During the
parliamentary debate on the extension of the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stated that a lengthy debate on the issue would
make Canadian troops “vulnerable to violent enemy attacks”. This claim is quite
simply a myth designed to deflect accountability away from those who are
actually putting young Canadian men and women at risk and onto those who are
opposing the presence of Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
There is also no
truth to Harper’s claims that the Canadian military presence in Afghanistan is
for the purpose of strengthening democracy, ensuring equality rights for women,
reducing poverty and making the world safer from the threat of terrorism. In
reality, the abysmal situation in Afghanistan
is entirely the creation of the United States,
which funded, armed and organized the Taliban and various warlords during the
1980s and 1990s in order to ensure U.S. imperialist control over the
country. It did so in the full knowledge that these forces were anti-democratic
and anti-woman. Furthermore, it was the American CIA which set up and operated
the terrorist training camps where the Taliban and other fighters received
their training. This was done with the full knowledge that these allies were,
and continue to be, the biggest opium dealers in the world.
When the Taliban
refused to continue following the dictate of the Americans, the U.S. and its allies invaded the country and
fomented a civil war, using the phony excuse that Afghanistan
was harbouring the architects of the September 11,
2001 attacks on the United
States. To date, no evidence has been
released proving these allegations. The world is expected to simply believe the
word of the same American intelligence agencies that claimed that Iraq possessed
huge arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. The Canadian troops are present
in Afghanistan
neither to keep the peace nor to strengthen democracy and protect the rights of
women. On the contrary, they are there to assist the U.S.
in its efforts to dominate Afghanistan
and various other countries in the Middle East.
This is an unjust war and Canadian soldiers should not be participating in it.
Contrary to
Harper’s claims, it is those who are opposing the continued presence of
Canadian forces in Afghanistan
who are supporting the young men and women in the Canadian armed forces, while
it is Harper’s government and the previous Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin which have put those soldiers in harm’s
way. To make a contribution towards peace, democracy and human rights Canada must oppose the hegemonic policies of U.S.
imperialism and various other imperialist powers. The first step is to
immediately withdraw Canadian soldiers from Afghanistan.