Flashback

Last winter as Canadians went to the Polls to elect a new government Afghanistan was the farthest thing from our minds. And certainly was not a priority for the Harper Conservatives.

That all changed in February when the Harper Government extended the mission in Afghanistan automatically. Despite the fact that it was about to change dramatically from Peacekeeping to war making.

Clearly NATO forces were not prepared even then to take on war making, it was the Harper government that took the first step to shame NATO into acting on behalf of the Americans.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Nato's Afghanistan troop dilemma
Monday, 26 December 2005, 10:50 GMT

Nato's very public announcement on 8 December that it will send an additional 6,000 troops to Taleban-infested southern Afghanistan next spring and Washington's more cryptic remarks that it wants to withdraw 4,000 troops from the same region at the same time are being read very differently by all those affected.

Most Afghans and many diplomats in the capital, Kabul, see it as the start of a US withdrawal from Afghanistan, no matter how profusely Washington's spin machine insists that "the US will never abandon the Afghans".

Senior aides to President Hamid Karzai say any US withdrawal, no matter how it is camouflaged, will be disastrous for people's morale and remind them of the US withdrawal from Afghan affairs after the Soviet pullout in 1989.

The administration of President George W Bush sees it as an opportunity to redeem popularity at home by bringing the boys home from a foreign war, even though the militants are far from defeated.

Shifting the burden to the Europeans is also a chance for the US State Department to try to recharge the Atlantic alliance after all the unilateral and isolationist moves undertaken by the first Bush administration.

The Nato deployment, announced with much fanfare in Brussels after a meeting of the 26 foreign ministers of Nato countries, came after months of agonising and countries refusing to take part in the new deployment.

Nato troops are feeling vulnerable after suicide attacks

"When the expansion takes place next year, it will mean Nato is operating in three-quarters of Afghanistan," said Nato Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

At present, while the 19,000 strong US-led coalition is responsible for waging war on the Taleban, the estimated 9,000 strong Nato contingent is carrying out peace-keeping duties in Kabul.

In late November, senior White House officials in Washington confirmed to me that the administration would be withdrawing some 4,000 troops from southern Afghanistan next spring, once a Nato-led force was in place.

US officials refuse to use the term withdrawal, insisting it is merely a troops "adjustment" or "rotation".

Are Nato troops really prepared to move beyond peace-keeping duties and take on a combat role in a region which is the hotbed of Taleban activity?

Every single deployment of Nato troops or aircraft since 2003 has led to months of wrangling between European capitals and Nato's high command, played out very publicly in the press.

Even in their peace-keeping role, each Nato country's forces have a list of what they will do and not do - national caveats - that has paralysed Nato commanders in Kabul.

Spanish troops based in the west will rarely leave their compound.

German troops in the north will allow no other Nato troops to fly in their helicopters.

Every nation has a different concept of running a PRT which makes any kind of unified reconstruction programme in the provinces next to impossible.

For the past six months Britain has had tremendous difficulties in getting support from other Nato countries to join it in deploying to six provinces in the south and take over the American base in Kandahar.

Britain and Canada are committed to deploy an estimated 4,000 troops, but they needed another 2,000 more - specifically soldiers who will perform a peace-keeping role in the shape of PRTs, but also would not hesitate to fight if called upon to do so.

Major European countries such as France, Spain and Germany have refused to take part in operations that could involve fighting the Taleban.

The Harper government automatically approved the February redeployment of Canadian forces in Afghanistan knowing they were to be deployed in combat operations in Kandahar. There was no debate. They used their government authority to approve it with no debate.

And they tried to later downplay the combat operations as continuing to be Peacekeeping in a PRT. The reason for Harpers Bush photo-op like visit to Base Kandahar before the real fighting began.

Britain and NATO still had not prepared to take over the operation in Kandahar leaving it to Harper and Hillaire toopportunitically step up to the plate to fill the vacumm betwen the Americans leaving and NATO taking up the slack.

From March through August we were the sole Country in charge of command and control of the transfer of Kandahar from the U.S. to NATO. And Harper knew it.
He knew our mission had changed from Peacekeeping to combat. He knew that in February and refused to present that mission change to Parliament. When he did in May he and his War Minister still refused to say we were going to war.

Contrary to the governments line that an immediate withdrawl of Canadian forces is not possible it is.NATO reviews its mandate and operations in Afghanistan according to the Afghan Accord every other month and at least twice a year.

NATO General Wants More Troops in Afghan South

On Aug. 1, U.S. commanders turned over military responsibility for southern Afghanistan to NATO. The alliance force in the south, led by contingents from Britain, Canada and the Netherlands, so far has about 6,000 members, Jones said.

Previously, NATO troops operated largely in the capital, Kabul, and other relatively calm parts of the country. Casualties resulting from their entry into a full-blown combat zone, where the enemy is using weapons and tactics reminiscent of Iraqi insurgents, have rattled public opinion in some alliance countries.

AFGHANISTAN: Can NATO Win Against Taliban Insurgents?

KABUL, Aug 20 (IPS) - Two weeks ago, NATO took over command of insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan from the United States,

NATO's priorities include maintaining security, extending the central government's authority and speeding up the reconstruction process. It will consult and coordinate all its activities with the Afghan government and the international community and would evaluate its strategy every other month and twice a year.

This is where the US-led coalition failed. This decision of NATO is likely to go well with the Afghan government and public.

NATO officials declared that they would not engage in counter-terrorism operations, but would assist the reconstruction process and strongly react to those who intend to disrupt the efforts aimed at extending and strengthening the Afghan government's authority.

It's a sad day when the NATO site can only tell us how many troops are in Afghanistan in 2005.

NATO in Aghanistan - Factsheet ISAF contributing nations (as of 21 February 2005)
NATO Nations
Belgium	616
Bulgaria	37
Canada	992
Czech Republic	17
Denmark	122
Estonia	10
France	742
Germany	1816
Greece	171
Hungary	159
Iceland	20
Italy	506
Latvia	9
Lithuania	9
Luxemburg	10
Netherlands	311
Norway	313
Poland	5
Portugal	21
Romania	72
Slovakia	16
Slovenia	27
Spain	551
Turkey	825
United Kingdom	461
United States	89
Partner Nations
Albania	22
Austria	3
Azerbaijan	22
Croatia	45
Finland	61
former Yougoslov Republic of Macedonia (1)	20
Ireland	10
Sweden	85
Switzerland	4
Non-NATO / Non-EAPC nations
New Zealand	5

The withdrawl of US troops was planned as early as 2003, six years ago, as they cut and ran into a George Bush's private war with Saddam Hussien.

BRUSSELS, Belgium, Dec. 1, 2003 –

The first meeting of the day brought the defense ministers together with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson. The meeting included what one official called "a good discussion of Afghanistan," as well as the importance of the alliance having "usable" forces organized and equipped to meet 21st-centuray threats.

Robertson has advocated expansion of NATO's contributions in Afghanistan beyond the capital city of Kabul with more provincial reconstruction teams operating in the country. Eventually, U.S. officials said, NATO might absorb U.S. Central Command's Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. They cautioned, however, that such a result would be a long way down the road if it were to happen at all, and the notion is in only the earliest stages of thought and discussion.

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Ebenezer God

God is a capitalist.

“Always in Germany, God has been a bookkeeper, watching all your sins, writing down all your sins,” he added

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Etu Hetu

Besides Paul Summerville the NDP lost two Quebec candidates as well on the eve of the Convention in Quebec. Do I smell something fishy in these pre Convention announcements. You bet. They could have seriously hurt the party. However they were lost in the sea of media coverage of the Afghanistan resolution. Which also swamped coverage of the many other good and important resolutions passed this weekend.

Carl Hetu, the Quebec co-chairman of Layton's leadership campaign, said the party remained marginal in his province and appeared to be heading nowhere.

That was a kind of nasty thing to say when the Party's focus was trying to pose a viable Social Democratic alternative in Quebec to the BQ.

NDP convention opens with attack on Layton

The co-president of the New Democrats' Quebec campaign in the past election, Carl Hétu, and Pierre Laliberté, the NDP candidate in Hull–Aylmer the past two elections, have both accused Mr. Layton of spending too little time in the province during the election early this year and of centralizing power at the expense of the party's grassroots.

Mr. Hétu said he was leaving the party while Mr. Laliberté said he was “taking his distance.”

The grumbling from Quebec began Thursday when Mr. Hétu published an opinion piece in Le Devoir announcing he was leaving the party after 20 years as an activist and candidate in the 2000 election.

“I am disappointed with the way Jack Layton and his party are directing the party,” he wrote, accusing Mr. Layton of ignoring Quebec. “The MPs who did not support Mr. Layton's [leadership bid] in January, 2003, had good reason. Their concerns have been proven. Like me, many activists in the party are disappointed.”

Mr. Laliberté, who received the third-highest percentage of votes among Quebec NDP candidates at 15.5 per cent, said he also heard many concerns from voters that Mr. Layton delivers only rehearsed lines that sound like they were crafted by a public relations firm.

“People want to know what sort of person they are going to put in high office and if they keep giving scripted answers, then at a certain point you don't know who you're voting for,” he said. “I think at some point you have to be honest.”

Mr. Laliberté said the NDP failed to capitalize on the troubles of the Liberals and Bloc in Quebec.

“I'm tired of being with a party that's out of sync with what needs to be done and said,” he said.

Well quiting the Party now really helps doesn't it. As for complaints about Jack not being in Quebec enough, I think not. He has been there before, during and after the election. It is his home province.

Something is fishy here about this attack. And I suspect it may be the Sherbrooke Accord the Quebec wing of the party drafted and was accepted by the Convention.

The NDP recognizes the national characteristic of Quebec and its right to self-determination, specifying that this characteristic can find its expression in the context of a federal Canada.

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Summervilles Missing Resolution

Is this the reason Paul Summerville pulled a pout and run, quitting the NDP to buddy up to Bob Rae and the Liberals on the eve of the NDP convention. Was it really about economics or just a cheap bit of political opportunism and theatre?

NDP STAR BOLTS: Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae, now a federal Liberal leadership hopeful, is combing his old stomping grounds for support and enjoying some success. Victoria's Paul Summerville is signing on as a supporter of Rae's Liberal campaign, at the expense of his NDP membership card.

Summerville moved to Victoria after a career as a Bay Street economist. He was touted as a local provincial NDP candidate in the 2005 B.C. election but no nomination windows opened for him. He ran for the NDP federally last winter in Toronto, but lost to Liberal Carolyn Bennett.

He told the National Post this week that he parted ways with the NDP this summer and has posted comments critical of the party's economic policies.

Provincial New Democrats are consoling themselves that while he is no longer a member of the party, he still supports the B.C. NDP.

A bit of a stick in the eye from Bob to Jack. More than likely. There are no comments on Summervilles blog from this summer criticizing the party. And he moved to B.C. interesting no? All the media reprots have him still in Ontario. Maybe all the Federal nominations in B.C. are wrapped up? This gets more and more interesting all the time.

Stephen Gordon of Worthwhile Canadian Initiative live blogged from the convention, unlike the NDP Blogs or the Dippers. And as an economist he too was concerned about Summervilles reasons for leaving the party.

Summerville apparently wrote this on his blog, but it disappears. If it ever had been there. His blog sort of is updated then articles disappear. This is from the Canadian Poltical Candidates blogaggregator; Confeederation.ca which has a feed from his blog.

The question is did this resolution ever get put into the resolutions book or is it his fantasy resolution and excuse for quiting? Because he announced his quitting before the Convention! The resolution is not that far out in right field not to be acceptable to the party.

For me not being at the Convention and watching it on CPAC and despite not being able to read the resolutions on line or see them when debated during the convention, some of these ideas appeared in the Sustainable Economics panel.

Among the many economic resolutions that the NDP are likely to vote on this weekend none will be more definitive than those on the role of Bank of Canada.

Over the last 15 years most countries have ceded control of monetary policy to independent central banks.

Whatever one might feel about the performance of central banks, eliminating political interference with the economic cycle, at least as far as monetary policy is concerned, has like safe sex, been widely accepted as a good thing.

The fate of any NDP resolutions in Quebec this weekend regarding the Bank of Canada therefore will be a critical litmus test of the party’s economic policy.

Suffice it to say that any government that did anything to reduce the independence of their central banks would face a bond market meltdown.

On that likelihood alone, a party that toys with central bank independence does not deserve to be taken seriously.

Instead, the party might consider the following resolution:

WHEREAS the Canadian economy is less than 2% of the global economy and shrinking; and

WHEREAS the rules of the global market economy are largely agreed upon; and

WHEREAS economies that embrace and enforce those rules tend to be prosperous; and

WHEREAS countries that invest consistently in key elements of social justice principally education and health tend to have economies that are able to adapt to change and increase prosperity; and

WHEREAS the speed of change in the global economy is accelerating;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports the following economic policies and goals:

1. Price stability rooted in an independent central bank;

2. No deficit spending except in the case of a recession;

3. Annual repayment of the national debt by 1% of GDP per year;

4. Work with the provinces to reduce inter-provincial barriers to trade, investment, and the movement of labour;

5. Simplification of the income tax system with the explicit goal of reducing tax levels on middle income Canadians;

6. Increase the tax exemption for small businesses;

7. Cut child poverty in half by 2017;

8. Design national education strategies that encourage children to graduate from college or universities, increase the number of Ph.D.’s to 1.5% of the population, and double the amount of investment that companies spend on training;

9. Work with the provinces to streamline the applicability of non-Canadian professional designations to assist immigrants to live successfully in Canada in their chosen professions; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that these economic policies and goals are executed within the context of a sustainable environment that includes support for the invention, development, production, application and trade of leading edge environmental technologies.

end/

Oh well.

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Harper Messaging on Afghanistan

The Harper messaging is loud and clear on Afghanistan.

As seen on CPAC yesterday in a debate and phone in show with by CP MP Tom Lukwiski Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform, debating NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Alexa Mcdonough he kpt repeating; "You don't bargain with terrorists, the Taliban are terrorists, Do you want the Taliban to take over again." Over and over and over and over and over....

When finally flustered by Alexa's explanations of the need to have a peace process in place, support for reconstruction and a limited troop prescence in the North, he spurted out the Rumsfeld line; "Thats' appeasement".

Now I know he thinks the Taliban are terrorists however they are just one of many Mujahdin groups that were left to fight an internecine civil war after the Soviets left. A powerful movement originating in the Terror State of Pakistan.

He is clearly confusing the Taliban with Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda. Remeber them. Still on the loose five years later when the Americans originally attacked and occupied Afghanistan to get him.

The favourite line from the war on terror's military/industrial complex is that in 2001 Osama bin Laden "changed the rules of the game". (Forgotten is that he attacked the same target in 1993, his error being one of civil engineering.)

George Bush repeated the change thesis again on Wednesday in confirming his secret interrogation camps and the excuse for the five-year delay in bringing al-Qaeda suspects to justice.

Tony Blair cites the change with every curb on civil liberty.

The "new" terrorism requires a new approach to public safety. The security industry cries amen. Most of this is self-serving drivel. Nervous rulers have colluded with soldiers and businessmen throughout history to cite some ethnic or religious menace when needing more power and higher taxes.

Or else the White House is writing the Tories messaging. Ya think?!

Despite Canada's newfound role in Afghanistan, Mr. Cellucci feels Canada's foreign policy has remained relatively unchanged since the terrorist attacks five years ago, and should continue to work internationally to bring peace and stability. "Canada continues to play an important role around the world," he says. "There continue to be other trouble spots and that's where Canada can step up. The U.S. can't do everything."

This is the messaging that the Harpocrites will be using over the next few weeks;
"War on terror, the Taliban will take over if we leave, cut and run, appeasement."

Sourced from the White House.

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Layton On The Attack

Jacks closing speech at the NDP Convention in Quebec City was dynamite. It was dynamic. It reflected all the hard work done at the convention this weekend, policies that place the party in the lead on issues of sustainable economics, the environment, social policy, etc.

• Provide more affordable housing to working Canadians and help young people buy their first homes.
• Increase access to education and training for young Canadians.
• Take better care of the elderly.
• Protect the environment through tough auto emissions standards and clamping down on the emissions of large-scale industrial polluters.

The emphasis on the environment will place the NDP in clear competition with the Green Party, and will get them votes from the Greens. Because the GP does not have a political prescence in the house.

It set the party on notice that this was the election convention. And the party is running for government. Given the continued wanderings in the desert by the Liberals with their ten candidates for leader, no matter who they elect it will be a lame duck.

Unlike the snore fest in Quebec City this afternoon with the Liberal Leadership Debate, Layton covered issues in detail. And hey he didn't forget about the Liberals riding on the NDP coat-tails either.

Now as you may know, when the Liberals heard that we were holding this convention in Quebec City, they decided to invite themselves along.

So they scheduled one of their modest leadership events in this city, pretty much at the same place, and at the same time.

As I speak, Liberal leadership candidates are gathering with what could be called a pretty beat-up and discouraged little group of surviving federal Liberals from Quebec.

Quite a contrast with this convention!

There's Mr Ignatieff, who has decided to pop into Canada from Harvard to see if he can be crowned Liberal leader.

Failing that, it would seem he's planning to go back home to Boston.

Then there is a certain failed one-term Ontario premier who, it turns out, is also a turncoat.

He thinks that's the kind of competence and character the Liberals need in a leader.

And then there's a son of this city -- Stephane Dion.

A man with whom I have fundamental disagreements about how Canada should build and renew itself.

But also a man who is, if I may say so across the partisan divide, distinct from his principal opponents in being a committed Canadian and a man of principle and conviction.

And therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the Liberal party.

And it just got better and better after that.

Jack put Canada on notice, it's the NDP or Harper. There is no other choice.

Layton calls on Canadians to punish Tories

NDP Leader Jack Layton urged his troops to prepare Sunday for an election campaign he seems determined to fight against U.S. President George W. Bush.

He mentioned the U.S. president at least five times in a closing address to his party's convention and accused the Tory government of being his servant.

On climate change, on the softwood-lumber deal and on the Afghan conflict, Layton accused the Tories of selling out Canadian interests to satisfy Bush and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of being a lackey of the Republican White House.

"He's become a cheerleader for President George Bush and he's leading Canada down the wrong track on every issue that matters to ordinary people," Layton said.

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Liberal Leadership Debate

Not much you can say in two minutes. So to sum up for those who missed the debate broadcast only on CPAC let me paraphrase it for you....

Moderator: Please tell us your views of the universe and the meaning of life.

Liberal Leadership Candidate: Thank you it is wonderful to be here today, and let me say.....

Moderator: Thank you, Next.


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Sir Robert Bond Idiot

In a shotgun attack on the NDP postion on Afghanistan the blog; Sir Robert Bond Papers says this;

And when the Taliban come back to power and make it a crime to teach girls and young women anything, including how to read?

He does not allow comments so I thought I would comment here. First what the hell is this right wing dweeb doing on the Progressive Bloggers list? Hmmm. Oh yes he is a Liberal.

Now that I got that off my chest, this is clearly the same messaging we get from the Harper Government.

I have already commented here and here on the myth that we are in this war as a campaign of Womens Liberation. But to reiterate for Sir Robert a couple of points.

The Taliban are not the only problem, the regional War Lords and ex Taliban that make up the Karzai government have also attacked women, and girls schools.

That Kandahar is a porous region with the Taliban operating with impunity out of southern Pakistan, with support of the SSI the Pakistani secret police.

The Pakistan government made a peace agreement with the Taliban in the North West this week.

They assasinated the leader of the autonomy movement in Baluchistan an area in Southern Pakistan that borders Afghanistan in order to destabilize that area, and in collusion with the Taliban are hoping to put down the Baluchistan opposition. These are our allies.

Women in Afghanistan have been subjected to rape, murder, political assasination, girls schools have been burned not by the Taliban but by the Karzai governments allies.

No capitalist infrastructure exists in Kandahar. No alternative corp production is possible. The opium crops are what are being burned in these operations of search and destroy of the Taliban. Creating localized resistance from villagers, warlords and drug lords, not just the Taliban. These American orchestrated search and destroy missions have failed to win the hearts and minds of the Afghani people in the region.

In Kabul the capitalist structure is non-existant, so much so that there are NO BANKS operating. So even the most basic of a capitalist economy is not present in Afghanistan after five years. Instead funds are doled out by NGO's to the Karzai government who then funds their cronies and pals.

Ex-Taliban are in the Karzai government, so Kabul is very willing to negotiate with the Taliban as it has been with the warlords and druglords.

Kabul is a city state, Afghanistan is a failed state, the Americans abandoned nation building in the rush to Bahgdad. Only now is a sembalence of capitalism begining to take root, and only in Kabul.

Karzai's government is not a secular democratic government, nor a capitalist one, it is an Islamic government. It has renewed the old Taliban Vice and Virtue committee. It has persecuted and imprisoned the editor/publisher of the nations only womens magazine, for blasphamy. It has allowed the Mullahs to order the death of converts to Christianity. It is no different than its predecesor state, except for the troops which guard it and media that whitewash it.

There are 20,000 American troops still in Afghanistan, this was their war, why should be be fighting and dying for them. They left behind a counterinsurgency force to obstensably do two things; hunt for bin Laden, whom they have failed to find, destroy the Taliban leadership, which they have failed to do. The Americans cut and ran from Afghanistan to go into Iraq.

The Brits the Americans allies in Iraq, have refused to deploy 800 combat ready soldiers they promised last spring to NATO. Now who is cutting and running.

German, Italian, Greek components of NATO are in Kabul and will NOT be sent to fight in Kandahar.

Kanadahar was a war mission of the U.S. who demanded NATO become involved in the summer. The summer. Harper sent our troops to be part of this in May. That was when he also called for a vote on hsi open ended two year extension of the mission. A deliberately undefined mission, though he knew well enough he was sending our troops to be canon fodder in the frontlines of Operation Endurning Freedom.

As did Canada's very own Colonel Blimp, General Rick Hillier. He wanted 1000 troops to go and fight to prove we were combat ready, and more than just whimpy liberal peace keeper. Mr. Macho defined the enemy as scumbags. Say no more.

Why Canadians are confused is that between March of this year and May the mission changed. In March a PRT unit of Canadians went to Kandahar obsentisbly to support and defend and infrastructure program. A desperately needed program that had not been provided for five years of U.S. occupation of the province.

Ours was not to be solely a combat mission, it was to be a reconstruction mission.

NATO command is appealing to member countries to contribute to the combat offense and getting no support.

Brig. Gen. David Fraser, future multinational commander, speaks during a press conference Thursday in Ottawa "This mission is about Canadians helping Afghans," Fraser said yesterday as he repeatedly stressed the mission is "not just about combat operations."

But by May that had changed, but the Harpocrites refused then and still refuse to explain why we accepted comand and control of Operation Enduring Freedom and its follow up Operation Medusa. That was NOT our mission in Kandahar. Or at least not the mission as publicly portrayed.

In May when questioned in the house debate over extending the mission for two years the NDP asked Defense Minister O'Connor if we were at War. He refused to anwser.

The mission in Afghanistan is NOT UN sanctioned it is an American campaign, Operation Enduring Freedom, which was their own operation. NATO who joined after the war in Afghanistan, has set its mission as being the defense of Kabul.

That was our original mission until the Harper Government put our troops in harms way by moving from Kabul to Kandahar and involving us in Operation Enduring Freedom.

2000 Canadians are being used by American and NATO forces as we were in Dunkrik and Dieppe to fight and die while the Imperial powers hide behind us.

Neither the Americans, NATO nor Karzai can say if this extended combat operation in Kandahar will be a success. What we do know is that since the spring as combat operations in Kandahar increased so has domestic insurgency, suicide bombings, riots, and a re-armed Taliban counter offensive. Karzai even admits that the situation has gone from bad to worse.

We have every right to remove our troops as we have had to involve them in this combat operation.The response of the NDP parliamentary Caucus to the Withdrawl Immediately of our Troops, will be nuanced to include peace making, defense of Kabul, increased support for economic reconstruction. Just watch, we were given a taste of it by Alexa during the convention in her speech at the mike and later discussions with Peter Vandusen of CPAC. This is not cut and run, nor appeasement. It is a challenge to the Harpocrites to explain why our troops are being viewed as expendable in an unwinable combat operation.

I have documented all this and it can be found here: Afghanistan






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NDP Convention Transparency

If you are a politcal junkie like I am you watch Political conventions like sports fans watch their favorite sport. You know the players, the issues, and you yell at the TV when someone should call for a standing vote. Well I do anyways. I also yell to challenge the chair, something I do at conventions as well as in front of my TV.

Well if you have been watching the NDP Convention on CPAC, and who hasn't amongst us political bloggers left, centre and right, you will have seen a convention that failed to take advantage of TV to engage Canadians to be part of the debate.

I am not going to deal with issues that came to the floor but the process itself. Hopefully fellow Dippers will forward this to the Party insiders for their consideration for the next convention.

And I am writing this as someone who has run the Alberta NDP Communications and Strategy Committee in two successful elections. Including the 1997 election which saw our provincial party use the internet and the web for our campaign, one of the first elections to do so.

A problem arose early in the Convention when the French language Resolution Book did not match the English. Opps. It makes it a lot easier for us to follow along if the two match.

Simultaneous linguistic translation as well as AISL translation was available, which was excellent. Except that no deal was made with CPAC to show a mini screen of AISL translation for TV viewers which they do normally for QP in the house.

By day two they were no longer reading the resolutions out, but refering to them by number. Great if you are there but lousy for us at home. We can only get the gist of the issue to be debated by hoping those at the mikes would refer to the Resolution. The resolutions, not the Wherefores but the Be It Resolved, should have been read out for us in TV Land. After all many of us are NDP members and want to know what the hell is being debated and decided.

There was huge screen behind the Chairperson which had on it had a slogan, the particular theme for the Resolutions. The Resoultions should have been shown on that screen for all too see.

I can not stress enough how important this is. We are watching at home, and people are speaking to Resolution ABC1-2-3 well what the hell is that. Without hearing and seeing the BIRT we are lost. Thus you lose viewers.

The Website, Friday opening day of the Convention and the day before did not have the resolutions posted. The website was an afterthought and should have been used eariler to post the full set of convention resolutions in PDF. Thus we would have avoided Blogging Tories posting the resolutions on their websites and running to the MSM claiming they had undercovered the 'secret' resolutions' for the Convention.



It was not until yesterday, Saturday, that the webpage changed to focus on the Convention. And then it was static, not interactive. Its Blogs were a joke, and it should have been online earlier. Clips of Stephen Lewis,Malalai Joya, , Shirely Douglas, etc. and other speakers should have been posted. Independent of the CPAC links. And they should have been.

There were several great speeches. And none are linked.If presenting the whole speech was problematic then key points or highlights should have been posted both as video and audio. Hello anyone hear of Real Audio, Real Video, perhaps IPOD.

And again I cannot empahsize enough that real time blogging from the convention could have added enormously to the creation of news from the convention floor.

But what can we execpt from the communications brain trust of Brian Lavigne who during the election refrained from having an official blog. Cause blogging wasn't important. Yep time to review the Director of Communications job. Anne as the new President I would advise you take a serious look at this.

And who ever is doing press releases missed a great sound bite quote from Gary Doer on the need for a national electrical grid. "The Empire needs to build a grid." Right up there with transforming Canada by building the National Railway.
Thats news. Thats a sustainable development issue. Thats our news.

I mean you could have three or four Doer press releases, his focus on the Three K's; Kids, Kelowna and Kyoto/Climate Change is a headline that writes itself. But this was not done either.

A convention communications team has to be created for the next convention to deal with real time web broadcasting of the convention, complete with real blogging, and using online media to produce our own Convention news. This is not new it has been done at CLC and CUPE conventions.

This is crucial because the debates held were excellent, the party was energized, it took on major issues, the Sherbrooke Resolution says we recognize asymetrical federalism as well as Quebec as a nation. The Aboriginal resolution recognizes the need for a seperate Aboriginal caucus and asymetrical federalism with First Nations as a Country and a party, if I understand the debate cause I didn't get to read the resolution nor hear it nor see it. Our environmental policy dove tailing with a sustainable economic plan, brilliant, and it will hurt the Green Party.

All this was lost as the media focused on one issue and one issue only. Afghanistan.

That is why we need two media strategies. One is the standard party communications plan which is press releases, press conferences. The other is a communications plan for web coverage of the convention, which issues a second set of press releases, sound bites, real blogs with comment sections and real time blogging, etc.

Its great to talk about inclusion which was a whole panel discussion with resolutions, but if we the TV audience and the Canadian population including NDP members are not included then the convention might as well have been held in the old style of the smokey back rooms. We have a one person one vote policy now in the party for electing our leader, that seems to have been forgotten since this Convention was not a leadrship race. But the need to have party members involvement at all levels was also forgotten in preparing for this convention.

Given the failure of the CBC and CTV to cover this convention, the need for the website to offer Canadians a real time alternative that is accessible to even the slowest computer link, and the oldest PC is crucial.

With the improvements I have suggested the next Convention would be the most inclusive of any Political Party in Canada.

P.S. there was at least one actual live blog from the convention.

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Project Censorship: Halliburton Cover Up

Project Censorship has published its top 25 under-reported stories of 2006. And my vote goes for these. The common theme here is Halliburton and they had three stories on these bad boys.

Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran
As recently as January of 2005 and a decade before Halliburton sold key components for a nuclear reactor to an Iranian oil development company in violations of US sanctions.

Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US
Halliburton's subsidiary KBR has been awarded a $385 million contingency contract by the Department of Homeland Security to build detention camps in the United States for immigrations surges and "news programs."

Cheney's Halliburton Stock Rose Over 3000 Percent Last Year
Vice President Dick Cheney's stock options in Halliburton rose from $241,498 in 2004 to over $8 million in 2005, an increase of more than 3,000 percent


Though this story didn't make their list and should have; Halliburton's Depleted Uranium Cover Up


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Pfrojectcensorship, censorship, media, coverup, Halliburton, Cheney, uranium, KBR, homelandsecurity, Iran,