04) TORIES AND LIBERALS LIED ABOUT WAR PLANS

By Kimball Cariou

     The latest diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks project to major news outlets show that Stephen Harper's minority Conservative government lied to Canadians about its Afghanistan policies, and that the Chretien Liberals gave covert support to the U.S. aggression against Iraq. Neither story will surprise most anti-war activists, but the news is likely to help reinforce public opposition against the war in Afghanistan.

     According to a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks to CBC News, by early 2009 the Harper Tories were already reconsidering the 2011 end date for the Afghan mission. While denying such plans, a cabinet meeting in March 2009 "agreed that `all options are back on the table' with respect to Canada's military role in Afghanistan after 2011," the March 17 secret cable says.

     The cable quotes from conversations held with a senior adviser from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

     "It will take time for the government's public rhetoric to catch up to this `new reality,' however, requiring some `patience' on the part of allies," the senior adviser apparently told U.S. officials on March 16. Allies should not "publicly press" Canada to extend its troop deployment past 2011, he urged.

     Not surprisingly, these comments encouraged U.S. officials to hope that Harper might keep the Canadian combat force in Kandahar beyond 2011. The mission had already been extended once beyond the original 2009 end date, in part because of feuding in Parliament between the opposition parties.

     The fly in the ointment for the pro-war government, of course, was the "increasingly dubious Canadian public," the cable says, noting that a decision to extend the end-date would be a "political goldmine" for the Liberals.

     At the same time, the officials speculated that upcoming U.S. policy reviews on Afghanistan might change the "dynamics enough to give this government - or its successor - enough political flexibility" to continue a combat role after 2011.

     However, Canadian public opinion has remained solidly against continuing the military mission. While the opposition parties ignored Afghanistan during the May 2 federal election, even the Harper Tories did not dare present extension of the Kandahar mission as an option.

     All the major parties in Parliament support the current official line, which claims that a small number of Canadian troops will remain in Kabul to train Afghan security forces. Recent information suggests this scenario is already changing. The number of Canadians to be engaged in training will be over 1,000, and their activity will extend beyond the capital into several other cities. The anti-war movement is warning that this "mission creep" inevitably means that Canadian troops will continue to kill and die for several more years in Afghanistan, fighting to prop up a corrupt government of warlords and reactionary fundamentalists.

     The duplicity of Canadian politicians was also revealed in another WikiLeaks document, showing that Canada promised "clandestine" military support for the invasion of Iraq.

     On March 17, 2003, bowing to massive public pressure in Quebec and the rest of the country, PM Jean Chretien told the House of Commons that Canadian forces would not join the U.S.-led "coalition of the willing." The occupation of Iraq began two days later.

     But on the same day, Canada was secretly singing a different tune. A confidential note written by a U.S. diplomat states that following a March 17 meeting of Canadian, U.S. and British officials in Ottawa, Foreign Affairs representative James Wright privately "emphasized" that Canadian naval and air forces could be "discreetly" put to use during the assault on Iraq.

     At that time, Canada had warships, aircraft and over 1,200 naval personnel already in the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. The Canadians were part of Operation Enduring Freedom, the so-called "war on terror" launched by the U.S. after Sept. 11, 2001.

     "While for domestic political reasons... the GOC [Government of Canada] has decided not to join in a U.S. coalition of the willing... they are also prepared to be as helpful as possible in the military margins," the briefing note states.

     At the time, the Chretien government said a "few" Canadian soldiers embedded with the U.S. and British militaries would be allowed to remain in their positions, even if they wound up in Iraq. But in reality, these soldiers, including Canadian general Walt Natynczyk, were deeply involved in war preparations.

     In 2004, Natynczyk became deputy commander of 35,000 U.S. soldiers and other occupation forces in Iraq. Now Canada's chief of defence staff, Natynczyk was part of the team of senior U.S. military brass which helped prepare for the invasion from a mobile command in Kuwait.

(The above article is from the June 1-15, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist 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.)