Paul S. Graham

Above Photo: Sgt Frank Hudec, Photographer, Canadian Forces Reserves Combat Camera Team

Above: Afghan children look on while Canadian soldiers patrol a village near Kabul.
Below: one of the thousands of victims of NATO operations.

The Manley commission is expected to release its report next week on Canada’s military future in Afghanistan. Parliament may vote as early as next month on whether to continue killing Afghanis beyond February 2009. Expect the steady of pro-war propaganda to become a torrent and then a deluge in the coming weeks — brave Canadians confronting a cunning, ruthless enemy while bringing freedom and democracy to the downtrodden Afghani masses. In today’s Winnipeg Free Press, for example, it was reported:

CFB EDMONTON — The spine of NATO is “made in Canada,” a senior military leader told about 1,300 Afghanistan-bound soldiers Thursday at the Edmonton Garrison.

In a packed auditorium, Brig.-Gen. Mark Skidmore told the soldiers they were among the best in the world.”You embody everything that Canada stands for, and all Canadians are proud of you,” he said. “This is your gift to Canada. You are going to help people who need your strength, bravery and compassion.”

The insurgents in Afghanistan have “learned that NATO does have a spine, and that spine is made right here in Canada,” he said . . .READ MORE

Meanwhile, the Canadian Press reported today that Canadian troops have been accused of slaughtering civilians:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Canadian and coalition forces trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people face the prospect of a new kind of insurgency as a result of mounting civilian casualties from military operations.

Frightened residents in one village say tension is brewing after Canadian gunfire hit civilians during a battle with insurgents about five days before Christmas.

A 12-year-old boy said he was there when soldiers – whom he insisted were Canadian because he recognized their vehicles – shot and killed his father and 7-year-old brother while they tended crops north of Kandahar city.

“I said `Let’s go. Let’s run.’ But my father said `What are you talking about? We have shovels in our hands, no one’s going to shoot us’,” said the boy, whose guardian asked that he use an alias, Niamatullah, for fear of reprisal . . . READ MORE.

To date, 77 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan to protect a government of warlords and drug lords while shoring up the crumbling American Empire. That is bad enough.

Worse, we’ve played an active role in the slaughter of thousands of civilians. How many thousands? That is under dispute and reliable statistics are hard to come by.

A survivor of the June 27, 2007 air strike that killed 45 citizens of Girishk, Afghanistan.

It is time to tell our elected representatives “Enough, already!!” It is time for Canadians to stop murdering the people of Afghanistan. It is time for Canada to become a force for peace in the world. Military force will not resolve the problems in Afghanistan — it will only make them worse. Canadians who watch the slaughter perpetrated in our name and remain silent are complicit in it. Write your MP today.