Needed: A 12-Step Program for the Warmongers -- The Pentagon Been Hooked on Empire for 30 Years

It is surreal to read some of the Soviet opinion about their Afghan war that ended in 1989. And don't forget the Brit Afghan war before that. How the U.S.A. and Canada allowed themselves to get into the same situation the Soviets were in, in the 80's, will be one of the great ironies of history. Peacenik would love to search the newspaper archives to read some of the contemporaneous U.S. and Canadian opinion about the Soviet attack on Afghanistan. The U.S. and Canada were so outraged that they did not compete in the Moscow Olympics. And now, like the Soviets, the U.S. and Canada are spending money they cannot afford on a war they cannot justify, while their social saftey nets are torn to shreds and eliminated. Bring the troops home now.

Washington, the Pentagon, and the U.S. military need to enter rehab for their addiction to waging war and empire across the planet.

If, as 2011 begins, you want to peer into the future, enter my time machine, strap yourself in, and head for the past, that laboratory for all developments of our moment and beyond.Just as 2010 ended, the American military’s urge to surge resurfaced in a significant way. It seems that “leaders” in the Obama administration and “senior American military commanders” in Afghanistan were acting as a veritable WikiLeaks machine. They slipped information to New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and Dexter Filkins about secret planning to increase pressure in the Pakistani tribal borderlands, possibly on the tinderbox province of Baluchistan, and undoubtedly on the Pakistani government and military via cross-border raids by U.S. Special Operations forces in the new year.

In the front-page story those two reporters produced, you could practically slice with a dull knife American military frustration over a war going terribly wrong, over an enemy (shades of Vietnam!) with “sanctuaries” for rest, recuperation, and rearming just over an ill-marked, half-existent border. You could practically taste the chagrin of the military that their war against... well you name it: terrorists, guerrillas, former Islamic fundamentalist allies, Afghan and Pakistani nationalists, and god knows who else... wasn’t proceeding exactly swimmingly. You could practically reach out and be seared by their anger at the Pakistanis for continuing to take American bucks by the billions while playing their own game, rather than an American one, in the region.

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Liberals accuse NDP of ‘hypocrisy’ on Afghanistan

Peacenik emailed Ignatieff and asked him to not support the extension of Canada's role in Afghanistan. Ignatieff didn't respond. Peacenik has voted for the Liberals strategically in the past. Peacenik will not be voting for the Liberals ever again. The Globe's view is that "leaving Afghanistan entirely after years of brave service would be foolish." Peacenik's view is that staying in Afghanistan is insane. But Harper, Ignatieff, Nato, and the U.S. cannot admit a mistake. Has Canada beat the USSR's record for occupying Afghanistan yet? A record of futility and stupidity. Bring the troops home now.

1. Divide and conquer. Without the Conservatives to attack, Michael Ignatieff’s Liberals are gunning for Jack Layton and the NDP, accusing them of adopting a position on Afghanistan that is “simply not credible.”

The Liberals support the Harper government’s decision to keep Canadian troops in Afghanistan after the scheduled July pull-out; the New Democrats do not – playing right into the Tory strategy of splitting the opposition.

The criticism of the NDP is contained in a series of talking points issued by the Grits to their supporters Tuesday.

“Jack Layton has called for a ‘massive civilian deployment’ to provide stability in Afghanistan, but you can’t achieve this in the midst of conflict without providing Afghans with the tools to protect their security and their democracy,” the memo says. “Liberals firmly support ending the combat mission in Afghanistan as scheduled in July 2011 and we support the new post-combat training presence as outlined by the government today.”

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PM plans ‘inside the wire' Afghan role while U.S. presses for riskier one

Its bad enough that Obama has sided with Wall Street against mainstreet. He's backed down on almost every policy initiative that got him elected. Now he is twisting the arm of a very pliable Stevie Harper to continue Canada's combat role in Afghanistan. Obama is a George Bush acolyte. He is a warmongerer. As is Harper. Peacenik wants to puke. Bring the troops home now.

The United States is asking Canada to take on a more robust – and risky – role after the planned 2011 pullout of combat troops from Afghanistan, including risking enemy fire outside of bases to mentor Afghan security forces in the field.
The push comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper is expected to announce next week the government's new plan for Afghanistan – a plan that will likely keep Canada “inside the wire.”

But the United States wants more. The Americans are seeking greater Canadian participation – a role “outside the wire” – and are hoping for such an announcement before next week's NATO summit in Lisbon.

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Ottawa talks of extending Afghan mission

Peacenik doesn't have the will to go back and document why it is crazy for Ottawa to extend the Afghan mission. Everyone knows all the arguments. There is no mission being a major one. There can be no victory. Torture and war crimes are part of everyday life in Afghanistan. Canada can't afford to be pissing money away in Afghanistan. But lies, propaganda and irrelevancies will be used to bang the drums for more war. The Conservative Party of Canada is addicted to war. And the other parties are too gutless to say enough. Bring the troops home now.

Bowing to intense pressure from the United States and other allies, the Harper government now acknowledges that hundreds of Canadian troops could remain in Afghanistan years after its long and bloody combat mission officially ends in 2011.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay said Ottawa is looking at the possibility of keeping a significant number of soldiers “behind the wire” in the war-torn country to help train the Afghan army and local police.

“Knowing that the mission in Afghanistan has work that is yet to be done, we are now considering this,” Mr. MacKay told reporters in Halifax Sunday at the conclusion of an international security conference.

“Training is an option and it’s something we’re very good at, quite frankly.”

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Do the Harperites even care they lost UN bid?

punditman says... 

Punditman agrees with the sentiments expressed below in Peacenik's post.  If you go against key UN initiatives, don't expect to win a seat on the UN Security Council. Actually, while watching the news last night, Punditman got the distinct impression the Harper gov't didn't really care about getting a UN Security Council seat—if you consider their lame, last minute lobbying efforts compared to that of Portugal's. And when you view their policies as a whole, it begins to look like a clear strategy to lose international goodwill. Aside from the reasons for failure listed by the Council of Canadians below, here are a few others, courtesy of the Creekside blog: 

It would seem that such international policies as:

1) unstinting support for everything Israel
2) actively undermining the Copenhagen summit climate talks
3) delaying debt relief to Africa to advance the interests of a Canadian mining company
4) flip flopping hostility to China
5) snubbing an International Aids Conference held in Canada
6) cutting funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
7) refusal to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and
8) blowing off UN talks on nuclear proliferation, global peace and climate change in favour of a photo op at a Tim Hortons

do not ultimately translate into votes for a seat on the Security Council at the UN after all. Who knew? In his UN defeat speech, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon graciously blamed the failure on Michael Ignatieff - three separate times. Wanker.

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 12, 2010

UN Security Council loss a direct result of Harper’s policies, says Council of Canadians

Ottawa – The Council of Canadians is blaming the Harper government for Canada’s loss in its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council today.

The organization argues this historic loss is a direct result of the Harper government’s refusal to recognize the human right to water, being virtually alone in not signing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and consistently undermining action on climate change in Canada and internationally. For the past 18 months, the Council of Canadians has argued that Harper government must reverse its position on these key issues in order to demonstrate that it deserves a seat on the Security Council.

“The Harper government has been the only government in the world to be consistently against these major UN initiatives and worse, has been actively working to undermine these treaties and efforts,” says Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow. “With the Security Council vote the other 191 member states have sent a clear message that these positions are not in alignment with UN norms and that Canada cannot deny its UN obligations and still expect to be welcomed onto the Security Council.”

The Council of Canadians hopes that this vote will be a wake-up call for all Canadians that after almost five years in power, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has diminished Canada’s international standing to the point that what is normally a rubber-stamp for Canada to take our regular rotation on the Security Council has become a national embarrassment.

“Mr. Harper has let Canadians down in this historic loss, but he should not retreat to the G8 as his preferred body for decision-making,” says Council of Canadians director of campaigns and communications Brent Patterson. “We hope that Mr. Harper takes from this defeat a recognition of the need for real action on Indigenous rights, the right to water, and climate change to begin to regain the world's trust, and commit to these issues through the UN.”

In May, the Council of Canadians hand delivered a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressing concerns about positions the Harper government has taken on water, the climate and Indigenous rights. In September, the Council of Canadians faxed a letter to the 192 permanent missions at the United Nations outlining these concerns.

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For More Information:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685

dpenner@canadians.org

Canada loses bid for UN Security Council seat

Peacenik can only chuckle and shake Peacenik's head. Our great neo con Prime Minister, Stevie Harper, humiliated at the U.N. Nine years of ass kissing in Afghanistan and the U.N. slaps Canada's face. Good for the U.N. Unfortunately this will probably inspire Harper to redouble our warmaking efforts. Let's add some useless tanks, and some weapons of mass destruction to Canada's arsenal, then maybe Canada will get the respect Harper so clearly desires. Fiasco. Boondoggle. Fuck up. Bring the troops home now.

OTTAWA - In a stunning swipe Tuesday at Canada's foreign policy shift under the Conservative government, United Nations voters rejected Canada's bid for a seat on the prestigious Security Council.
After trailing in two rounds of balloting at the UN General Assembly in New York, Canada withdrew its bid for a Security Council seat.
As recently as two weeks ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pitched Canada's candidacy for the Security Council to the 192 member countries at the UN.
But despite depositing bottles of maple syrup on the desks of voters Tuesday and bringing in some uniformed Mounties as part of a last-minute pitch for support, UN voters soundly rejected Canada's bid for a seat.
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