Peace activists occupy Tory election campaign office in Winnipeg, Sept. 20, 2008 to focus attention on deportation of American war resister Jeremy Hinzman. Photo: Paul Graham

(Winnipeg, Sept. 20, 2008) Anti-war activists peacefully occupied the campaign office of federal Conservative candidate Trevor Kennerd to focus attention on the planned deportation of American Iraq war resister Jeremy Hinzman and his family to the United States. The occupation began at 10:00 AM Central Time today.

The protestors intend to continue their nonviolent occupation until Hinzman’s deportation, expected Sept. 23, is stayed, or until they are compelled to leave.

Jeremy Hinzman moved to Canada in early 2004 to avoid military service in what he believes is an unjust, unlawful war. His application for refugee status was rejected and he is scheduled to be deported September 23.

Organizers fear Hinzman will face a fate similar to that of war resister Robin Long who was deported from earlier this year and subsequently court-martialed and sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Hinzman is one of thirteen American war resisters in whose cases have been championed by the War Resisters Support Campaign.

Canadians have repeatedly expressed their support for Iraq war resisters. On June 3, 2008, a motion was adopted by the House of Commons in favour of allowing resisters to stay in Canada, and calling on the federal government to cease deportation proceedings. A recent poll by Angus Reid found that two-thirds of Canadians support letting US war resisters stay.

Despite this, the federal government has refused to allow war resisters to remain in Canada. This is in sharp contrast to the Vietnam War era during which then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared: “Canada should be a refuge from militarism” and 30,000 to 40,000 war resisters found refuge in Canada.

“The American war on Iraq has caused the deaths of an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis. Refugees number more than 4 million. American war resisters are refusing to participate in these crimes and that is why we are supporting them,” said spokesperson Michael Welch, one of the participants in the sit-in.

Welch added that polls taken in 2008 show that 82 percent of Canadians and 65 percent of Americans oppose the war in Iraq.

What you can do

Call Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of Immigration Diane Finley to demand:
• that they stop the deportation of Jeremy Hinzman and his family;
• that they respect the democratic will of Parliament and implement the War Resisters motion.

Stephen Harper:
Campaign office: 1-403-266-4451
Constituency office: 1-403-253-7990

Diane Finley, Minister of Immigration:
Campaign office: 1-519-429-3382
Constituency office: 1-519-426-3400

Vic Toews, Senior Manitoban MP and Cabinet Minister:
Campaign office: 1-204-346-7710
Constituency office: 1-204-326-9889

Sitting Winnipeg MPs:

Go to Manitoba Conservative Candidates: Make sure to link to the candidate’s web site for current number. Call them and let them know that peace and human rights are election issues.

Show up at Town Halls and Forums, phone into radio shows. The media are inviting people to submit questions for the October 2nd televised debate. Send your question to question@electiondebate08.ca

CBC TV wants election story ideas. Contact them here.

War resister supporter Michael Welch sits in Tory candidate Trevor Kennerd’s campaign headquarters, Sept. 20, 2008. Photo: Paul Graham

Source: crossposted from Peace Alliance Winnipeg

The Afghan war will cost Canadians more than $22 billion, both in actual money spent on the war and future payments to rebuild equipment and provide long-term care for veterans.

We have the Tories and the Liberals to thank for this shameful misuse of our resources. The Liberals got us into this mess, and then they voted with the Tories to keep us there until at least the end of 2011. Ninety-seven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have lost their lives; many more have returned physically and psychologically crippled.

All of this in the name of fighting a war against terrorism and liberating the Afghan people. The war on terror is a sham. NATO (including Canada) are the real terrorists in this war. And the Afghan people are much worse off than they were before we “rescued” them.

According to the Canadian Peace Alliance:

• Civilian Deaths from NATO air strikes tripled between 2006 and 2007. Over 6,500 civilians were killed in 2007—the highest total since 2001.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned NATO bombings because they generate support for the Taliban.
• Canada continues to send Afghan detainees to the Afghan National Police (ANP) despite the fact that they torture and murder detainees.
• More than 60% of Afghan Parliamentarians are known drug-lords and warlords who continue to commit human rights abuses against Afghan civilians.
• Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, honour killings of women for “crimes” such as adultery have increased. The Afghan government is not enforcing new laws meant to protect women.
• According to the UN living conditions in Afghanistan are worse than in 2001.
• 6.6 million Afghans don’t meet minimum food requirements.
• Half of all Afghan children are malnourished.
• Every 28 minutes an Afghan women dies in childbirth.
• Over 70% of Afghans have no access to clean water.
• Literacy rates continue to drop, now at 23.5%.
• NATO spends more than 90% of its budget on the military with less than 10% going to reconstruction.

The NDP and the Bloc Quebecois voted against the Tory-Liberal motion to extend the Canadian “mission.” I’m not sure where the Bloc stands on ending Canada’s military intervention. However, a vote for the NDP is a vote to bring our troops home.

On that basis alone the NDP deserves our support. And if the majority of Canadians who oppose extending Canada’s military intervention to 2011 support the NDP in this election, the NDP will clearly be able to fulfill their promise. For those of us who want to end Canada’s support for this imperialist war there is really only one choice in this election.

The Canadian Peace Alliance is offering the above graphic for download in a window-sign format; You can also get it in a post-card format by contacting the CPA at cpa@web.ca or calling 416-588-5555. (The CPA is requesting a donation to help cover the costs of the printing and distribution of the postcards.)

Dear Jack,

Canada lost its 97th soldier in Afghanistan today. I hope you will put opposition to this war and withdrawal of our troops front and centre in this election campaign. The best way to “support our troops” is to bring them home. I am tired of Tory and Liberal lies about the “humanitarian” nature of Canada’s military intervention. I am counting on you to tell the truth and to rally Canadians to opposing this imperialist war.

Canada needs an independent foreign policy that supports genuine peace in the world. Please do not succumb to the advice of your advisors to run an Obama-style campaign of vague, feel good platitudes. Canadians are not brain dead and will respond to the truth if you tell it.

Best regards,
Paul Graham
Winnipeg, MB

My Friend,

Well this is it! Stephen Harper just quit his job as Prime Minister. Today, I’m applying for that job.

Yes, I’m running to be the Prime Minister that puts you and your family first.

I want this to be your campaign. I want you to be a part of it, starting today.

Click here to listen to a special election message to you. And I hope you make one of the first donations to this crucial campaign. Whether it’s a $25 donation or a maximum donation of $1100– your immediate support is so important.

It’s true. Over the next 37 days, you and I will bring about change that’ll take us forward, not backward.

Stephen Harper listens to the boardroom tables, not the kitchen tables. Now you can elect a Prime Minister that’ll put you and your family first.

Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done. Listen to my message to you and donate today.

Jack

Let me be the first Winnipegger to apologise for the latest part my town is playing in the planned murder of incalcuable numbers of men, woman and children around the world.

“The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, formerly the Joint Advanced Strike Technology (JAST) Program, is the Department of Defense\’s focal point for defining affordable next generation strike aircraft weapon systems for the Navy, Air Force, Marines, and our allies.” Source: Joint Strike Fighter Program

The big news in the Peg this afternoon is the federal government’s $43.4 million loan to Bristol Aerospace of Winnipeg, part of a $120 million upgrade that will allow Bristol to help develop the F-35 Lightning II fighter jet. According to the Winnipeg Free Press, this investment could yield $3 billion in revenue over the next 25-30 years.

According to the merchants of death managing this program, its financial backers include include the UK ($2 billion), Italy ($1 billion), Netherlands ($800 million), Turkey ($175 million), Canada ($150 million), Australia ($150 million), Denmark ($125 million) and Norway ($125 million).

While there will be those in this country who are disappointed that our contribution trails behind that of Turkey, I think we have lots to be ahamed of, nonetheless. And lest you be tempted to put all of the blame on the Tories because of its sweetheart loan to Bristol, remember that the peace-loving Liberals signed on to the program in 2002. There’s shame to share and shame to spare. (If you want an indepth analysis of Canada’s death merchants, go to the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade.)

The Winnipeg Free Press article didn’t hazard a guess as to how many people would be killed by U.S. and NATO air forces after it is deployed. However, if you click on the logo, below, you can get a qualitative feel for the impact of this lethal, yet affordable next-gen killing machine.

Are you one of those Netniks who can’t resist sharing the fruits of your meanderings on the Internet with friends, family, comrades and co-conspirators?

I know I am, or could be, if I didn’t restrain myself.

I troll the the Net most days and rarely come away from these fishing expeditions without something substantial. Knowing that my friends do not necessarily share my enthusiasm (and wanting them to remain friends), I restrict my mass emailing to periodic “spams in a good cause.”

But I gotta tell ya, it ain’t always easy to hold back. So, in no particular order, here is a recent compilation of stuff on various subjects that I have found either interesting, enjoyable or enlightening.

Please feel free to recommend some of your personal faves.

“If it is true that a man who raises his fist is a man who has run out of ideas, then it is clear that the Bush-Cheney foreign policy has been mentally bankrupt from the start.”

-James McEnteer, Death by Paranoia (Counterpunch, Aug. 25, 2008)

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The weapons you are looking for are currently unavailable. The country might be experiencing technical difficulties, or you may need to adjust your weapons inspectors mandate.

More . . .

“It is not merely that the justice system has failed Aboriginal people; justice also has been denied to them. For more than a century the rights of Aboriginal people have been ignored and eroded. The result of this denial has been injustice of the most profound kind. Poverty and powerlessness have been the Canadian legacy to a people who once governed their own affairs in full self-sufficiency.”

–Report of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry of Manitoba (1991)

– Tales of Iraq War by Latuff, August 26, 2008

“Peasant farmers offer the best chance of feeding the world. So why do we treat them with contempt?”

-George Monbiot, Small is Bountiful, June 10, 2008

“The drip you hear is a reminder of the continuing toll of war and violence in the world. May we remember to be peaceful and to work for peace.”

-Source: A Red Line Connects Us

“At the moment, there are between 10,000 and 11,000 Palestinian prisoners languishing in various Israeli jails. This is a figure that has remained consistently high since the beginning of the Israeli occupation 41 years ago. The total number of Palestinians to have spent time in Israeli prison is estimated at 700,000, roughly one-fifth of the current Palestinian population of the occupied territories.”

-Ghassan Khatib, Empty gestures will not help Abbas, Aug. 26, 2008

” . . . we’re all Manchurian candidates.”

-Tom Burghardt, Defense Intelligence Agency Seeking “Mind Control” Weapons, Aug. 24, 2008

“. . . the [U.S.] Army’s own studies show that only 3 in 10 people ages 17 to 24 are eligible to enlist, with the remainder barred by health or legal issues, or the failure to earn a high school diploma or equivalent.”

-Susanne M. Schafer, The Army Opens Prep Schools for Dropouts, Associated Press, August 27, 2008

“While soy is increasingly promoted as a healthy alternative to animal products in the North, the soy industry is destroying homes, livelihoods, health and the environment across South America.”

-Angela Day, Big Soy: The Underside of the Industry, Canadian Dimension, July/August 2008

Dear Jack,

With the coming election, I’m sure you are reading all the polls with great interest. So, I imagine you know, better that most, that in the most recent poll on Canada’s military intevention is Afghanistan (July 10, 2008), 58% disagreed with the decision to keep fighting until 2011. The percentage of Canadians supporting the war (36%), has declined, and corresponds with the level of Tory support reported by Ipsos Canada on August 19.

Support for the Liberals (30%) and the NDP (14%) was unchanged, while the Green party polled 10%, down from 11%, according to Reuters.

I’m not sure where the Bloc Quebecois figures in this latest poll, but other polls put them nationally at 8% and make them the clear leader in Quebec, where they have polled 30% to 40% throughout 2008.

Sadly, if the outcome of the expected election corresponds to polling numbers, the pro-war parties (Liberals, Conservatives) will prevail and the Canadian misadventure (I’m overly kind here — strike that — the Canadian crime against humanity) in Afghanistan will continue unchecked.

Earlier this year the Tories and the Libs voted to extend the war to 2011. To their credit, the NDP and the Bloc voted against this motion. The NDP has long called for withdrawal of our troops. Goodonya!

Shamefully, the Greens probably would have voted with the majority in Parliament if they could have. The Green Policy on Afghanistan is a hopelessly naive, goody two-shoes piece of drivel; it’s clear they do not understand that the invasion was driven by American strategic interests and that ANY continued Canadian military involvement is criminal.

Jack, for those of us who oppose the war, the projected outcome of the election is depressing. Our tax dollars and our soldiers will continue to kill thousands of Afghans; our troops will continue to come home dead, injured, and psychologically damaged. Grieving families will suffer for decades. Billions of dollars will be diverted from Canada’s social programs. There will be no winners.

It does not have to be this way. But for things to change, Canadians will have to set aside some bad habits, such as voting Liberal because they can’t stand the Tories and the NDP. Canucks of the Green persuasion will have to ask themselves whether Canadian complicity in imperialism, however compassionately expressed, really reflects their values.

For this to happen, the NDP has to put the war on the front-burner.

That is where you come in, Jack. The war is a hot-button issue, but you would never know it when you visit the federal NDP homepage. A casual visitor could be forgiven for thinking the NDP’s top priorities are text messaging, Facebook and Flickr. While the party is on record as opposing the war, you have to search to find anything substantial.

Afghanistan is THE defining issue in the coming election, Jack. You need to remember that and hammer the point home at every opportunity.

Don’t be bashful, Jack. The majority of Canadians are with you on this one.

Promise to bring our troops home, now. Promise to work for peace in Afghanistan and around the world. Promise to channel humanitarian aid to Afghanistan that doesn’t support the Karzai gang. Promise to invest serious dollars in supporting the soldiers and families in Canada who have been destroyed by this war. Promise to end this disaster before it grows even larger.

These are dangerous times, Jack. I’m with you on the environment, but I fear a nuclear war more.  Pull Canada’s navy out of the Arabian sea. Denounce the “war on terror” for the sham that it is. Oppose the plans for war with Iran. Canada has to take a stand against militarism and for peace, and you can make it happen. You must.

For all of our sakes, don’t let us down.

Sincerely,

Paul Graham
Winnipeg, MB

Sgt. Shawn Eades, Cpl. Dustin Roy Robert Joseph Wasden and Sapper Stephan John Stock were killed by an IED on Thursday, August 21, 2008. Their deaths bring to 93 the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan. As is their custom, Canada’s political leaders wrapped their corpses in bloody lies and tired platitudes.

“Today, all of Canada mourns the deaths of three brave soldiers killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. “These soldiers made an important contribution to international efforts in Afghanistan aimed at creating the conditions necessary for reconstruction and development efforts to flourish in a country ravaged by decades of war and despotism.”

“Canada and our NATO allies are making a profound difference in the lives of the Afghan people,” Defence Minister Peter MacKay also said in a statement Thursday. “Despite this tragic event, we remain undeterred in our mission to help Afghans rebuild their country.”

Bullshit!

What a load of crap! Their deaths will do nothing to repair the ravages of “decades of war and despotism.” If anything, the war will only prolong it.

These soldiers (and the people they kill) are being sacrificed to shore up an irredeemably feudal, reactionary government of warlords and drug runners who are every bit as nasty as the Taliban regime they replaced.

Apologists for the war insist that the NATO forces are making a positive difference in the lives of ordinary Afghans. They remind us that the government of Hamid Karzai was elected, that girls are being allowed to go to school, that life is getting better.

Read some of these stories and explain, please, how Afghan life is improving.

PAN: 50 civilians were killed and many residential houses were destroyed on Wednesday night in coalition air strike in Shindand district of western Herat province. The young boy who wounded in the bombardment. (Photo: PAJHWOK/Ahmad Quraishi)

The Canadian government, when it gets around to admitting that we kill civilians, will issue regrets, remind us that the Taliban terrorists kill civilians all the time and even pay compensation. Reporting in the National Post earlier this year, Tom Blackwell wrote:

The federal government has paid out tens of thousands of dollars in compensation to Afghans who have been hurt, killed or had property wrecked by Canadian troops in the past two years, internal documents obtained by the National Post indicate.

The list of reparations paid by the middle of last year includes five cases of civilians injured or killed at the hands of Canadian troops and three friendly-fire deaths of Afghan soldiers or police.

Compensation for deaths ranged from about $2,000 to almost $9,000, according to Justice Department claims reports, obtained under the Access to Information Act but censored of much personal and other information. None of the claims dealt with damage from air strikes called in by Canadian troops.

Apologists will sigh that civilian casualties are regrettable but unavoidable aspect of war, but that we’ve got to keep our eyes on the prize: a free and democratic Afghanistan where the current horrors will be justified by future happy outcomes.

Afghans aren’t impressed by this. Here is what the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan had to say, March 8, 2008, about the current regime:

The true nature of the US “war on terror” drama has been exposed today and we witness that they are killing thousands of our innocent people under the name of “fighting terrorists” while on the other hand they are busy in dealing with the barbaric fascist Taliban trying to gloss some of them as “moderates” in order to share power with them. These treacherous acts of demagogy have revealed it once again to our people and to the world that the US government and its allies were just pursuing their strategic, economic and political gains in Afghanistan and pushing our people to increasing destitution and disasters. Installing the “Northern Alliance” brutal warlords on power and changing Afghanistan into the center of the world drug mafia, have been the first and foremost objectives of their wrong policies.

RAWA from the very first days stated that no country will grant freedom and democracy to another country and today this reality is evident to all. The US disguised the dead rats of yesterday with suits and ties thus released them like wild wolves on our people and are doing nothing about the current crimes, violation of human rights, looting of millions dollars of aid by warlords and corrupt NGOs. If the billions of dollars of aid directed in the name of reconstruction were not poured in the pockets of criminals in the parliament and cabinet, natural hazards like freezing winter would have not taken so many lives today. Even if a small portion of that money was spent for the relief of people, the life conditions of our miserable people, particularly women would have not been so tragic.

RAWA has been fighting for human rights in Afghanistan since 1977. They want us to leave so the people of Afghanistan can solve their own problems, free of foreign interference. They know the danger they face and they believe we are only making matters worse. We should listen to them.

Still not convinced?

Still not convinced? Well, here are some more stories that show what RAWA is fighting and what our soldiers are dying to maintain.

• Blaming the victim: Abused Afghan women often end up in jail: “Trafficked across the border from Pakistan with her 3-year-old son, Rukhma was handed to an Afghan who raped and abused her, then beat the toddler to death as she watched helplessly. He was jailed for 20 years for murder, but Rukhma . . . was given a four-year sentence on Dec. 5 for adultery and “escaping her house” in Pakistan, even though she says she was kidnapped and raped. The fall of the Taliban six years ago heralded new rights for Afghan women: to go to school or get a job, and be protected under the law. Women’s rights are now enshrined in the constitution. Yet except for a small urban elite, a woman fleeing domestic violence or accusing a man of rape herself often ends up the guilty party in the eyes of judges and prosecutors.”
• The Afghan women jailed for being victims of rape: “. . . the teenager had been married at a young age to an abusive husband and ran away with a boy from her neighbourhood . . . Ostracised from her family and village, Saliha was convicted of escaping from home and illegal sexual relations. The first carries a maximum penalty of 10 years, the second 20. These are two of the most common accusations facing female prisoners in Afghanistan. Two-thirds of the women in Lashkar Gah’s medieval-looking jail have been convicted of illegal sexual relations, but most are simply rape victims – mirroring the situation nationwide. The system does not distinguish between those who have been attacked and those who have chosen to run off with a man.”
• Childhood ends at 11 for some Afghan girls; for others, an education begins:” . . . Girls as young as 11 are considered just old enough for a husband. Their parents collect lucrative $10,000 dowries from wealthy grooms-to-be, and these pre-teens are sent off to become housewives and start raising families. Last year 60 Kandahar girls sought to escape their fate through suicide, provincial officials say. Like Sher, many wound up as hospital burn victims after dousing themselves with gasoline and setting themselves ablaze . . .”

Shahnaz,14, sits on the floor of her family home November 17, 2006 in Herat, Afghanistan. She tried to commit suicide a year ago practically crippling herself from the severe burns after her father lost her in a gambling match. She spent a year in the Herat hospital. The medical staff at the Herat hospital says that they have registered around 700 self-immolation cases so far this year. (Photo by Paula Bronstein)

Do something useful

RAWA wants us to leave — not because they support the Taliban — they clearly do not. They want us to leave because we are not helping Afghans; worse, we are an obstacle to them solving their numerous problems.

RAWA operates schools, orphanages, a hospital and a health clinic. Canadians who truly want to help should demand that Canada withdraw its military and provide financial support to an organization that truly works for human rights and women’s liberation in Afghanistan. And given that it is unlikely that the Canadian government is prepared to do so, we should send financial support directly to RAWA for their humanitarian programs.

• Contact your MP, here. Tell them we are tired of bloody lies and tired platitudes.
  

• Send financial support to RAWA, here. They really need our help. Please don’t delay.
  

Please respond to this appeal, just in, from Eric Lee at Labour Start:

A few days ago I wrote to tell you about the increased repression directed against Iranian labour activists.

I told you about the case of two women in particular, Sousan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi (at left), who have been sentenced to jail terms and whipping for the “crime” of having participated in a May Day demonstration this year.

I told you that Sousan was sentenced to receive 15 lashes and 4 months in prison.

We have now received the shocking news that it is actually worse than that.

Sousan has been ordered to receive 9 months in prison and 70 lashes.

In the last few days we have received photographs of Sousan and Shiva. I wish that every trade unionist, every person who cares about human rights, could look at those photographs today. You can see them on our campaign page: http://www.labourstart.org/iran

The campaign that we launched is now running in an unprecedented ten languages, with more to come. And so far, 3,448 people have sent off messages to the Iranian government.

This is not enough.

We must all redouble our efforts in the next few days to prevent this barbaric sentence from being carried out, to prevent the execution of the teacher Farzad Kamangar, and to push for the release of all jailed worker activists in Iran.

I know that there are 50,000 of you reading this message who have not yet sent off your protests. Please do not wait – go here now: http://www.labourstart.org/iran

For those of you who already did send off your message, thank you — but please do more.

Please pass this message on. Help us mobilize thousands more trade unionists in support of our sisters and brothers in Iranian jails.

If you are on Facebook, make sure to sign up to our cause – and sign up your Facebook friends, here:
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/110025

August is a very difficult time to mobilize people. Many who would ordinarily be supporting this campaign are away on holiday. That’s why it’s so important that if you are reading this message, you act now.

Sousan and Shiva need our help. Let’s not fail them.

Thank you.

Eric Lee

Labour Start campaigns are featured on this page, in the right hand column, under “Campaigns.” Please check it regularly and take action. Better yet, get yourself on Eric’s mailing list, which you can do by selecting that option when you participate in any of his campaigns. An act of solidarity is just a click away.

Today, Stephen Harper gave Vladimir Putin some advice that he, himself, ought to follow. Said Harper:

“We do call on Russia to respect the territorial integrity of Georgia. I am deeply troubled by a notion I see developing in Russia, and that is a notion that Russia somehow has a say or some control over countries outside of its borders.”

Perhaps he was taking his cue from his mentor, George Bush, who today said: “Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st Century.”

Perhaps these gents would agree with Adolf Hitler that “in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility.”

If you are an American who relies on US mainstream media reports for your world view, you might be forgiven for not knowing that Russia’s “invasion” of Georgia is a response to Georgian attacks on South Ossetia which began late last Thursday night. If you are a Canadian, the news stories are a liitle more balanced, but you still have to dig and read between the lines.

It’s complicated, but alternative and authoritative information and analysis can be found. A good place to start is Global Research, which has been doing a good job on following this issue as it unfolds.

There are signs Canadians are learning not to take what these hypocritic(al) oafs have to say at face value. Someone named Jaik, just today, responded to a blog post on Gary Doer’s support for the war in Afghanistan with this comment: “Wow. This is very disturbing and has prompted me to withdraw my monthly financial support of the provinical NDP.”

More broadly, a growing majority of Canadians are opposed to Canadian military action in Afghanistan. Below are some numbers from an Angus Reid poll done in July.

Angus Reid Poll: July 10, 2008

“As you may know, the House of Commons has authorized an extension of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan until the end of 2011, which is conditional on Canada coming up with unmanned aerial vehicles and transport helicopters, and NATO providing an additional 1,000 troops in the south. Do you agree or disagree with the decision to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan until the end of 2011?”

We shouldn’t underestimate the difficulty we face in reorienting Canada’s foreign policy from one of war making to peace building. The coming federal election will present some opportunities for debate, but given the pro-war position of the Liberal and Conservative parties, and the relative weakness of the anti-war NDP, we can’t count on the election to bring about quick changes.

That said, Canadians have shown themselves to be peace loving and that is a good foundation on which to build.

Taliban insurgents killed three humanitarian aid workers and their driver yesterday in an attack that is being condemned, rightfully, as murder.

Dead are two Canadians, Jacqueline Kirk (left) and Shirley Case, an American, Nicole Dial and an Afghan, Mohammad Aimal.

By all accounts, they were decent, loving people who didn’t deserve what was done to them.

Prime Minister Harper expressed the feelings of many when he said during a visit to eastern Newfoundland: “I want to first of all express my condolences to the families of these murdered humanitarian workers. This is obviously an outrage, a terribly brutal act, which I think should remind everybody of the brutality of the Taliban and the danger that everybody there faces — not just military people but all those who are there trying to help rebuild this country.”

I’m sure Harper is sincere, and that he never stopped once to wonder why Afghanistan needs rebuilding. I also suspect he never once considered what responsibility he might bear for the deaths of civilians and combatants on both sides of this conflict.

I suspect this of our Prime Minister because I don’t recall a time when he has publically expressed sympathy for any of the unarmed men, women and children killed by Canadian and other NATO soldiers over the past seven years.

Perhaps he has, and I missed it. On the other hand, perhaps he is unaware and just needs to be reminded. Well, given that he doesn’t have time to read my blog, maybe someone can pass it along to him. Better yet, pass along the Open Letter that Peace Alliance Winnipeg sent to Gary Doer this week; it has the stats I am going to quote below, and much much more.

Afghan Death Toll

The precise number of Afghans killed since 2001 is difficult to determine, but is safe to assume that tens of thousands have died needlessly.

• Writing in The Guardian in 2002, Johnathan Steele suggested that up to 8,000 direct deaths and 20,000 indirect deaths could be attributed to the invasion. The American Project on Defense Alternatives, which speaks of “adapting military policy to the opportunities of the new era”, puts the 2001-02 civilian death toll much lower, between 1,000 and 1,300.

• Dr. Marc W. Herold, of the University of New Hampshire, has estimated that American bombing had killed between 3,100 and 3,600 civilians by Oct, 2003.

• According to Agence France Presse, about 1,700 people were killed in 2005, “many of them militants.” A report by Human Rights Watch said that 4,400 Afghans had been killed in 2006, more than 1,000 of them civilians. Some 2,077 militants were killed in Coalition operations between September 1 and December 13, 2006.

• More than 7,580 people were killed in 2007, including: 1,980 civilians, 926 Afghan policemen and 4,478 militants.

• To date, in 2008, about 2,700 Afghans have been killed, including 960 civilians.

The Peace Alliance notes: “Let us not forget that Canadians are active participants in the killing of Afghan civilians as well as combatants. Reported civilian deaths include a taxi driver, a 10-year old boy, an elderly motorcyclist, two young children (aged 2 and 4, a young motorcyclist and his baby brother, an Afghan National Police officer and a homeless beggar, a Toyota driver, a taxi passenger, and a motorist. Given the obvious limitations on reporting in a war zone, this likely represents the minimum number of civilians killed by Canadians.”

One of 6 civilians killed by a US bombing raid in March 2008.

Does the death of Afghan civilians justify the death international aid workers? No. But remembering them helps us get some much needed perspective. And perhaps it helps us see, more clearly, through the hypocrisy of our political leaders in a twisted world where we mourn “our” dead and fail to acknowledge the deaths of the people “our” soldiers kill.

Canadians will continue to join Afghans in violent death until we compel our government to withdraw Canadian troops and work for international peace.

Let us pause to mourn the war dead of all nations. You can get acquainted with some of these victims by visiting the Afghan Victim Memorial Project.

And then, let’s get to work on building peace.