Harping
"Stephen Harper is so far to the right, he's wrong."
Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison (Kings-Hants)
This was said yesterday during a leadership debate at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
-----
Afghanistan Mission
Reasons for opposing Canadian military participation:
39% Unlikely to succeed in bringing stability and democracy to Afghanistan
36% Our military involvement in Afghanistan brings Canada too close to U.S. foreign policy
23% Deaths and injuries of Canadian soldiers
Reasons for supporting Canadian military participation:
39% Important to root out terrorism abroad before it strikes us here at home
36% Moral and legal committment to the government of Afghanistan and our NATO allies
23% It will help bring stability and democracy to Afghanistan
Source: EKOS Research Associates Inc. May not add to 100% due to rounding
Stability. I ask you, how does a war bring forth stability when the parties invading have no plans for infrastructure, support with economic value or means to implement stability?
Going into Afghanistan the public was under the impression that doing so would squeeze out the 'terrorists' that were in hiding. One of the missions in addition to this was to eradicate Afghanistan of the large poppy crops that are used to produce opium, one of the main sources of income Afghanistan depends on.
Our soldiers have received little support. It is no wonder when they have given little support to those they are invading. Who ever enjoys an invasion?
Imagine you have the role of paperboy/girl. One day the tag team of Harper and Bush are at your doorstep saying, okay, we don't like your paper route so we're going to shoot you if you try and continue your job. Our reliable resources have informed us that your route has connection with terrorists, we don't know how but it does.
You, your family and your neighbours may die, but it's in the promotion of democracy and whatever else you want to believe that will make you feel hunky dorey cuz really, it's about feeling like a big man .. overcompensation matters y'know? So, you may starve, get shot, etc.
Don't worry about the terrorists because we'll have our soldiers camped out on your lawn, in your basement and in other areas that you don't want us to be. We'd ask you how you feel about this but we don't care and we're going through with it with our without your consent.
By the way, we accidently shot your dog, it was a 'friendly fire incident', we're not going to apologise but we thought we'd let you know.
If this was truly about creating stability and democracy, shouldn't we find ways of helping Afghanistans improve their infrastructure? Promote new means of fiscal advancement? Poppy crops/Opium can be used for medical purposes - codiene, morphine .. and other drugs I am sure come from the mentioned. Why not help hone the skills of Afghans to produce this?
Or is there an ulterior motive, as there always seems to be with the U.S. and their International Missions.
Root out terrorism before it hits home .. Canada, not to say that we were never a target, but there was very little likelihood that we would have been one prior to our involvement with the U.S. led coalition. And now we are. It's funny how that works but by trying to take out terrorism, we have become terrorists ourselves.
Terror Definition
The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.
We are forcing the people of Afghanistan to abide by NATO authority using nothing but sheer intimidation in numbers with the use of guns and military force, and simply by bullying them. Where is the strategy involved? Where is the discussion and government forlay of words - doesn't democracy require a government of the people and by the people? Not of the United States of America and by the United States of America - though Bush may and try to change the definition soon by the looks of his actions and claims.
----
There are many issues at hand in this world and there is only so much we can do. But we should do the best in what we choose to do and try to make a positive difference.
Darfur
400,000 plus dead
2,000,000 displaced
"We are going to witness again, with blood on our hands, the destruction of human beings who are exactly like us."
Romeo Dallaire, Senator
Uganda
I wear a dog tag that many people have queried about. Here's why:
The Name Campaign
Excerpts from One Global Tribe:
Over the last three years, tens of thousands of children from a single area smaller than Los Angeles County have been kidnapped in the dead of night. Thousands of boys and girls forced from their beds at gunpoint, tortured, terrorized. To date, more than 30,000 children in Northern Uganda, have been abducted and forced to take up arms against their own people, by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by religious extremist, Joseph Kony. Their experience is marked by kidnapping, rape, killings, ransacking and unimaginable war crimes.
Children as young as 5 and 6-years-old are abducted during the night and often forced to take the lives of family members before marching for days, without shoes or proper food and water, back to camps where they are trained to engage in conflict.
Severe wounds are commonly inflicted on the children. Many are intentionally scarred, mutilated or executed during captivity. Those who are lucky enough to survive make their way to safe havens such as Rachelle Rehabilitation Center, one of the only centers in Uganda that offers food, clothing, education, medical care and a means to recover from the trauma of their past.
Night Commuters
More than 90% of the population in Northern Uganda has been displaced because of the 19-year old civil war, nearly 70% of them under 25-years-old. One of the most unfortunate cases of internally displaced persons (IDPs), is the estimated 44,000 “Night Commuters”, most of them in their early adolescents, who flee their villages to take refuge at night in the city districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, where they are less likely to be abducted. The youths commute back and forth every morning and evening, between 10-15 kilometers each way, to find temporary shelter and safety. Most of them are unaccompanied by their parents and vulnerable to dangers of the city.
The UN has officially affirmed that “The international community, through the UN, has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” This Responsibility to Protect calls for “collective action in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations.”
We (One Global Tribe) are taking a stand by asking ourselves, the UN, and Uganda to live up to our Responsibility to Protect these children - and to bring an immediate end to this reign of terror. We’ve collected the names of thousands of children abducted by Kony and have imprinted each one on a distinctive silver necklace nameplate with a green band. All profits from the sale of the nameplates go to advocacy and care for children of Northern Uganda. But buying the nameplates is where the campaign begins.
Money won’t solve the problem. Your voice will. Wearing a name of an abducted child is making a commitment to something larger – to creating a movement, to speaking for a child who’s been silenced, to telling the story of these children, until everyone knows it and no one can turn away. Until the world comes together and brings them home.
Help. In any way you can.
Ft
p.s.
Just in, "Jesus in the House; Is the Religious Right Taking Over Stephen Harper's Government?" - the cover for the October edition of Walrus. Something to think about.
Nova Scotia MP Scott Brison (Kings-Hants)
This was said yesterday during a leadership debate at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
-----
Afghanistan Mission
Reasons for opposing Canadian military participation:
39% Unlikely to succeed in bringing stability and democracy to Afghanistan
36% Our military involvement in Afghanistan brings Canada too close to U.S. foreign policy
23% Deaths and injuries of Canadian soldiers
Reasons for supporting Canadian military participation:
39% Important to root out terrorism abroad before it strikes us here at home
36% Moral and legal committment to the government of Afghanistan and our NATO allies
23% It will help bring stability and democracy to Afghanistan
Source: EKOS Research Associates Inc. May not add to 100% due to rounding
Stability. I ask you, how does a war bring forth stability when the parties invading have no plans for infrastructure, support with economic value or means to implement stability?
Going into Afghanistan the public was under the impression that doing so would squeeze out the 'terrorists' that were in hiding. One of the missions in addition to this was to eradicate Afghanistan of the large poppy crops that are used to produce opium, one of the main sources of income Afghanistan depends on.
Our soldiers have received little support. It is no wonder when they have given little support to those they are invading. Who ever enjoys an invasion?
Imagine you have the role of paperboy/girl. One day the tag team of Harper and Bush are at your doorstep saying, okay, we don't like your paper route so we're going to shoot you if you try and continue your job. Our reliable resources have informed us that your route has connection with terrorists, we don't know how but it does.
You, your family and your neighbours may die, but it's in the promotion of democracy and whatever else you want to believe that will make you feel hunky dorey cuz really, it's about feeling like a big man .. overcompensation matters y'know? So, you may starve, get shot, etc.
Don't worry about the terrorists because we'll have our soldiers camped out on your lawn, in your basement and in other areas that you don't want us to be. We'd ask you how you feel about this but we don't care and we're going through with it with our without your consent.
By the way, we accidently shot your dog, it was a 'friendly fire incident', we're not going to apologise but we thought we'd let you know.
If this was truly about creating stability and democracy, shouldn't we find ways of helping Afghanistans improve their infrastructure? Promote new means of fiscal advancement? Poppy crops/Opium can be used for medical purposes - codiene, morphine .. and other drugs I am sure come from the mentioned. Why not help hone the skills of Afghans to produce this?
Or is there an ulterior motive, as there always seems to be with the U.S. and their International Missions.
Root out terrorism before it hits home .. Canada, not to say that we were never a target, but there was very little likelihood that we would have been one prior to our involvement with the U.S. led coalition. And now we are. It's funny how that works but by trying to take out terrorism, we have become terrorists ourselves.
Terror Definition
The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.
We are forcing the people of Afghanistan to abide by NATO authority using nothing but sheer intimidation in numbers with the use of guns and military force, and simply by bullying them. Where is the strategy involved? Where is the discussion and government forlay of words - doesn't democracy require a government of the people and by the people? Not of the United States of America and by the United States of America - though Bush may and try to change the definition soon by the looks of his actions and claims.
----
There are many issues at hand in this world and there is only so much we can do. But we should do the best in what we choose to do and try to make a positive difference.
Darfur
400,000 plus dead
2,000,000 displaced
"We are going to witness again, with blood on our hands, the destruction of human beings who are exactly like us."
Romeo Dallaire, Senator
Uganda
I wear a dog tag that many people have queried about. Here's why:
The Name Campaign
Excerpts from One Global Tribe:
Over the last three years, tens of thousands of children from a single area smaller than Los Angeles County have been kidnapped in the dead of night. Thousands of boys and girls forced from their beds at gunpoint, tortured, terrorized. To date, more than 30,000 children in Northern Uganda, have been abducted and forced to take up arms against their own people, by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group led by religious extremist, Joseph Kony. Their experience is marked by kidnapping, rape, killings, ransacking and unimaginable war crimes.
Children as young as 5 and 6-years-old are abducted during the night and often forced to take the lives of family members before marching for days, without shoes or proper food and water, back to camps where they are trained to engage in conflict.
Severe wounds are commonly inflicted on the children. Many are intentionally scarred, mutilated or executed during captivity. Those who are lucky enough to survive make their way to safe havens such as Rachelle Rehabilitation Center, one of the only centers in Uganda that offers food, clothing, education, medical care and a means to recover from the trauma of their past.
Night Commuters
More than 90% of the population in Northern Uganda has been displaced because of the 19-year old civil war, nearly 70% of them under 25-years-old. One of the most unfortunate cases of internally displaced persons (IDPs), is the estimated 44,000 “Night Commuters”, most of them in their early adolescents, who flee their villages to take refuge at night in the city districts of Gulu, Kitgum and Pader, where they are less likely to be abducted. The youths commute back and forth every morning and evening, between 10-15 kilometers each way, to find temporary shelter and safety. Most of them are unaccompanied by their parents and vulnerable to dangers of the city.
The UN has officially affirmed that “The international community, through the UN, has the responsibility to use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to help protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.” This Responsibility to Protect calls for “collective action in cooperation with relevant regional organizations as appropriate, should peaceful means be inadequate and national authorities manifestly fail to protect their populations.”
We (One Global Tribe) are taking a stand by asking ourselves, the UN, and Uganda to live up to our Responsibility to Protect these children - and to bring an immediate end to this reign of terror. We’ve collected the names of thousands of children abducted by Kony and have imprinted each one on a distinctive silver necklace nameplate with a green band. All profits from the sale of the nameplates go to advocacy and care for children of Northern Uganda. But buying the nameplates is where the campaign begins.
Money won’t solve the problem. Your voice will. Wearing a name of an abducted child is making a commitment to something larger – to creating a movement, to speaking for a child who’s been silenced, to telling the story of these children, until everyone knows it and no one can turn away. Until the world comes together and brings them home.
Help. In any way you can.
Ft
p.s.
Just in, "Jesus in the House; Is the Religious Right Taking Over Stephen Harper's Government?" - the cover for the October edition of Walrus. Something to think about.
posted by fifi at 11:27 a.m.
2 Comments:
Fifi, nice post. "And we also shot your dog" - priceless. The situation in Uganda, as in many places, is awful - stories like that are why I get pissed off when GWB/Harper/Ignatieff talk about the moral and human rights reasons for war. It's important to protect the human rights of people with valuable resources.
One correction though - killing poppies was never a reason for invading Afghanistan. The Taliban were VERY effective at preventing the drug trade while in power (it's only now that they need it to survive). Opium production skyrocketed after the invasion, not before!
Hi Gavin,
Thanks for comment.
True about the poppies and the initial reason for invading Afghanistan, and though it's not at the forefront of the war, I find that many 'politicians' voice concern over opium and its spread and use it as one of the reasons to continue their presence in the country.
I'm looking forward to reading your blog - which I'm about to click onto.
Come back soon,
Ft
Post a Comment
<< Home