04) NO TO EXPANDED IRAQ WAR

People’s Voice Editorial

Just as anti-war activists and progressive media like People’s Voice predicted last fall, Canada’s participation in the latest imperialist war in Iraq quickly went from a bombing and training role to direct combat operations. Now, the PM is poised to extend the “six month” mission, and expand into neighbouring Syria. Only the most naïve observer could doubt that Canada is on the way to another disastrous Afghanistan-style war of occupation, costing billions of dollars and thousands of Iraqi and Syrian lives.

 

    Predictably, the Tories claim that this war is necessary to “protect the women and children”. Sadly, this feeble lie may prevent the NDP and Liberals from putting up more than token opposition, despite overwhelming evidence that the “responsibility to Protect” doctrine has been a disaster. The long list of R2P victims include the thousands killed in NATO’s bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, countless Afghan civilians, the million or more Iraqis dead in the wake of the 2003 US-UK invasion, the people of Libya which has been torn to pieces with the eager help of Western imperialism, and many others. 

 

    Plunging Canada into these modern day crusades only creates a more dangerous world. The biggest terrorists are not the reactionary movements which wrap themselves in fundamentalist dogmas, but the U.S., British, Canadian and other governments which brazenly encourage and finance the Taliban, Al Qaeda, ISIS and other such groups when it suits the geo-political interests of western imperialism, only to whip up fear and hatred against the same forces when this becomes politically advantageous. This cynical game brings enormous profits to the military-industrial corporations, but only death and destruction to working people. It’s time to discard the R2P scam, and demand Canada’s immediate and complete withdrawal from NATO and US-led military interventions, starting with the expanded war in Iraq and Syria.

 (The above article is  from the April 1-15, 2015 issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)