LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Headline Boo Boo

War is on till terror exists: Bush

I think they meant to spell Exits. Though then the question is exits to where. And people complain about my spelling, sheesh. This is from CNN/IBN. Though you know I almost believed it, cause it is something Bush might say. Like he said nu-clear.

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Afghanistan How Our Mission Changed

Those who say our current military mission in Afghanistan is the same 'old misson' prior to December 2005 are guilty of using misdirection to put it politely. Otherwise given their deliberate obfustication of the issue we can consider them liars.

NATO made request for Afghanistan reserve force 18 months ago, general says
According to Richards, NATO staff asked for a reserve force of 1,000 soldiers more than a year ago. "That reserve ... is nothing more than nations knew was the military advice that was required for 18 months now, endorsed by the NATO chain of command," Richards told the newspaper" That requirement has never been met by nations. The bit it lacked was a hard-hitting reserve of about 1,000 people that I can use wherever I need to use it throughout Afghanistan, although obviously its focus would be the south."

As I wrote here the NATO reinforcement needs were known to the Canadian government prior to and after last years election. The fact is that in February under the Harper government our mission changed from security operations in Kabul to war making in the Pashtun dominated south.

PRTs are not peacekeeping missions: they exist to extend central government influence throughout a nearly post - apocalyptic feudal land. The goal is to combat insurgency using a variety of lethal and non-lethal tools.

Our mission in Afghanistan had "Officially" ended in December of 2005. In February using parliamentary perogative, the Harper government committed our armed forces to a NEW mission. A NEW mission folks. Not a mere continuation of our previous mission.

Operation Athena

In August 2003, Operation Athena began in Kabul as part of ISAF, with a 1,900-strong Canadian task force providing assistance to civilian infrastructure such as well-digging and repair of local buildings.

In March 2004, Canada committed $250 million in aid to Afghanistan, and $5 million to support the 2004 Afghan election.^[2]

On February 13, 2005 Defence Minister Bill Graham announced Canada was doubling the number of troops in Afghanistan by the coming summer, from 600 troops in Kabul to 1200.^[3]

Operation Athena ended following the national elections in December 2005 and the fulfilment of the stated aim of "rebuilding the democratic process" in Afghanistan.

Renewed Commitments - Operation Archer

Operation Archer followed Athena beginning in February 2006. By the spring of 2006, Canada had a major role in southern Afghanistan, with Task Force Afghanistan being a Battle Group of 2,300 soldiers based at Kandahar. Canada also commanded the Multi National Brigade for Command South, a main military force in the region. In May 2006, the Canadian government extended Canadian military commitments to Afghanistan by two years, replacing earlier plans to withdraw soldiers in 2006.

We were considered part of the Americans Operation Enduring Freedom in transition to NATO's take over. When NATO took over OEF in August our troops were part of the ISAF.

But since no other NATO nation is committing troops, our open ended commitment to provide military support till 2009, made by the Harper government, means we will take up the slack. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

NATO countries offer just 20 reinforcements Afghanistan: report

Citing unnamed sources within NATO and in Kabul, the The Times reported that so far only the tiny Baltic state of Latvia has committed 20 more troops.

Major NATO members Turkey, Germany, Spain and Italy have all basically ruled out volunteering troops and France is unlikely to make any contributions, especially given its large role in the peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

"No one has come forward" with contributions for the NATO force, which took over from the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan on July 31, the newspaper quoted a NATO source as saying.

Also See:

Afghanistan

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Afghanistan Where Do The Party 's Stand

From Don Newmans Politics on CBC Newsworld yesterday here is the position of the Federal Political Party's opposed to the NDP policy of challenging the change of our troops from Peacekeeping to Warmongering.

B.Q. We must meet out commitments and not cut and run
Liberals: We must meet out commitments and not cut and run
Conservatives: We must meet out commitments and not cut and run
Don Newman: We must meet out commitments and not cut and run

So now we know who is in favour of this war. And who is agin it.And yes even the BQ said that. Funny huh the BQ defending the Canadian State.They Support Canadian Troops in Afghanistan.....cause none of them are from Quebec. Wonder what their line will be when troops from Quebec go to Afghanistan starting in December.

The BQ should change their name to BC....Bloc Conservatives, since they have kept this minority government in power. Of course what did you expect from a united front party that was created out of the Mulroney Conservatives.

Also See:

BQ

NDP

Afghanistan

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Predictable

Watch out Osama bin Laden Harper is out to get you. Harper links 9/11 to Afghan mission And you too Jack. He's been a warmonger since he was elected leader of the opposition. What else did you expect him to say. He was surrounded by the wives of victims of 9/11 and wives of serving troops in Afghanistan (not widows or mothers who lost family members there). Subtext; women support Harper....and the war. All that was missing from this mimicry of George Bush was the American flag.

Also See:

Harper

NDP

Afghanistan

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Who This Blog Supports For Liberal Leader

A lot of my pals in the ProgressiveBloggers.ca are also Liberalblogs. They are all fussing and fuming over who shold be leader of the Natural Governing Party. Of course there is no derth of candidates for them to endorse . And perhaps their endorsements may help push some delegates to the convention one way or another.

This is an anarchist blog, so while I give critical support on occasion to political parties it is usually the NDP. With a nod to the Greens. Since I came across this blog and this blog / I now know I can be a Liberal Anarchist.

So for the first time ever I will now announce my endorsement for the best candidate for Liberal Leader. I know I blogged previously about supporting Ignatieff but that was tongue in cheek paraody.

This is a serious endorsement. Liberals need to rally around this guy as leader or their party is doomed.

Yes I know he is dead. So is his party. The Liberals success as the NGP was the renewed Party he created. It is his coattails they surfed on right through the Chretien era. Under Martin they abandoned Trudeauism. Now you have Leadership candidates playing to Quebec Nationalism for votes. This ain't Trudeaus party anymore.

And until a charismatic poltical chelia comes along and revieves the party it like the Post Mulroney Conservatives is doomed to wander in the wilderness. Why? Because the Harper Conservatives have already accepted the Martin formula for asymetrical Federalism.

And this weekend the NDP actually ingrained it in their platform.

So Trudeau style Federalism is dead. And so is the Party that he used to enforce it. None of the current candidates is worthy of Trudeau's mantel because none of them has his vision to renew the party.

Also See

Liberal Leadership Race

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Monday, September 11, 2006

American Cougar Visits Canadian Twink

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice isn't visiting Gander Newfoundland today, nor is the U.S. Ambasador to Canada, Dave Wilkins. They are visiting Halifax.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins will be in Gander, N.L. EWednesday for a memorial service. Gander took in many overseas flights that had been destined for the U.S.

Uh Dave its 9/11 not 9/13.

The people of Gander are outraged. And rightly so they bore the brunt of the re-directed flights on 9/11.Gander area ambivalent about 9/11 anniversary

Some 9,000 passengers from 44 flights spent the night of Sept. 11 in Nova Scotia school gyms, stadiums, cafeterias and hotels. Thousands more were stranded in Newfoundland and a couple hundred on Prince Edward Island. In total, some 200 planes were diverted to Canadian airports across the country after the U.S. attacks, including 64 to Newfoundland, 36 to Vancouver, and 19 to Toronto.

Halifax's role was second behind Gander.

So why is Condi, Condi going to Halifax really.To see her boyfriend.

Rice is expected to spend Tuesday in MacKay's home riding of Pictou County.

Ah come on everyone knows that after he was crushed by Belinda he found himself gushing over his new relationship with Condi. And it may not be one sided. After all Pictou county has nothing to do with 9/11 but Peter lives there.

Condi, Condi

Oh Condi Condi beggin’ on my knees
Open up your heart and let me in wontcha please
Got no money but everybody knows
I love you Condi and I’ll never let you go
Sweet and dandy pretty as can be
You be the flower and I’ll be the bumble bee
Oh she loves me oops she loves me not
People say you’re cold but I think you’re hot

Oh, Condi, Condi
Oh, Condi, Condi

Oh Condi, Condi I’m talkin’ to you girl
What’s it gonna hurt come on give me a whirl
Shake your body now let me see you go
One time for me Oh Condi I love you so
Skank for me Condi show me what you got
They say you’re too uptight I say you’re not
Dance around me spinnin’ like a top
Oh Condi Condi Condi don’t ever stop

Oh Condi Condi Can’t you hear me call
I’m standin’ in the street outside your garden wall
Pocketful of money belly full of wine
Condi in my heart and romance on my mind
Listen to me Condi don’t be afraid
I come here tonight to chase your blues away
I’ll never hurt you I’ll treat you right
Oh Condaleeza won’t you come out tonight

Pretty little Condi precious as can be
Bet you never had another lover like me

Steve Earle

Also See

Peter McKay

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Trudeau Doesn't Live Here Anymore

The Jesuit trained dialectician. The Northern Magus and Philosopher King of Canada. Who turned Proudhons anarchist ideal of Federalism on its head; denying autonomy to regions in favour of one federal central state; PM Pierre Trudeau.

had cause to spin in his grave yesterday. His last political battle was the fight he waged and won against the distinct society clause. But now the three leading candidates in Quebec for the Liberal leadership, Stéphane Dion, Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff, all heartily support the concept that Quebecers form a distinct nation within Canada. Ignatieff: Liberal saviour or sorcerer?

Besides can you see any of these guys telling Harper to Fuddle Duddle?

And none of them have this kind of Charisma...

Also See:

Whigs and Tory's

Ignatieff Imperialist Apologist

Quebec BQ vs Conservatives

Trudeau

Proudhon

Liberal Leadership Race

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Sir Robert Bond Blusters Forth

My, my, for a man who throws around ad hominem arguments and insults, calling folks who disagree with him Dipocrits,Ed over at Sir Robert Bond Papers Blog sure is thin skined.

He says of my earlier post refuting his arguments as to why we should stay the course in Afghanistan....

The moral and intellectual bankruptcy of those who would have our country withdraw from Afghanistan now is best displayed by arguments such as those put forward by La revue gauche among others. But beyond the ad hominem swipes and inaccurate information, there is simply nothing else in the post you will find by following that link.

Now who is being insulting. I am morally and intellectually bankrupt, and provide inaccurate information. Oh really. The fact is besides these assertions he DID NOT REFUTE MY ARTICLE. My article raised over twenty points of contention about what the real mission was in Afghanistan. He has replied to nary a one.

And I note that his original protest against the Left was that should we pull our troops out we would be abandoning women and girls to the Taliban. He no longer uses that particular feint. Because I have demolished it in a series of articles I have written.

He says

Canada's mission includes reconstruction. It is an essential component of the NATO force approach and has been since Canadian troops first arrived in Afghanistan.

As I have shown here no such reconstruction is happening in Kandahar. In fact the very use of the concept of PRT's is a cover for combat operations. In the north the NATO troops have been used for peacekeeping and reconstruction. But that mission has changed. It changed as of last year as I have documented here and here.

Since Ed refuses to even debate the original points I made I will not reiterate these here. But I await anyone on the right, and yes Ed I consider you on the right, to refute them point by point.

If New Democrats can possibly offer something of substance as an alternative to Canada's current policy in Afghanistan, then let's engage in a discussion.

I have Ed and you failed to respond instead you took the cowards way out by dismissing my arguments. Here let me enlighten you on how I think this debate is going to work out. Hints of it were made through out the last week by Jack and Alexa.

Withdrawl of Canadian forces from the warzone in Kandahar. Deployment of a smaller unit of peacekeepers to Kabul to reinforce Karzai's city state. Peacekeepers will do policing, increased funding and use of NGO's to help with development projects, diverting funding from munitions and war materials to actual reconstruction projects. Encouraging NATO and the UN to begin peace talks with all parties involved in the regional conflict.

But if the best the New Democrats and others on the political left can come up with is a withdrawal of our soldiers who are there to establish the peaceful basis on which reconstruction and reconciliation can take place, then they are offering nothing - absolutely nothing - that deserves serious consideration.

There can be no peaceful basis of reconstruction and reconcilliation in Kandahar as long as the mission is to engage the Taliban, destroy opium crops and villages. I will say it again our troops are not there for any peaceful purpose. That was a fient by the Tories to gain Liberals acceptance that their mission was the same as the Liberals. Harpers mission is war making. On behalf of the U.S. who want NATO to take over combat operations. That is clearly in conflict with reconstruction and peace making.

The vilification of the Left by those on the right, including Liberals, as pacifists and appeasers is historical revisionism. The Left went to Spain during the civil war seventy years ago, despite the Liberal government declaring it illegal, and the allies blockading the Republican government.

They went to fight fascism, which the Right supported and still does. Those same veterans and volunteers, the few that survived that brutal war, came back and signed up to continue the fight against fascism in Europe. Because fascism is anti democratic and anti socialist.

The Left led the resistance to fascism in France, Greece, Italy, etc. during WWII. The right created the Vichy collaborationist government in France. The right supported the monarchists collaborators in Greece. The right supported the fascists in Croatia. Etc. Etc.

After WWII the Left supported Wilsonian national liberation movements, the right organized military coups. Democracy in Europe was undermined by CIA support for the mafia, right wing paramilitaryists and former fascist politicians.
In Latin and Central America it supported coup de dats for big American monopoly coporations. It orchestrated the coup against democratically elected Salvadore Allende government in Chile.

The historic war between the Left and the Right is between socialist democracy and militarism/fascism Between the rights of the people and the rights of the pwoer elites.

And when push comes to shove wars are either about authentic struggles for liberation or else they are geopolitical games of Imperialism. The latter is the case in Afghanistan.

Clearly on this issue the line is drawn in the sand. There is no mushy middle. And this is where the Liberals will fail to offer any real alternative to the Left or Right.

So Ed has at least made it clear, that despite being on the Progressive Bloggers list he has sided with the Blogging Tories and the Conservatives on this issue.

And that is how this debate will play out across Canada. Politically it will leave the Liberal's isolated. Along with its lame duck leadership race, it gives validity to Jacks call this weekend to prepare for an election, one that will give Canadians an opportunity to decide between Left and Right, the NDP or Conservatives.

The Liberals have no mushy middle to wallow in on this issue. Which is why they refuse to debate it, rather like Ed they would rather reiterate their Conservative talking points, over and over again claiming that is discussion and debate.

Afghanistan