Commitment in Afghanistan

[scroll99]

Canada in Afghanistan: Top Ten Under-reported Facts

Canada in Afghanistan: Top Ten Under-reported Facts

Canadian mainstream media has been promoting our role in Afghanistan, with almost no critical voices, despite polling that indicates between 48% to 62% of Canadians not only question but oppose our engagement of troops in this war-torn country (Ipsos-Reid, Mar. 4/06; Strategic Counsel/Globe and Mail, Feb. 24/06).

The 'post-Harper trip' polling results have been misrepresented because Strategic Counsel found that, while views had shifted due to a heightened campaign by the military and the media, 69% want a "debate to decide if our troops should stay in Afghanistan beyond next year" and 70% base their support on the misconception that our purpose is significantly more "peacekeeping than combat." In fact, the new polling finds that "52 per cent of Canadians say they are against a 10-year mission" (Globe and Mail, Mar. 14/06).

HERE ARE TEN VERIFIABLE FACTS THE MEDIA HAS AVOIDED

Brief Overview:
FACT #1: Jean Chretien & Canadian Corporations Involved in Trans-Afghan Pipeline

FACT #2: Gordon O'Connor, Defence Minister, Is Former Military Lobbyist

FACT #3: Current Afghan Parliament Includes Warlords and Drug Lords

FACT #4: Afghan Warlords Considered Bigger Threat Than Taliban

FACT #5: Afghan Women Face Repression Despite Removal Of Taliban

FACT #6: Elected Afghan Woman Faces Death Threats For Speaking Out

FACT #7: Since the U.S.-led War, Afghanistan Is Increasingly Hooked on Heroin

FACT #8: U.S. And Coalition Forces Using Excessive Force & Arbitrary Detention

FACT #9: Canada Complicit In Violation of Human Rights For 'War On Terror'

FACT #10: U.S. Finds More Oil and Gas Reserves After 4-Year Search

Read more...
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MED20060318&articleId=2125

 

[scroll99]

Oil, Gas Reserves Found In Afghanistan

Oil, Gas Reserves Found In Afghanistan


Geologists in Washington said Afghanistan holds 18 times as much oil and triple the amount of natural gas that was previously thought, AP reported on March 14. The survey, put forward by the U.S. Geological Survey and Afghanistan's Ministry of Mines and Industry, was aimed at drawing energy companies into considering the development of petroleum fields in Afghanistan. The survey said some 1.6 billion barrels of oil exist mostly in the Afghan-Tajik basin, while about 15.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas sits mainly in the Amu Darya Basin. Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the survey's estimates "very positive findings," especially since Afghanistan imports most of its energy. "Knowing more about our country's petroleum resources will enable us to take steps to develop our energy potential, which is crucial for our country's growth," he said. The independent U.S. trade and development agency paid $2 million for the assessment, which took nearly four years to complete.

 

[scroll99]

Canadian soldier killed in firefight

Canadian soldier killed in firefight

March 29,2006

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- A Canadian soldier was killed and three others wounded early this morning in what appears to have been a prolonged and vicious firefight with the Taliban.

Private Robert Costall, a member of the First Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, "died while defending his fellow soldiers and we will not forget his sacrifice," a sombre Brigadier-General David Fraser, commander of both the Canadian operation and the multinational Task Force Aegis, said at Kandahar Air Field.

He made the grim announcement at what is called "the memorial" here, a small, quiet corner of the sprawling base, which is home to about 9,000 soldiers from eight nations and where most of Canada's 2,200 troops are stationed.

Here, some of the 11 Canadian soldiers who have died in Afghanistan -- through the typical lethal local combination of friendly fire, vehicle rollovers, suicide bombs and improvised explosive devices -- are honoured on black granite plates attached to a large boulder.

Behind Brig.-Gen. Fraser, the Canadian flag had already been lowered.



http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060329.SOLDIERSB29/TPStory/National

 

[LancsLad]

I want to know who is responsible for letting scroll out of his cage. We at the Justice Dep't will hunt the responsible parties down and punish them.

 

[scroll99]

Casualties, no matter how counted

Mar. 30, 2006

32 years since last death in close combat

Leaders' tributes to a fallen soldier don't differentiate

He's not the first Canadian to die in Afghanistan. But he's the first killed in head-to-head action with the enemy that had so far relied on guerrilla tactics.

That makes his death different.

Different as well because he's the first Canadian soldier in at least a decade to be killed by enemy fire. Different because he was killed in the fiercest firefight this country's soldiers have faced in 30 years, according to troops in Afghanistan

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Co...698&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

 

[someone]

How Pte. Costall died

[I thought this was a very well written article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060330.wxblatchford30/BNStory/National/home

 

[scroll99]

Defence minister's background seen as troubling by some

OTTAWA (CP) - The new defence minister is a retired general who once lobbied government on behalf of some big military contractors, a background which some find troubling.

Gordon O'Connor says he's beholden to no one, but others say it looks odd to have a one-time lobbyist sitting in the minister's office. "It's a bad message to be sending," says Duff Conacher of Democracy Watch. O'Connor, 66, is the first defence minister in 20 years to have actually served in the Forces. But it's his post-service lobbying that has raised eyebrows.

O'Connor left the army after a 30-year military career. He was a brigadier-general and director of military requirements when he retired.

He went into business and in the 1990s became a senior associate at Hill and Knowlton, one of the world's largest public affairs firms.

Up until February 2004 - when he left the firm to run in the June election - he was a registered lobbyist. He represented defence contractors such as Airbus Military, United Defense, General Dynamics Canada and BAE Systems as well as a variety of other, non-military clients.

His work mainly consisted of setting up meetings and contacts between clients and government officials.

Conacher said O'Connor can't help but make ministerial decisions that affect former clients.

"Policy decisions overall help those companies or hurt them" Conacher said.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060207/defence_minister_060207?s_name=&no_ads=

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/02/07/pf-1430220.html

 

[slowpoke]

If O'Connor is no longer employed as a lobbyist, wouldn't he be in a good position to use his defence industry contacts to our advantage? Yes he was an industry insider but that can be a big plus. He was chosen as defence minister because he has extensive contacts in the industry and a 30 year military career. So he probably knows what he is doing. There is no reason to assume that he'll misuse that knowledge just because he could. I like the fact that our defence minister is a military guy and don't see any reason why we should suspect him of a conflict of interest just because he used to work for some of our suppliers.

 

[maxweber]

Time & Motion

If O'Connor is no longer employed as a lobbyist, wouldn't he be in a good position to use his defence industry contacts to our advantage? Yes he was an industry insider but that can be a big plus. He was chosen as defence minister because he has extensive contacts in the industry and a 30 year military career. So he probably knows what he is doing. There is no reason to assume that he'll misuse that knowledge just because he could. I like the fact that our defence minister is a military guy and don't see any reason why we should suspect him of a conflict of interest just because he used to work for some of our suppliers.

This makes perfect sense! At last, we have a government that understands that resisting the siren song of profit and greed isn't just futile, it's downright immoral. Against nature! So we have a minister who won't have to pussyfoot around the corridors of miulitary/industrial power, and will know just who to call to grease the wheels--if you catch my meaning. Efficiency, that's the watchword, efficiency..

MW

 

[Truncador]

Why Today Stinks

This makes perfect sense! At last, we have a government that understands that resisting the siren song of profit and greed isn't just futile, it's downright immoral. Against nature! So we have a minister who won't have to pussyfoot around the corridors of miulitary/industrial power, and will know just who to call to grease the wheels--if you catch my meaning. Efficiency, that's the watchword, efficiency..

MW

I blame it all on the ennervating effects of pinball, comic books, mixed bathing, and indolent servants on the once-pristine moral purity of our fair people. After all, before that sass-mouth Harper and his band of upstarts usurped power, greed, profit, and conflicts of interest were unknown in Canada, especially in the hallowed halls of Parliament.

 

[scroll99]

Canada, Get Out of Afghanistan
by Eric Margolis

PARIS – Scattered across South Africa's windswept veldt are the forgotten graves of 266 Canadian soldiers killed from 1899–1902 fighting to impose British Imperial rule on fiercely resisting Boer farmers.

A century later, Canadian troops have again been sent to fight as auxiliaries in another remote war – this time Afghanistan.

Since time immemorial, when great emperors went to war, they summoned contingents of their vassals and tributaries to their standards. So it was in Afghanistan, and then Iraq, when the U.S. decided to invade those nations and demand its allies join the so-called "war on terrorism."

Under irresistible pressure from Washington to aid its highly unpopular military expeditions in either Iraq or Afghanistan, America's allies and NATO partners opted for the lesser evil, Afghanistan.

That is why 2,100 Canadian troops have ended up in a nation in which Canada has absolutely no strategic, commercial, cultural or emotional interests.

Now, as the number of Canadian military casualties rises, the dismayed public rightly asks, "What are we doing there? We thought it was another peacekeeping mission."

Thank Ottawa and Canada's media for misinforming the public. There was no significant debate in Parliament. The media indulged in flag-waving instead of warning Canadians they were walking into a small, but real, war.

Canadians are not peacekeeping in Kandahar: There is no peace to keep. They are there to help impose U.S. rule over Afghanistan, and safeguard routes for planned oil pipelines.

Canadian soldiers are on a war-fighting mission, auxiliaries in the U.S.-led military occupation of Afghanistan. In the southern heartland of the nation's largest tribe, the famously warlike and xenophobic Pashtun, U.S. forces and their allies are seen as foreign occupiers and enemies of Islam. Pashtun are slow to act but ferocious, and they never forget a wrong.

For some reason, Ottawa agreed to put its little garrison into Afghanistan's most dangerous area, Kandahar, in the centre of Pashtun territory and the heartland of the Taliban. Afghans do not differentiate between Americans and Canadians.

Fierce tribes

Afghan tribes are taking up arms against their foreign occupiers. I saw this happen during the 1980s, when growing hatred of Soviet occupation forces ignited a national uprising.

Today, in the eyes of many Afghans, the U.S. has merely replaced the Soviets. All past occupiers, starting with Alexander the Great, were driven out by the fierce Afghan tribes.

Canucks are prime targets. They lack effective liaison with circling U.S. warplanes that normally bomb and rocket any attackers within 2–3 minutes of an assault. Such deadly instant response by U.S. air power forced the resistance to resort to roadside explosives and car bombs, as in Iraq.

National resistance is growing. The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul would not last a day without foreign bayonets.

The former Taliban regime almost totally suppressed the heroin trade. Today, Afghanistan is a narcostate. It supplies 90% of the world's heroin – the economy runs on drug money. This is the "democratic" régime Canadian troops are defending with their lives.

Parliament, media, and all Canadians have got to begin debating what their soldiers are doing in this war that lacks any foreseeable political resolution. Forget all the cheery propaganda fed to the gullible press: Afghanistan is a dangerous mess and Canadians are right in the middle of it.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis20.html

 

[scroll99]

Afghan Warlords Poised For Government Roles

Alleged war criminals are poised to take positions of power in Afghanistan’s new government, threatening hopes of democracy taking shape after last week’s historic election, a human rights group has warned.

Men with bloody records from years of conflict will become judges, police chiefs and government ministers unless their appointments are blocked by presidential decree, according to a report by Afghanistan Justice Project.

The United States-based group has conducted detailed research into the darkest periods in recent Afghan history - the wars between 1978 and 2001 - and accuses some of the most powerful men in the country of involvement in murders, mass rapes, summary executions and indiscriminate rocketing and bombing of civilians.

It also calls on the Western powers backing the Kabul government to apply pressure against warlords, and accuses the US of helping discredited figures back into power and re-arming them as allies in its fight against al-Qa’ida.

http://www.world-crisis.com/news/927_0_1_0_M/

 

[slowpoke]

This makes perfect sense! At last, we have a government that understands that resisting the siren song of profit and greed isn't just futile, it's downright immoral. Against nature! So we have a minister who won't have to pussyfoot around the corridors of miulitary/industrial power, and will know just who to call to grease the wheels--if you catch my meaning. Efficiency, that's the watchword, efficiency..

MW

So do you think he's more qualified or not? I'm thinking his 30 year military career is a definite asset. I wanted Martin to win the last election but I will readily admit that most Liberal governments have been shortsighted and irresponsible in their approach to Canada's armed forces. O'Connor is the first defence minister in something like 20 years who has actually been a member of our armed forces. Call me an optimist but I prefer to look at his potential to do the job properly than to dwell on the fact that he was a lobbyist for military suppliers. I guess I don't automatically equate "lobbyist" with "corrupt". Maybe you'd rather have a lawyer as defence minister...

 

[someone]

Canada, Get Out of Afghanistan
by Eric Margolis

PARIS – Scattered across South Africa's windswept veldt are the forgotten graves of ...

Cutting and pasting is one thing, but could you at least limited the cuts and pastes to things that have not already been cut and pasted into this thread by other posters.

 

[LancsLad]

Cutting and pasting is one thing, but could you at least limited the cuts and pastes to things that have not already been cut and pasted into this thread by other posters.

Please be advised that scroll has been put back in his cage until next Thursday. In his place filling the weekly slot will be more trash from TOV. Stay tuned for future needless links and lefty blather.

 

[TOVisitor]

Please be advised that scroll has been put back in his cage until next Thursday. In his place filling the weekly slot will be more trash from TOV. Stay tuned for future needless links and lefty blather.

Buzz off, asshat.

 

[LancsLad]

Buzz off, asshat.

See what did I tell you. Its the weekday shifts turn.

 

[papasmerf]

Please be advised that scroll has been put back in his cage until next Thursday. In his place filling the weekly slot will be more trash from TOV. Stay tuned for future needless links and lefty blather.

LOL
think maybe TOV is spending weekends in jail?

 

[maxweber]

the new Defence Minister

Call me an optimist but I prefer to look at his potential to do the job properly than to dwell on the fact that he was a lobbyist for military suppliers. I guess I don't automatically equate "lobbyist" with "corrupt". Maybe you'd rather have a lawyer as defence minister...

You have a point. Let's give him a chance, and see.

MW

 

[LancsLad]

LOL
think maybe TOV is spending weekends in jail?

Either that or therapy after his traumatic experience of gettng an A-ROD lodged in a sensitive portion of his anatomy.