"...ironically, Canadian naval vessels, aircraft & personnel... will supply more support to this war in Iraq indirectly... than most of those 46 countries that are fully supporting our efforts there"... and yet now we need more jets?
Canada is part of the unnamed group of nations in the "Coalition of the Willing". It's safe to assume, by the statement of Mr. Cellucci, that Canada is the leader of that group. All the while most citizens proudly believe that Jean Chretien told America we would not be joining them in the war. Truth is that 1,300 Canadian troops aboard our multibillion dollar warships escorted the U.S fleet through the Persian Gulf, putting them safely in place to bomb Iraq.
In 2004, Canadian Brigadier General Walt Natynczyk commanded 10 brigades totaling 35,000 troops; he was Second in Command of the entire Iraq war during that whole year. He received the Meritorious Service Cross for his "pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and operations which resulted in a tremendous contribution to Operation Iraqi Freedom and brought great credit to the Canadian Forces and to Canada". So he brought this 'great credit' to our country while the government and the media led most of us to believe that we were only there as peacekeepers? I would venture to bet that at least 75% of all Canadians if surveyed would have said they were not aware that Canada's Armed Forces were involved in direct combat.
Always the follower, either to the Monarchy or to our Souther big brother. Always the child, never the parent- listening up, never speaking out.
Here are a few little points about Canada's involvement and co-operation with America during the Iraq War:Countless U.S troops and equipment transport aircrafts have flown over Canada to use airspace to and from the Iraq War, and many refueled in Gander, Newfoundland.
Canada's major role in Afghanistan freed up more U.S troops for deployment into Iraq. At least 35 Canadian soldiers were directly under U.S command, participating in the initial invasion of Iraq.
Two types of cruise missiles (AGM-86 & -129) and the "Global Hawk" (RQ-4A) surveillance drone, used in Iraq, were tested over Canada in compliance with the government.
Canada also claims our huge exports of uranium are used for "peaceful purpose"- which does not stop the U.S using the uranium for developing weapons. America's A-10 Wart Hog warplanes have fired DU (depleted uranium) munitions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, while each cruise missile contains 3 kilograms of DU ballast.
Jean Chretien supported the "right" of the U.S to invade Iraq, although Kofi Annan and the U.N said it was an illegal occupation; Chretien also criticized Canadian citizens who questioned the war, saying they provide comfort to Saddam Hussein (even though we all eventually saw that as bad as the man is, there were no WMDs to be found).
Canada provides advisors and financial support to this ministry, which has been caught running torture centers; later, Harper cut off all foreign aide to countries like Malawi, Africa, and other undeveloped countries which Canada had previously been helping.
Canadians are forced to invest their CPP money in hundreds of military industries, including most of the world's top twenty weapons producers, which are the leading prime contractors for virtually all the major weapons systems used in Iraq. Is this where you would really choose to invest money yourself?
When a contractor comes in with a proposal (such as Lockheed Martin), the institution will low ball the price while they over promise the rewards of such a contract. Once it gets approved, usually the money gets piled on "as needed" and then the budget for the project becomes much greater- most times, all behind closed doors. For example, first reports on the new F-35 fighter jets estimated near $10-billion while most people in the industry and economists project that the figure is (or will be eventually) closer to the $30-billion mark; not to mention the projection of an extra $24-billion in maintenance over the course of 6 years, an estimate by the Pentagon.
All these war expenses will get swept under the guise of protecting Canada- people will eat all this up as long as they are afraid of terrorism and the threat of danger is always present in the media (War On Terror, 9-11, suicide bombings reported on T.V, crime reporting all over the news which creates an air of fear on persona levels and a national level). Here in Canada we luckily don't yet have a national news station that serves as a right-wing propaganda factory for the government, like Fox News is for the Republicans in the U.S. That is until Harper has his way. When you control the media, you control everything.
Do not be fooled. Do not buy into the terror that is being pushed. The purchase of more equipment for war and bigger defence budgets can eventually only lead to one single place- war.
And next time you wonder why gas prices are suddenly going up and up and up and up... remember that we're doing our part to displace and torture as many Afghani and Iraqi people as we can.
