O'Connor Out With The Trash

Iconic metaphor? The going away party thrown by the Military for former Defense Minister O'Connor, held in the back of Ottawa's Cartier Square Drill Hall where the garbage bins are.


Note the garbage can to the left. More visuals are here;

Mike Duffy Live: Military analyst Col. (ret'd) Michel Drapeau discusses Gordon O'Connor's military send off 5:31

Leading CTV to speculate;

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier is expected to be replaced as top military commander when his three-year term expires in February, Conservative insiders have told CTV.

The PMO does not have leaks except controlled ones. This could be seen as the PMO engaging in the politics of the 'stab in the back'.

The Harpocrites will pretend they were they ticked at their pal for hanging the old man out to dry.

They blame Hillier for embarrassing the former defence minister over his department's failure to reimburse soldiers' families for the full cost of their loved ones' funeral.

In reality it shows that the Harpocrites have boxed themselves in with Hillier's War and the only way to extradite Harper from the war is to fire err retire the warmonger general. Making him the scapegoat for the Kandahar operation.

All their pleas to the UN and NATO have fallen on deaf ears. They know they cannot win an extension for Harpers War from Parliament. And they know it is hurting them in the polls, especially in Quebec.

Besides there is only room for one Autocrat to be in charge, and so Hillier has to go.

H/T to Peter's Politics.


SEE:

Harpers Constituency

Harpers War

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Job Protection for

Canadian Reservists

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Sounds Like

A collection of sound bites on Afghanistan....then and now.


"What will happen if we withdraw now…"

Soviets in 1980s

"Recently one can often hear …that we 'betrayed' [our] Afghan friends [by withdrawing from Afghanistan] and that, after the withdrawal of Soviet troops, we are not interested anymore in the fate of Afghanistan." (Sovetskaya Rossiaya, 14 April 1990)

"Continuation, and even escalation, of fighting after the withdrawal of Soviet troops …" (Minister of Defence of Afghanistan general Sh. Tanai, Izvestiya, 8 September 1989)


Canadians now

"…pulling troops out of Kandahar would simply open the door to another Taliban takeover. There is also a real danger that the return of the Taliban would lead to civil war..." "unwillingness to grapple with the consequences of withdrawing troops seems common, if not endemic, among those opposing the war…. In the face of the Taliban's history of cruelty, MacDonald argued that withdrawing troops would be a betrayal. …But before raising the call to withdraw troops, we might consider those whose lives have unquestionably improved because of the security provided by international forces. " (This Magazine (Canada), March/April 2007)

Insurgency was/is called…

Soviets in 1980s

"hardened murderers" (Pravda, 13 December 1985)

"… scumbags" (Soviet soldiers and a nurse quoted in Izvestiya, 23 May 1988)

Canadians now

"detestable murderers and scumbags"
(Chief of Defence Staff General Rick Hillier, Globe and Mail, 13 April 2007. Also see "Helping Afghanistan will protect Canada, says top soldier", CBC News, 15 July 2005)



"There is no comparison"

Soviets in 1980s

"If one agrees with people who…are ready to declare Soviet people to be 'occupants' and compare their [i.e. Soviet people's] actions to what Americans were doing in Vietnam, or to what British colonizers were doing in the same Afghanistan, then one has to admit that those 'occupants' were behaving in a very strange ways. They were delivering food and fuel, clothing, agricultural machinery and industrial equipment to the [Afghan] population; they were treating the sick [Afghans], teaching in the educational institutions, building residential houses, supporting work of the vital industrial plants, electric stations and irrigation structures…" (Zhitnuhin & Likoshin, 1990, p.169).

"I would not draw any analogies between our actions in Afghanistan and the American actions in Vietnam. There was no similarity in objectives or methods, nor were the results similar" (Soviet general Varennikov, CNN interview)

Canadians now

"We are not an 'occupation force' as some even here in Canada have stated, but backers of the legitimate Afghanistan government, which was voted in by a huge majority of Afghans who wanted their first democracy in 25 years. (column by Sgt. Russell Strong, CBC News Viewpoint, CBCNEWS, 13 September 2006)

"…comparison of current international efforts [in Afghanistan] and the Soviet invasion in 1979 is totally without merit… To compare today's mission [of Canadian forces in Afghanistan] to the invasion of a totalitarian [Soviet] regime is beyond comprehension" (op-ed "Unfair comparison" by Col. (ret.) M. Capstick, Globe and Mail, 2 December 2006)

On "fighting evil"

Soviets in 1980s

"…we heard shots. Run towards the village. Found three dead on the road: man, woman and a child. They we probably on the way home. This is the evil. That's why we are here - not to allow such [things] to happen." (from the journal of the Soviet soldier in Afghanistan, quoted in Komsomolskaya Pravda, 26 July 1986)

Canadians now

"We believe that we are engaged in a war on terrorism, a war on evil people, just as we were during the First and Second World Wars. We believe that these people have to be brought to justice," (Jay Hill quoted in Toronto Star, 20 April 2007)


On "our troops in Afghanistan"

Soviets 1980s

"We are giving our young years and our lives for peace"(from the journal of the Soviet soldier in Afghanistan, private Yuri Pahomov, published in Komsomolskaya Pravda, 15 December 1989)

"…my son …died a hero" (mother of the Soviet soldier killed in Afghanistan quoted in Krasnaya Zvezda, 17 March 1988)

"[he] died a hero …shielding his comrades from death" (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 25 April 1987)

"…sincere belief in the high meaning of their [Afghanistan] mission." (book "Star over Kabul-city", 1990, Moscow, p.171).

Canadians now

"He died a hero" (friend of Canadian Soldier killed in Afghanistan quoted in thestar.com, Apr 19, 2007)

"[he]… died a hero, he died protecting his fellow comrades" ( message by Jason Carey on the death of Pte. Costall, 3/30/2006, DND website)

"…unwavering belief in the Afghanistan mission" (Toronto Star, 17 December 2006)

SEE:

Kandahar

Afghanistan

War





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Rent A Crowd

Once again another Red Friday brought to you by the PMO and Department of Defense.

This is called taking advantage of a captive audience. Interesting to note in this article that there are NO numbers given for this 'large crowd". It's because it wasn't that large. Not really a sea, more like a puddle in the midst of the CNE.

The grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto turned into a sea of red on Friday afternoon thanks to a large crowd that turned out for a rally in support of Canada's troops in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people do not make it a massive rally as Stephen Harper pointed out the other day.

Gen. Rick Hillier was speaking at a massive rally at the Canadian National Exhibition fairgrounds, where hundreds of people turned out in red shirts to show support for the soldiers stationed overseas.

A thousand people is what they got out at the last Red Friday, and that is about average for these pro-war rallies put on by DND and the Government of Canada.

It really was a coming out party for Peter MacKay as the new Minister of Defense.

The question is how many were there for Don Cherry's autograph.

Perhaps Don Cherry – hockey personality and ardent supporter of Canada's military – said it best.

“You guys wanted red; you got red,” the broadcaster, himself sporting a maroon velvet suit, told an estimated 1,000 people who dressed up for yesterday's Red Friday Rally at the CNE as a show of support for Canada's soldiers.

Hundreds of people signed a “support our troops” banner and cheered loudly as a photo of the crowd was taken to be sent to the soldiers on Canada's military mission to Afghanistan.

And a thousand people at the CNE is a drop in the bucket in a crowd of 70,000. Heck more folks line up for those mini donuts and elephant ears.

All around people munched from yellow tubs of Poppa Corn and toted stuffed animals. A giant ferris wheel spun in the distance, while crowds gathered around military displays. The crowd, meanwhile, spread out to enjoy the event and check out what other entertainment the CNE had to offer.

And of course the cynical might suspect that this was all part of the Canadian Armed Forces new recruitment drive.

Operation Connection is underway at the CNE.

This year the military has expanded its endeavours at the fair. After more than 650,000 people visited the Canadian Forces' exhibit at the CNE last year, military officials asked organizers for another 743 square metres of real estate. That's almost half again as much as last year's 1,765 square metres.

Canadian Forces ask retired vets to re-enlist

Facing a shortage of experienced military personnel, the Canadian Forces has put out a call to retired veterans to sign up again -- not to battle, but to help train a new generation of soldiers.

While the military is exceeding its new recruit targets, the Afghanistan mission is draining the resources needed to get them into the system -- causing problems for the military's ambitious plans to boost its numbers.

SEE:

Harpers Body Count

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Harpers Fascism

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Small Right Wing Rallies

Conservative and Liberal MP's gather on the hill for the annual Anti Choice Rally for Forced Motherhood.

A small contingent of MPs is willing to see and be seen at an anti-abortion rally

Over the course of the hour-long lunchtime rally, several of O'Brien's former caucus colleagues dropped by to show their solidarity and address the crowd. Among them were Paul Szabo and Paul Steckle, the latter of whom co-chairs the Parliamentary Pro-Life Caucus with Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott - himself in attendance as well. Indeed, there was considerably better representation from the Conservative caucus: Jeff Watson, Mark Warawa, Myron Thompson, James Lunney, David Anderson, Dean Del Mastro, Rod Bruinooge and Pierre Lemieux all joined Vellacott. Liberal Tom Wappell and Conservative Andrew Scheer sent their regrets - one was stuck in committee, the other serving as deputy speaker. As for the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP, they unsurprisingly gave it a miss altogether.

In his speech, Vellacott claimed the annual gathering is consistently among the largest crowds to hit the Hill but is still ignored by the press - a sentiment echoed by O'Brien. "Whatever the media might say," he assured the crowd, "there's never a rally to match this one."

Media reports and police estimates put the number at somewhere between two and three thousand, including several large contingents of students from local Catholic high schools

While other Pro-Life Conservatives gather to praise war making.

Detainee issue overshadowing military heroics: PM

About 1,000 people, including soldiers and families of the military sporting red, joined the weekly Red Friday Rally in a symbolic show of support for the military. Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor and Gen. Rick Hillier also attended the rally.

But neither of these small rallies amount to 'mass demonstrations' as occurred on the hill and across Canada when the U.S. invaded Iraq.

They are simply special interest lobbying by the Conservatives to their base. And a small base it is. One that has to be trucked in. Talk about a rent a crowd.

Unfortunately for our military they are forced to attend. Come to think of it the same could be said for the Catholic school kids.



SEE

Hillier

Afghanistan

Autocrat

Abortion


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Activist Courts and Afghan Torture

The Americanization of Canadian politics continues.

First we have a General signing Foreign Affairs agreements on prisoner transfers.

Now a new policy is announced not by Foreign Affairs, nor the Minister of Defense, nor the Government but appears out of the blue in Federal Court. This gives new meaning to activist courts.

This must be the new agreement that the Defense Minister announced in an elevator last week.

A Federal Court of Canada hearing was abruptly adjourned Thursday morning when it was told that Canada had struck a new detainee transfer agreement with the Afghan government.

Federal Court Judge Michael Kelen announced details of the agreement with Afghanistan Thursday during a case brought by human rights groups demanding the transfers be halted immediately.

He told the court this was a major development that took the urgency out of deciding whether to block future transfers.

It probably wouldnt have happened if this court hadnt been happening, he said of the agreement.

See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip

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Hillier's War

Before it was Harpers War, Afghanistan was Hillier's War. And as such it was one that was created by him to change Canada's Armed Forces from Peace keepers to warriors. And as we know warriors take no prisoners.

Harper stands by Hillier

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is staunchly defending his Defence Chief amid claims the General did not consult with Foreign Affairs before signing a detainee transfer agreement in 2005 that left no provision to verify prisoner safety.

Hillier pushed flawed detainee plan

The Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to the sidelines when Canada struck its detainee-transfer deal in Afghanistan, two senior government sources have told The Globe and Mail.

“We were not consulted,” said one, adding that Foreign Affairs was shunted aside by the Department of National Defence and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, when he signed the accord in 2005. The deal has become mired in controversy because it includes no follow-up role for Canada on the fate of detainees in Afghanistan's notoriously brutal prison system.

Another senior foreign-service officer gave a longer explanation: “Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them [the detainees] as ‘scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it,” he said. “Defence took the file and messed it up.”

The comment played off a remark General Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, made in July, 2005, when he set off a national debate by referring to the Taliban as “detestable murderers and scumbags.”

See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip

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Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Military chief called period of Liberal governments a 'decade of darkness'; Liberal says Gen. Rick Hillier a `prop' for Tories

Gee I said that: Joined At The Hip

The first two people Harper met with after the election were RCMP Commissioner Zaccardelli and General Hillier.

Scary that.

Consider the political role the RCMP had in the defeat of the Liberals. Releasing a press release during the campaign that said they were investigating the Liberals over alleged Income Trust leaks. Which was revealed this week, over a year later, with a inconsequential bust of a bureaucrat who profited from the Income Trust announcement but not a leak or any evidence of any kind of leak.RCMP income trust probe goes bust

Pure politics by Zaccardelli, which won him government support during the Arar affair, until he shot himself in the foot which he had already placed in his mouth.

Of course the RCMP has always been political.

They are Paramilitary Force created by the State to defend the State. That they would support a self declared Law and Order government is the essence of their slogan; Maintiens le droit.

Which my history Prof Jim Penton reminded his class meant Maintain the Right. As in the Kings Right, droit, or law, which the RCMP themselves translate as the harmless; Defending the Law. But as our Governor General Michelle Jean translated more accurately, and in the context of the Harpocrites a starkly insidious; “Upholding the Right,”

Another voice of men with guns and right wing political views was former General Lewis Mackenzie who is now an outspoken Conservative. But at least he waited till he retired to declare his allegiances to the right. Until Prime Minister Harper’s election and the brave new direction he set for Canada’s foreign and military policies, Gen. MacKenzie’s was almost a voice in the wilderness in this land.

General Hillier on the other hand is an outspoken supporter of War and of the Harper Government, because they do his bidding. Going to war in the South of Afghanistan was the first act of the New Harper Government, prior to that we had been doing peacekeeping in Kabul.

Hillier's Pro War ideology and Harpers correspond in wanting to recreate Canada's Armed Forces. By transforming them from their traditional Liberal role as Peace Keepers back into a traditional conservative Fighting Force. He began the change under the Liberals who appointed him but has mobilized his mouth in favour of Harper and War at any cost. Harpers War was originally posed to Canadians as an extension of Liberals Peace Keeping operations in Kabul. But all that changed when we joined the Americans in Kandahar.

Now we have a new Fighting Armed Forces. Complete with new recruitment ads. Gone was the tradesman/woman of the No Life Like It era, appealing to the Maritimers, the vast majority of our nations Armed Forces. Now it is a stark black and white world in the ads that show the viewer that we are fighting back.

Not only has Hillier been outspoken in public about the need to make war; the blunt-speaking Gen. Hillier has denigrated those fighting against Canadian troops in Afghanistan as "detestable murderers and scumbags." An over the top appeal to conservative law and order types. But our Armed Forces now find themselves in a situation where they face charges of attacking innocent villagers and abusing prisoners.

And Hillier has mobilized his troops to take to Canada's streets to support the war in Afghanistan.

The Red Friday Rallies began in Ottawa with Harper addressing the partisan crowd of spouses of our soldiers, Hillier was there, and the Conservatives allowed public servants time off to join the noon hour rally.

Since then Red Fridays across Canada have been small affairs notably made up of the RCMP and the Army and its conservative supporters. While ostensibly billed as supporting our troops it really is a rally to support Hillier and Harpers War.


And we remember the last time we had mass rallies of armed forces.

Men with guns being political. Scary.

SEE

Hillier

Afghanistan

RCMP

Autocrat


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Joined At The Hip

Scary picture at the Canadian Club in Ottawa yesterday.

PM Stephen Harper presents his new election platform, another Five Point Platform.

Beside him, not a Minister, not a Senator, but none other than General Rick Hillier.

These two are like peas in a pod.

Joined at the hip.

Like Roy Rogers and Trigger. Trigger...happy.

Despite the talk about the environment, the fiscal imbalance or even tax cuts we know which priority is number one for our Macho PM; Afghanistan. After all it was his first photo op mission abroad, and war making is not a tough decision for either of these warmongers.

And Harper is calling for an "assertive" foreign policy, by boosting the strength of the military, as well as continuing reconstruction and the fight against terror in Afghanistan. Harper says his government will table a comprehensive report in Parliament summarizing Canada's role in Afghanistan and announcing the next steps in its participation there.

See

Hillier

Afghanistan






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