to war. What they do in Afghanistan, they do for us, in our name. Whether we like it or not we live in a democracy. Whether we vote or not, we the people of Canada determine who has control over our foreign affairs, internal affairs, arms deals and direction the country takes towards war or peace.
Many Canadians support our troops, but not the war. We know that our soldiers are doing what the nation has asked them to do. They do it well. They are excellent soldiers and we know we are asking them to do something many of us could not do. Many of us would not do and many of us, have never been asked to do. Many of those making the decision have never seen war, never followed orders to kill, never slept with strangers in a foreign country, eating rations, exposing their bodies to the elements, or hearing the screams of anguish in the victims of their wrath. Most Canadians do not know war. We do not desire war for us, or for anyone else.
Many Canadians simply ignore the issue completely. It doesn’t affect them personally so they are not aware. Some are aware, don’t like it, but feel helpless to stop it. Some Canadians turn away or refuse to accept their responsibility in these affairs. Whether we point fingers at those in charge or not, the truth is we allow it. We allow, whatever we accept without taking a stand against. Politicians have a vested interest in gaining acceptance from Canadians if they want to keep their jobs.
We cannot send soldiers with tanks, guns and other weapons into a country and tell them to make peace. That is not their job. It is our job to make peace and then they can help keep it. We need to send a very strong message to our representatives, our elected members of Parliament, to make peace if that is what we want.
Making peace is difficult but not impossible. It must be desirable in order to be on the agenda. Violence and war missions are escalating in the Middle East and around the world. Why? The media and propaganda machines are constantly telling us we have much to fear. They also tell us that Canada is playing an important role. Fear and pride are great contributors to the path to war, they are not the tools for peace.
Every member of the House of Commons has a responsibility to consider all aspects of Canada’s military role in the world. Canadians declare they want peace, so why are our sons and daughters sent to war? The current government of Canada has passed several bills, budgets etc. that may or may not be in the best interest of Canadians, but very little debate or discussion has occurred around them. Most have passed without a whimper or suggestion of protest due to several political parties’ fear of their own election readiness. Politicians who put their careers ahead of the lives of Canadian soldiers, are sending a very clear message to Canadians.
It is time for Canadians to have clarity on this issue, as well as others. We need to know why we are in Afghanistan? Is there a plan for peace? We need the truth.
If Canada is in Afghanistan to clean up the military mess the U.S. made while chasing the illusive bin Laden, then Canadians deserve to have a clear explanation of this mission? Many have suggested that Canada was relieving the US in Afghanistan so they could go into Iraq, which they did. Now we have two countries destroyed by war and the entire Middle East destabilized. We have some corporations making great profits from these decisions.
Canadian mothers, fathers, spouses and siblings of our military men and women, deserve to know that we are at war, which appears to be the case. Politicians need to put their fear of losing a job aside, while we discuss and contemplate the lives of Canadians on the front lines, the lives of Afghanistan’s people who are living in peril, the future of the Middle East and the future of Canada. Is Canada supporting the US’s desire to build an empire, where Canada plays a subservient role? Is our role in Afghanistan part of the new North American Union, where Canadian lives are controlled by a new corporate ‘ruler’? If power and greed are behind this mission, we need to be clear. Some people embrace the lust for war, power and greed, but most Canadians do not subscribe to that ideology. Does the Canadian government have a plan for peace, or are we simply following orders from another country or power?
These questions need answers. This may be seen as a ‘confidence’ vote in Parliament, however it is also a crucial decision on which countless lives are in jeopardy. Canada can become a leader in peaceful initiatives globally. We can aspire to it. Politicians who refuse to discuss our military role with the Canadian people, selfishly deny the democratic process for their own gain.
We need heroes for peace, not more caskets with lifeless bodies. Canadians live in a democracy and by that definition we are responsible for the decisions made by our elected representatives. If Canadians are going to support our troops in their missions on our behalf, we need to know what that entails. We need our representatives to speak the truth to us, now! Our representatives need to know what we desire and that can only happen with an open truthful discussion.
I urge Canadians to contact their MP and ask them to vote NO, and demand a clear truthful discussion.
Parliamentary Vote On Afghanistan March 13
Posted on Tuesday, March 11 at 20:56 by whelan costenContributed By
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“The Conservative government is downplaying a report that the Afghanistan mission will run $1 billion over budget this fiscal year after a series of similar cost over-runs.
The Tories did not deny the budget blowout for 2007-08 reported Tuesday in a Montreal newspaper.
They simply warned that the figure cited by the newspaper was based on preliminary estimates that cannot be confirmed until after the end of the fiscal year later this month.
Documents obtained under the Access to Information Act indicate the mission has cost Canadian taxpayers at least $7.5 billion since 2001.
Half of that total consists of annual cost over-runs.
The documents say the mission cost $538 million more than expected over the first six months of the current fiscal year, and is projected to overshoot its budget by another $539 million by March 31.
More at
http://canadianpress.google.com/article ... h9FmqH0CYw
I would love to know how many associates of the governing party here in Canada are profiting on the backs of our Canadian Military? There is no shame amongst thieves . You ask so many good questions Catherine , but do those clowns we send to Ottawa have the will to address them?
Sooner or later the NATO troops will be pulled out when people realize that they are an exercise in futility, and then the real bloodbath will begin, when the Taliban will retake the tiny, presently occupied patches and murder those who cooperated with the foreigners.
Wars and the military are the second biggest frauds in history, right behind ideological economic theories that cause wars and support the military.
Ed Deak.
Ed Deak, Big Lake, BC.
'Fox' Fallon Fired
By Justin Raimondo
12/03/08 "Antiwar" -- - "If, in the dying light of the Bush
administration, we go to war with Iran," says the March Esquire,
"it'll all come down to one man. If we do not go to war with Iran,
it'll come down to the same man." The piece describes this top
military figure as the last obstacle to the Bush administration's
persistent push for war with Iran: "It's left to" him and him "alone …
to argue that, as he told al-Jazeera last fall: 'This constant
drumbeat of conflict … is not helpful and not useful. I expect that
there will be no war, and that is what we ought to be working .'"
That was Adm. William "Fox" Fallon speaking, top U.S. commander in the
Middle East, last of the Vietnam vets in the high command, and, yes,
the very same Adm. Fallon who has just submitted his resignation as
head of Central Command. What makes this particularly ominous is that,
according to former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Patrick Lang,
Fallon told him, upon taking over at Centcom, that war with Iran
"isn't going to happen on my watch." Lang asked him how he thought he
could stop it: "'I have options, you know,' Fallon responded, which
Lang interpreted as implying Fallon would step down rather than follow
orders he considers mistaken."
Do I really need to draw you a picture to get you to imagine what's
coming next? This is as clear a signal as any that the Bush
administration intends to go out with a bang one that will shake not
only the Middle East but this country to its very foundations.Continued
They only represent the few who voted for them, and very few did duriong the last farcical election. 65% of the people chose to vote for none of them, and due to the dysfunctional "first past the gate" electoral system, out of the 35% that bothered to vote, only a tiny fraction elected the current band of illegitimate slithering vermin that falsely claim to be our representatives.
The correct statement to make, is that all of the MP's but together represent at best only a very small fraction of the nation, therefore we cannot ever expect them to operate on our behalf.
Should read:
" ... 35% chose not to vote for any of them, ... and out of the 65% ... (etc)
How do they represent the people of the riding if they don't know what anyone thinks about anything because they do not communicate with the people? They don't. So they end up doing the job according to their own wishes, and perhaps do a very poor job; but my statement, 'Of course we know that our MP's represent the people of the nation, so their vote is our vote' remains true. That is their job, whether they do it well or not is another statement.
I agree they are not doing their job very well, when they refuse to provide us with information on many issues. I agree that the current situation where MP's are voting on issues in such a way so that they don't lose their jobs, is not representing the people very well. When you hire someone to represent you using the process required by law, and they do not represent your wishes, do not communicate with you or include you in the decisions, then you have poor representation.
If we are going to send our youth into battle we need to spend money to do it. But Canadians need to be informed that we are sending them into battle, and why we are doing so, when their mission will be considered successful etc. We are left to speculate on this issue, or to assume and that is not good representation. I agree.
I agree the system needs an overhaul. I agree that we aren't getting the representation we want, but we are getting what we have collectively allowed. If Canada was not a democracy then this wouldn't be the situation. If our representatives actually believed their careers were on the line by their actions towards us, we would see a different situation also. Most ridings are not really contested until people realize how the decisions in Ottawa affect them personally. That is when we'll see changes at the polls and on the ballot, but for now these MP's need to be told that we don't care if they have to run in another election, we are not concerned about their careers, we are concerned about our soldiers lives, the people of Afghanistan and we want representation on the issues that matter to us. Real informed representation!
That's the world I live in, and I'll treat it as such and do what I have to do to survive inside of it. My useless vote will change absolutely nothing, and I've proven that theory to be true by casting my vote several times in the past. Had I never voted once in all my life, absolutely nothing would be different than it is today, and that's an absolute hard fact. So why bother voting when there's absolutely no point in it?
I have another theory, and it's that our crooked rulers are terrified of us figuring out that we're being taken to the cleaners, and by not voting it sends a clear message to them that we're no longer listening to their bullshit - and that terrifies the hell out of them more so than by voting for one of their cookie cutter hacks that pretends to be in opposition and fills up the dumpster with a garbage bag full of broken promises.
"... but we are getting what we have collectively allowed."
That much I agree with 100%, but how we choose to deal with it is up to each of us. We'll get somewhere so long as we are at least trying. You can keep on trying through a vote, and I'll just keep on telling them all to f* off.