Last week, Winnipeg journalist and ex-Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes was viciously smeared as antisemitic. The Canadian Jewish Congress has promoted this allegation. The Tories maliciously distorted Hughes’ 2002 article, “Get the Truth,” and Dion’s gang hopes to use the 911 Truth Movement as a club to beat the NDP.

It is worth restating what she actually wrote in 2002:

“German Intelligence (BND) claims to have warned the U.S. last June, the Israeli Mossad and Russian Intelligence in August. Israeli businesses, which had offices in the Towers, vacated the premises a week before the attacks, breaking their lease to do it.”

So, what do we know about Hughes’ statements?

Did the Israeli Mossad warn the Americans? There are conflicting reports. According to Project Censored:

“At some point, between August 8-15, 2001, two high ranking agents from the Mossad came to Washington and warned the FBI and the CIA that an al-Qaeda attack on the United States was imminent. [Fox News, 5/17/02] On September 20, 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported that Mossad officials stated that indications point to a “large scale target” and that Americans would be “very vulnerable.” [Telegraph, 9/16/01; Los Angeles Times, 9/20/01; Ottawa Citizen, 9/17/01] The Los Angeles Times retracted this story on September 21, 2001, because a CIA spokesman stated, “there was no such warning” and that the allegations were “complete and utter nonsense.” [Los Angeles Times, 9/21/01] Israel denied that there was ever a meeting between agents of the Mossad and the CIA. [Ha’aretz, 10/03/02] The United States has denied knowing about Mohamed Atta prior to the 9/11 attacks. [www.cooperativeresearch.org]”

Did “Israeli businesses” break their lease to escape the carnage a week before? Not according to Project Censored:

“On September 4, 2001, an Israeli-owned shipping company entitled Zim-American Israeli Shipping Co., moved their North American headquarters from inside the World Trade Center, to Norfolk, Virginia— one week before the 9/11 attacks. [Virginian-Pilot, 9/04/01] Zim had announced its move 6 months before the attacks, [Virginian-Pilot, 4/03/01] yet 10 employees were still in the building on Sept. 11, taking care of the final moving arrangements. They were able to escape, unharmed. [Jerusalem Post, 9/13/01; Journal of Commerce, 10/18/01]”

Did Leslie Hughes accuse Israel of responsibility for the 911 attacks? Not at all. In fact, she credits them with warning the Americans, a notion that was supported by some news reports and denied by others.

Did Leslie Hughes get it right on the lease breaking, Israeli businesses? Nope.

Does this make Leslie Hughes an antisemite? No. At the worst, she is guilty of getting part of the story wrong. It is a big story and there are a lot of places where a reporter could go wrong. Leslie Hughes is hardly unique in this, but that only makes her human.

Dismissing the Truthers

You would have to have been living in a cave on the dark side of the moon to have missed out on the growing mountain of research that casts doubt on the official version of 911. Some of that research is undoubtedly halfbaked nonsense (and some of it disgustingly antisemitic), but there is enough substance for sensible, open minded people to pause and reflect and demand serious answers.

Instead, what we get are arrogant, dismissive statements designed to marginalize folks who ask legitimate questions.

In this case, false allegations of antisemitism are being used as a tool to discredit a journalist who has asked for answers about 911. Reminiscent of the tactic used by apologists for Israeli foreign policy who brand every criticism as evidence of antisemitism, this kind of smear campaign is a step in the direction of conflating the 911 Truth Movement and antisemitism.

Let us be very clear: antisemitism, like all other forms of rascist bigotry, is completely unacceptable. Similarly, smear campaigns are incompatible with getting to the truth about a terrorist attack which served as the springboard for an orgy of imperialist violence in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Further reading

Professor Anthony Hall, who teaches Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge, has written an interesting reflection on the Hughes affair entitled A Clash of Conspiracy Theories. And here are some other 911 Truth sources that are worth your time:

9/11 Truth
Scholars for 9/11 Truth
Canada Wants the Truth
Complete 9/11 Timeline

A commenter on my last post suggested we “talk about Andrew McKeever.” I agree. McKeever, NDP candidate for Durum, has come under fire in recent days for Facebook postings in which he attacked U.S. war resisters, threatened people who disagreed with him, and used vulgar, misogynistic language to describe people who support war resisters.

He has apologized for his comments and recanted his anti-war resister statements. His apology has a hollow ring, probably because it couldn’t have been written by him. Compare the linguistic sophistication of the apology with his Facebook postings that the Liberal Party was only too pleased to capture for posterity.

McKeever’s potty-mouth rants reveal an immature mind, at best. His attitude towards women is disturbing.

He’s welcome to his reactionary political idea (his Facebook posts seem to reveal only one “idea”), but one wonders why the NDP nominated him, much less why they continue to keep him in the race. It will be some time, if ever, before he could be trusted to represent anyone in the House of Commons.

I’m voting NDP in this election, principally because of its stated intention to withdraw Canada’s troops from Afghanistan. If I lived in Durum, I would have to spoil my ballot.

No doubt Jack Layton is regretting the loss of dope smoking candidates in winnable ridings. That’s life, Jack. Get over it and ditch this loser. His candidacy undermines the NDP’s growing credibility. It is time to show him the door.

If former Liberal candidate Lesley Hughes is an antisemite, then George Bush is Mahatma Gandhi, Stephen Harper is Mother Theresa and Stephane Dion is capable of leading Canada.

Of course, none of the above is true. In dumping Hughes, a well respected Winnipeg journalist and social activist, Dion has buckled under the pressure of the pro-Israel lobby and proven himself incapable of developing independent foreign policy for Canada. How else are we to judge a man who accepts the nonsense that any criticism of Israel, no matter how minor, is antisemitic?

The article that cut short Hughes brief career as a Liberal candidate, Get the Truth, raises a series of questions about the events leading up to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The sad irony is that the article did not even criticize Israel. Here is what she had to say:

Many official sources are claiming to have warned the American intelligence community, which spends $30 billion a year gathering information, about the attacks on the twin towers on that heartbreaking day.

German Intelligence (BND) claims to have warned the U.S. last June, the Israeli Mossad and Russian Intelligence in August. Israeli businesses, which had offices in the Towers, vacated the premises a week before the attacks, breaking their lease to do it. About 3000 Americans working there were not so lucky.

If anything, Hughes credits Israeli inteligence with attempting to warn the Americans of an impending attack on the Twin Towers, one which they obviously ignored.

Dion’s spinelessness is not unique, unfortunately. It is difficult to find any political leader who is willing to be critical of Israeli policies. In this instance, though, his gutlessness was stupendous, because Hughes did not “blame the Jews” for anything. The point of her article was to raise questions about the genesis of 9-11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. As she put it:

If the work of Internet journalists is correct, then the war is neither a holy war, not a grand clash of civilizations between East and West, and our soldiers were lost to us and to their families to keep drugs and oil profits flowing in the U.S.

Until we know the truth, we should refuse to add one more Canadian body to the pile of dead in Afghanistan. Not one. Canada should get the truth or get out.

Hughes has been unfairly maligned. Fortunately, many Canadians, especially those who are familiar with her and her work refuse to join the witchhunt that has been mounted by right wing media, zionist apologists and barely literate bloggers.

In an online readers poll today, the Winnipeg Free Press asked: “Do you think Liberal leader Stephane Dion was right to turf Lesley Hughes over 9/11 conspiracy writings?” Of the 2,469 readers who have responded to date, 73 percent have said “No.”

Stephane Dione has not done his party any favours in Winnipeg. However, he may have done Lesley Hughes a big favour. Had she succeeded in her election bid, I doubt she would have been happy for long.

Competition for the coveted Corruption Cup is intense, but Afghanistan is proving itself to be a real competitor.

And what, pray tell, is the Corruption Cup? Mainly a figment of my imagination at this point, but I think it could catch on.

Here’s the thing: every year, Transparency International measures perceived levels of public-sector corruption in various countries and compiles a Corruption Perception Index or CPI. The CPI is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. Countries that score ten are highly clean; countries that score zero are highly corrupt.

Transparency International has been doing this for a number of years. In 2007 it expanded the CPI to look at 180 countries. In 2008, Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden shared the highest, almost unbearably squeaky clean score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2.

At the other end of the scale was Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.

However, these bad boys can’t afford to rest on their laurels or wallow in their troughs, if you will. Afghanistan is a serious contender when it comes to challenging for the Corruption Cup and is steadily gaining ground. In 2007, Afghanistan scored 1.8, and ranked an impressive 172 on the CPI. This year, it scored 1.5 and ranks even lower, a stunning 176 out of 180.

In the race to the bottom, Afghanistan is a force to be reckoned with.

Not for nothing did the Afghan Parliament, last year, expel reform-oriented MP Malalai Joya from Parliament for three years. She got their dander up when she called these warlords and drug lords, well, warlords and drug lords. And the Taliban, the government and the US are duking it out to see who can kill, imprison or harrass the most journalists. They show great promise, and NATO stands by to help.

Obama has promised more troops for Afghanistan, and Harper is determined to stay the course until 2011 (and longer if we are dumb enough to give him his majority — but I digress).

Can more war help Afghanistan win the Corruption Cup? Probably. Look what it has done for Iraq? And let’s not forget how we helped Haiti achieve its score when we helped the Americans turf Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first honest leader Haiti had for decades.

Jeremy Hinzman, his wife Nga Nguyen and their children.

War resister Jeremy Hinzman, who was to have been deported today, received an 11th-hour reprieve yesterday when Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley granted a stay of removal. Hinzman will be permitted to remain in Canada until the Federal Court has had the opportunity to determine whether he should be permitted to remain on humanitarian grounds.

This is very good news for everyone who opposes the war in Iraq (82 percent of Canadians and 65 percent of Americans) and for the 64% of Canadians who want Canada to welcome war resisters. As well, it represents one more repudiation of the Tory’s knee-jerk support for America’s wars.

There is another angle to this that deserves a second look — the story, itself, may represent a shift in the way media in Canada are beginning to frame this issue. In the Canadian Press article that appeared yesterday, Hinzman was described in the lead paragraph as a “war dodger.” This is new. Customarily, American war resisters have been described in the press as “deserters” — a term which conjures up images of cowardice and disloyalty to one’s country.

“Dodgers” are different. Dodgers are people who have made a moral choice to refuse to fight in an immoral war. Canadians remember that in the 1960s and ’70’s we welcomed 30,000 American “draft dodgers,” many of whom remained to become cherished friends, neighbours and fellow citizens. We like dodgers.

I don’t want to make too much of this; it could have been a momentary journalistic hiccup. However, words have power and language is important. While I would prefer that media accounts portrayed Hinzman and his like-minded brothers and sisters as “war resisters” rather than “deserters” I’ll accept “war dodger” for the moment and hope it signals a shift in media consciousness.

Hinzman’s reprieve does not signal an end to the struggle. Much remains to be done. Contact the War Resisters Support Campaign and see what you can do to help.

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