Paul S. Graham

Families of Canadian soldiers fighting in Afghanistan can now take comfort in knowing that even if their sons or daughters commit suicide they will receive the very same medal awarded to those killed by enemy fire.

If nothing else, the federal government is proactive. For months now, they have been laying the foundation for Canadian troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2011. The decision to give the “sacrifice medal” to victims of suicide may be a recognition that fighting  a war to prop up corrupt war lords and drug runners is bound to increase suicidal thinking among the troops.

The sacrifice medal is the latest manifestation of Ottawa’s campaign to foster a militaristic cult of human sacrifice and to build support for its failed war in Afghanistan. The proliferation of “yellow ribbon” campaigns and the designation of a part of Highway 401 as a “Highway of Heroes” are other elements.

We can expect more such announcements in the run-up to this year’s Rememberance Day ceremonies.

My heart goes out to our soldiers and their families. No one who goes to war returns whole and healthy. The stresses of combat and the fears of those waiting for the return of loved ones create disease for everyone involved, even if it is not readily apparent.

Whether they “believe in the mission” or not is irrelevant. They are being used as pawns in an imperialist power grab and whether they return physically intact or in a box, they are all human sacrifices to the gods of war and commerce.

I look forward to the day when we honour those who refuse to fight in imperialist wars. While most Canadians agree that we should, for example, shelter American war resisters, our government continues to deport them to the US, where they face harsh punishments for their courageous acts.

The most recent victim of Ottawa’s perverse policy, Rodney Watson, has sought refuge at First United Church on East Hastings Street, in Vancouver. Bravo to the congregation for their courage and willingness to do what our government refuses to do, even after two Parliamentary resolutions in support of war resisters received majority support.

There is currently a private members bill, Bill C-440, in the legislative queue. All of us ought to contact our MPs and urge them to support this bill. But we shouldn’t count on this bill ever becoming law.

Rodney Watson and war resisters everywhere deserve our support. By helping them we are making real contributions to peace and we are sending a clear message to the Harpers of this world that we reject the cult of human sacrifice that they are trying to create.

Barack Obama joins a short list of Nobel Peace Prize recipients whose awards for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict were, to put it in the kindest way, premature. These include:

• 1994: Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO, President of the Palestinian National Authority; Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister of Israel; Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel.
• 1950: Ralph Bunche, Professor Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Director of the UN Division of Trusteeship, Acting Mediator in Palestine 1948.

He also keeps company with mass murderer Henry Kissinger, who in 1973, was awarded the prize for negotiating the Vietnam War Peace Accord following America’s sustained attempt to bomb the North Vietnamese back to the stone age.

His Vietnamese co-recipient of the award, Le Duc Tho, declined to accept the prize because his country was not yet at peace. (The war still has not ended for an estimated 3 million Vietnamese who continue to suffer from the effects of Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used by the U.S. in Vietnam between 1962 and 1971 that continues to contaminate the soil, water and people of the country.)

It is difficult to take the Peace Prize seriously. Obama’s award, the Nobel committee declares, is “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Tell that to Pakistanis who have to keep an eye on the sky to avoid being murdered in Predator drone attacks. Tell the Afghans; I’m sure they need a chuckle or two as they celebrate the eighth anniversary of the American invasion, also known to Obamaphiles as America’s “war of necessity.”

Obama’s Peace Prize truly is Orwellian:

From where Winston stood it was just possible to read, picked out on its white face in elegant lettering, the three slogans of the Party:

WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

– George Orwell: “1984”

Dale Cummings’ cartoon (above) in today’s Winnipeg Free Press illustrates the fear-mongering hypocrisy surrounding Iran’s nuclear enrichment program that is being propagated by news media and governments world-wide. If all you saw was this cartoon, you would conclude that Iran has nuclear weapons and we should all be very afraid of them.

Well, folks, Iran is not a nuclear power and the world leaders yelling loudest about Iran’s attempts to enrich uranium are more interested in taking down a country that refuses to bow to western imperialism. (And, oh, Iran has oil, lots of oil.)

While there are rogue states with nukes, Iran isn’t one of them. Those who do constitute a rogues gallery of international thugs, many of whose crimes dwarf anything Iran might be capable of.

Nuclear Rogues Gallery

According to Wikipedia, “there are now about 8,200 active nuclear warheads and about 23,300 total nuclear warheads in the world in 2009. Many of the “decommissioned” weapons were simply stored or partially dismantled, not destroyed.”

The above table is adapted from Wikipedia: List of States with Nuclear Weapons. The third column contains my shorthand rationale for why these countries are dangerous rogue states who shouldn’t be trusted with nukes.

Of course, no one should be trusted with nuclear weapons. They should be banned and destroyed. Anyone who contributes to their maintainance and/or development is a dangerous pyschopath who should be locked up.

And anyone in a position of political authority who contributes to the rising tide of hysteria, the only purpose of which is to build a case for war against Iran should be removed from office. This would lead to lots of vacancies, including in the office of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who recently promised that Canada would back “whatever actions are necessary to deal with what is a tremendous threat to international peace and security.”

Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked thousands of pages of classified U.S. government documents to reveal the true nature of the U.S. war in Vietnam has begun a personal memoir of the nuclear era, entitled “The American Doomsday Machine.” It promises to be a goldmine of information and analysis. The first installment, U.S. Nuclear Planning for a Hundred Holocausts, is chilling. You want rogues? Ellsberg gives you rogues.

None of this should be considered an endorsement of the government of Iran or its policies. Iran is a theocratic police state where judicial torture and murder are commonplace, women are oppressed and unions are suppressed violently and regularly.

That said, Iran is not anywhere near being in a position to threaten anyone with nuclear weapons.

Let’s recognize Obama’s (and Brown’s and Harper’s and Sarkozy’s, etc., ad nauseam) posturing for what it is. Obama and the others need to set the stage for their ongoing attempts to secure increasingly scarce energy supplies. Obama and others need to divert attention from their failed war in Afghanistan. Obama, in particular, needs to shore up his plummeting approval ratings.

Be very afraid. But don’t fear Iran.

http://www.youtube.com/p/876F75A47CC82484&hl=en&fs=1

Joshua Key is an American war resister who fought in Iraq and who sought refuge in Canada because of his war experiences. Author of “The Deserter’s Tale,” Joshua told the story of his recruitment into the U.S. Army, the carnage he witnessed in Iraq and his subsequent flight to Canada to an audience in Winnipeg, the first stop on a 13-city tour of western Canada.

Like so many young people, Joshua joined the army to escape a life of poverty and support his family. The Army promised he would remain in the US and learn to build bridges, but the ink on his contract was barely dry when he learned he would be deployed  to Iraq. Basic training turned him into a killing machine, but the brutalities of war transformed him into a deserter, a refugee and a peace activist.

As you’ll see from the video I recorded Wednesday evening, Joshua speaks with authority, simplicity, warmth and honesty. He is a man traumatized by what he has seen and done who has bravely stepped forward to resist the monsters who prosecute this war.  He deserves and needs our support. If you can, get out to one of the meetings on his tour.

But don’t stop there. Contact the War Resisters Support Campaign and see what else you can do to support the courageous young men and women who have said no to America’s criminal wars.

American war resister Joshua Key begins a 13-city tour on September 16, 2009 to seek support for the cause of U.S. war resisters in western Canada.

Joshua is co-author of “The Deserter’s Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier who Walked Away from the War in Iraq.”.

Itinerary (updated Sept. 20, 2009):

Winnipeg Sept 14-17
Mon, Sept 14, 7:00 pm, Canadian Mennonite University,
Laudamus Auditorium, North campus, 500 Shaftsbury

Wed, Sept 16, 12:30 pm, University of Manitoba,
Room 224 University Centre

Wed, Sept 16, 7:00 pm – Millennium Library
(Graham & Donald), 2nd floor

Thur, Sept 17, 12:30 pm, University of Winnipeg,
Eckhardte-Grammate Hall foyer, third fl.

Brandon Fri Sept 18
1:00, Brandon University, Clarke Hall room 104 – Info Brandon ad hoc Tour Committee 717-0228

7:00, City Hall, 410  9th St. – Info Brandon ad hoc Tour Committee 717-0228

Regina Sat Sept 19
7:00 pm, Unitarian Centre, corner of College & Angus.
Sponsor: Making Peace Vigil. Information 526-8993.

Saskatoon Sun, Sept 20
10:30 am service, 11:00 Joshua speaks, St. Thomas-Wesley
United Church, 808 20th St.W. (at corner of 20th and Ave. H South)

Edmonton Tues Sept 22
7:00 pm, HI (Hostelling International), Meeting Room,
10647 81st Ave. (One block off of Whyte Ave.)

Red Deer, Wed, Sept 23
4:00 pm, Red Deer College, North Nook in the Library, sponsor:
Student’s Association 403-356-4975

Calgary Thur, Sept 24
12:00-1:00 pm, University of Calgary, Science Theaters 131,
Consortium for Peace Studies, 220-2136

7:00 p.m., Carpenters Union Hall, 301 – 10 Street NW,
Sponsor – Ad hoc Committee

Kamloops Fri, Sept 25
7:00 pm, Clocktower Theatre, Thompson Rivers University

Kelowna Sun Sept 26
7:00 pm, Okanogan College Kelowna campus, Theatre. Presented
by Kelowna Peace Group kelownapeacegroup@shaw.ca

Vernon Mon Sept 27
7:00 pm, Okanagan College, Vernon Campus, Room D310. Information: David 250-832-6678

Grand Forks Tues, Sept 29
7:00 pm, USCC Community Centre. Sponsored by the USCC
Working Group on Peace and Justice and the Boundary Peace
Initiative. For more information call 250 442 8252

Castlegar Wednesday September 30
7:00 pm, Brilliant Cultural Centre. Sponsored by the USCC Working
Group on Peace and Justice and the Kootenay Region Branch
of the United Nations Association in Canada. Info: 250 365 3613 ext 21.

Lethbridge Thur, October 1
4:00 pm, University of Lethbridge, Students Union Ballroom B, SU Building 3rd fl. (room SU300B). Sponsored by the University of Lethbridge, Students’ Union 403-329-2770

7:00 pm, Lethbridge Public Library, Theatre Gallery, 810 5th Avenue South. Sponsored by the Lethbridge Network for Peace

Medicine Hat Fri, October 2
Tentative: Noon, Medicine Hat College
7:00 pm, Unisphere Global Resouce Centre Basmt. 102 – 6th St. S.E.

While most Canadians support war resisters and oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Canadian government hasn’t gotten the message. Josh Key needs and deserves our support. Get out to one of the meetings and tell/bring everyone you can.

More information: Contact the Joshua Key Ad Hoc Tour Committee at (204) 792-3371. Or send an email to manitobapeacecouncil@gmail.com.

Help promote this meeting: Download and distribute this poster.

For video of one of Joshua’s Winnipeg appearances, go here.

According to the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, high flying economies such as Canada’s should be permitted more latitude in their obligations to reduce greenhouse emissions than more depressed areas of the globe. It’s not our fault that we didn’t meet our Kyoto targets – our superior economic performance made us act like the energy swilling fools we’ve become. If one accepts Frontier’s logic, we should be proud!

Writing in yesterday’s Winnipeg Free Press, Frontier’s Ben Eisen argues

Canada’s inability to meet its Kyoto commitment is not a source of national shame — it is the inevitable result of a flawed treaty which failed to recognize the relationship between population growth, economic growth and greenhouse-gas emissions.

As the Copenhagen conference approaches, Canada should learn from the failure of Kyoto, and participate in a new climate-change agreement only if the new pact does not punish growth. Predetermined emission caps make little sense in a dynamic country like Canada in which the rate of economic and population growth are unpredictable.

The new climate-change treaty should only be signed if emission targets are flexible and responsive to changing demographic and economic conditions.

Eisen is quite correct in stating that GDP, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and population have all increased while energy use per unit of GDP (“emission intensity”) has decreased.

According to Natural Resources Canada, energy use grew less rapidly than the economy, but more rapidly than the population. An NRC report states: “Between 1990 and 2005, energy use in Canada increased by 22 percent . . . [while] the Canadian population grew 17 percent . . . and GDP increased 51 percent . . . More generally, energy use per unit of GDP declined, while energy use on a per capita basis increased.”

If citing GDP growth is intended to help us feel good about destroying the planet, note that most of this growth went to the richest 20 per cent of Canadians. They saw their after tax incomes increase from $96,200 in 1990 to 116,500 in 2005, a 21% increase. This compares with 10% for the middle 60% and 2.3% for the bottom 20% of the population.

Canada’s “emission intensity” has decreased, somewhat like a heavy drinker switching from whiskey to beer, all the while drinking more beer to get high. Like this delusional drunkard, we will pay a heavy price for unsustainable energy consumption.

Alberta Tar Sands. Photo: Greenpeace / Eamon Mac Mahon

One reason for Canada’s growth in GDP is the Alberta tar sands development, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, projected to account for 3% of Canadian GDP by 2020, and to devastate a boreal forest the size of New Brunswick. Producing a barrel of oil from the oil sands produces three times more greenhouse gas emissions than a barrel of conventional oil. By 2015, the tar sands are expected to emit more greenhouse gases than the nation of Denmark (pop. 5.4 million). (Another reason for GDP growth is increased military spending and our criminal war in Afghanistan – but I digress).

The mission of the Frontier Centre, it would seem, is to shill for the growth-at-any-cost crowd. As one of the highest per capita users of energy on earth, Canada must reject its flawed logic. The plain fact is the world cannot sustain uncontrolled growth any longer.

Every August 6, citizens in thousands of communities around the world commemorate the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and rededicate themselves to the cause of peace and disarmament. In Winnipeg, a Lanterns for Peace Ceremony is conducted annually by Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Project Peacemakers and the Manitoba Japanese Canadians Association. Here’s my video of this year’s ceremony.