The June 19, 2010 Eyes on Sudan Conference: Working for Peace was an initiative of the Sudanese-Canadian students, community members and academics at the University of Winnipeg. Many participants in the annual Winnipeg Walk for Peace attended this informative conference. The report on this well-attended conference report is available here.
The new documentary “Psywar,” featuring CMD founder John Stauber, explores corporate and government use of propaganda and public relations to manipulate American people. The movie explores how the U.S. government staged events to manipulate public opinion about the Iraq war, like the rescue of Private Jessica Lynch, the supposedly spontaneous mob that pulled over the larger-than-life statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. It also discusses the Pentagon pundit scandal, and the hidden activities of the Rendon Group, a PR firm specializing in spinning war. The film exposes government and corporate activities to blur the lines between real news and fake news, as well as the development over time of public relations misinformation campaigns, strategic corporate campaigns to generate goodwill and the perception of good works, the use of staged photo-ops, and other manipulative PR tools that have turned the land of the free and the home of the brave into a place where citizens are now manipulated with great efficiency, and on a massive scale. You can watch it for free, or download it here.
Source: PrWatch.org
By Bill Quigly and Laura Raymond, Counterpunch, September 1, 2010
Another false ending to the Iraq war is being declared. Nearly seven years after George Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech on the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Obama has just given a major address to mark the withdrawal of all but 50,000 combat troops from Iraq. But, while thousands of US troops are marching out, thousands of additional private military contractors (PMCs) are marching in. The number of armed security contractors in Iraq will more than double in the coming months.
While the mainstream media is debating whether Iraq can be declared a victory or not there is virtually no discussion regarding this surge in contractors. Meanwhile, serious questions about the accountability of private military contractors remain.
In the past decade the United States has dramatically shifted the way in which it wages war – fewer soldiers and more contractors.
by Douglas Valentine, Global Research, August 30, 2010
The politics of terror are the greatest covert operation ever.
In explaining why, I’ll begin by defining some terms, because, when discussing the covert op called “the politics of terror,” words and their management are all important.
How are politics and terror actually defined: how are these meanings manipulated; for what purposes, and by whom?
Terrorism is defined as “violence against civilians intended to obtain a political purpose.” This is an ambiguous phrase, which begs the questions: what are politics and violence?
Politics is defined as “the process by which groups of people make collective decisions.” And violence is the use of force to compel a person or group to do or think something against their will. That includes the violence of words – of threatening to hurt – and of social structures, as well as the violence of deeds.
So, by definition, terrorism is political violence – hurting people, or threatening to hurt them, in order to make them govern themselves against their will.
In America , terrorism is always condemned by the government, and, accordingly, America is never a perpetrator of terrorism, but always the victims of it. The US war on terror is the ultimate expression of this principle: it is a military response to terrorism; violence in self-defense, not (ostensibly) violence for a political purpose.
That’s the official story – the assumption. But I’m going to show that America does engage in terrorism – violence against civilians for political purposes. This “state” terrorism, however, is covert, in so far as it is equated with national security, and thanks to that built-in ambiguity, it has both stated and unstated purpose.
The People’s Commission Network and No One Is Illegal Montreal call for solidarity with Muslim communities and individuals in Canada and Quebec who are experiencing even more intense Islamophobia and racism as a result of the media coverage of last week’s “Project Samossa” arrests of Hiva Alizadeh, Khurram Sher and Misbahuddin Ahmed. Journalists have actually visited mosques where the people arrested have prayed, thereby greatly intensifying feelings of being vulnerable, under surveillance, marginalized and profiled simply for being Muslim or being perceived as such.
The People’s Commission and No One Is Illegal Montreal are also concerned for the well-being of the three men who have been named by media as part of the alleged plot and are currently overseas. In recent years, we have seen similar RCMP and CSIS suspicions – even without intense media attention – result in the overseas detention and torture of Maher Arar, Abousfian Abdelrazik, Abdullah Almalki and others. None of these individuals were ever charged with any crime and their names were later officially cleared. However, their lives continue to be marred by the immediate consequences of CSIS and RCMP actions, consequences that include tarnished reputations, the loss of freedom of movement, and, in one case, a freeze on all assets.
A few organizations and individuals are speaking out against the storm of racism the arrests have unleashed (see, for example, the statement by No One Is Illegal Vancouver. The People’s Commission and No One is Illegal Montreal support these statements of concern and encourages all organizations and all individuals who are opposed to racism to speak out and vigorously and categorically reject the ways of thinking that lead to an exceptionalization of “terrorist” cases (especially those involving Muslims), to an assumption of guilt, and to profiling that is affecting entire Muslim communities.
To date, no credible evidence has been produced – let alone established in court – that any of the men who have been so very publicly accused are guilty of any wrong-doing or even any crime. In fact, it hasn’t even been established that there was a plot in the first place. Although they were immediately painted as inspired by Al Qaeda, there is nothing to indicate that the men arrested are anything other than Muslim. Although, like the majority of Quebecers, they may well oppose the occupation of Afghanistan and Palestine and be concerned for the well-being of people currently subject to all the violence of war and torture, such attitudes should be celebrated, not criminalized or viewed as suspect.
In the current climate of racism, the People’s Commission and No One Is Illegal Montreal are concerned that the men will not be treated fairly by a criminal justice system that has proven itself far from immune from Islamophobia and that relies on the unjust anti-terrorist law adopted in 2001.
In the public sphere, the men are not being presumed innocent until proven guilty. The sensationalist media coverage has suggested that the police acted on information provided by CSIS and that the RCMP made their arrests when they did because of suspicion that money was going to be transferred overseas for unspecified “terrorist purposes”.
CSIS’s record of incompetence and abuse should inspire immediate scepticism about the cases. In particular, the fact that, according to its own oversight bodies, CSIS continues to use information that comes from torture should lead to questions about the credibility of the allegations and the information that CSIS received from Pakistan and Afghanistan which is supposed to have led to the arrests. (See www.peoplescommission.org/en/csis for more on CSIS and its use of torture-evidence.)
The involvement of the RCMP should also raise red flags for all who are familiar with past operations such as Operation Thread, which were similarly deliberately brought to public attention by RCMP press releases and press conferences. The long-standing RCMP practice of infilitrating organizations and the ambiguous role RCMP under-covers have played in suggesting and facilitating violence in such operations should also be recalled. It is important to ask what political purposes were served by bringing these cases to the attention of media at this particular time.
The statements by the Minister of Security, Vic Toews, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, inciting paranoia and literally encouraging people to spy on their neighbours, friends and family, show how the arrests are being used to further political agendas. Recently, the Conservative government has been cutting off funding for organizations which disagree with its foreign and domestic policies, criminalizing community organizers who challenged the G20 process, and creating scapegoats (such as the Tamil asylum-seekers) to justify its anti-immigrant policies. The comments of Toews and others close to the Conservative party are aimed at silencing Muslim voices and more broadly eroding social solidarity.
Solidarity as well as actively and collectively struggling against injustices are our only safeguards against state repression, exploitive economic policies and destructive environmental practices.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Write letters to editor objecting to racist framing of media coverage. In particular, write to the Star to object to their reporter’s intrusion into a Montreal-area mosque.
Letters must be short (100 words), include name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer; state “Letter to the Editor” in subject; and content should be in the body of the email (i.e. don’t send an attachment).
2. Ask organizations you are involved in to issue a statement insisting on innocence until proven guilty, rejecting the use of torture-evidence, and denouncing Islamophobia
3. Distribute CSIS Watch materials and encourage people not to collaborate with CSIS:
4. In Montreal, join in organizing the People’s Commission’s “Whose Security? Our Security!” popular forum, which will take place in February 2011.
To get involved in organizing the forum, email us at commissionpopulaire@gmail.com
——————————————-
People’s Commission Network
www.peoplescommission.org
commissionpopulaire@gmail.com
AND
No One Is Illegal Montreal
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/
nooneisillegal@gmail.com
A Canadian soldier rests on the muzzle of his rifle while riding in an armoured vehicle in Kandahar province on Nov. 16, 2007. Photo: Globe and Mail
by Tim Kennelly, The Bullet, Aug. 25, 2010
On March 13, 2008, Canada’s Parliament voted to extend the country’s military “mission” in Afghanistan to July 2011. The motion by the minority Conservative government was supported by the opposition Liberals. The warmakers correctly estimated that fixing an exit date would deflect mounting opposition to the war among the Canadian public and buy time for Canada’s continued participation. Since then, the political and military situation in Afghanistan has continued to deteriorate for the occupying forces, and leading politicians are now floating proposals to extend Canada’s claimed exit date for a military mission that already constitutes a gross violation of the national sovereignty and human rights of the Afghan people.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the government will stick to its date. However, he also says that Canada will maintain a military presence in Afghanistan after 2011, to train Afghan police and military personnel. This is a de-facto extension of the military mission and not, as the government claims, in a non-combat role.
Following a visit to Afghanistan in late May, Liberal MP and Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae said it is time to revisit the exit date and prepare for a longer intervention. Even the New Democratic Party’s military affairs critic, Jack Harris, doesn’t rule out a continued military role. He was on the same delegation as Rae and told reporters in Kandahar, “Obviously, there are considerable humanitarian and institution-building concerns about Afghanistan. Whether that involves the military or not is another question, indeed. … There are other ways we can help build institutions.”
The Canadian government’s vast increases in military spending belie the promise of withdrawal. A 2009 report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives stated that Canada would spend $21-billion on its military in 2009-2010, a 56% increase since 1998-1999. Recently, it announced a $9-billion purchase of new fighter jets, one of the largest purchases in Canadian history.
Omar Barghouti explains the aims of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. Part 2 of the interview is entitled Has Israel Moved to the Right?
AlJazeeraEnglish | August 31, 2010
We mark the International Day of the Disappeared and ask: What is being done to end forced disappearances, and what will it take to get justice?
by Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, August 30, 2010
We have reached a decisive transition in the evolution of US military doctrine. The “Global War on Terrorism” (GWOT) directed against Al Qaeda launched in the wake of 9/11 is evolving towards a full-fledged “war of religion”, a “holy crusade” directed against the Muslim World.
US military dogma and war propaganda under the Bush administration, was predicated on combating Islamic fundamentalism rather than targeting Muslims. “This is not a war between the West and Islam, but .. a war against terrorism.” So-called “Good Muslims” are to be distinguished from “Bad Muslims”:
“The dust from the collapse of the twin towers had hardly settled on 11 September 2001 when the febrile search began for “moderate Muslims”, people who would provide answers, who would distance themselves from this outrage and condemn the violent acts of “Muslim extremists”, “Islamic fundamentalists” and “Islamists”. Two distinct categories of Muslims rapidly emerged: the “good” and the “bad”; the “moderates”, “liberals” and “secularists” versus the “fundamentalists”, the “extremists” and the “Islamists”.” (Tariq Ramadan, Good Muslim, bad Muslim, New Statesman, February 12, 2010)
In the wake of 9/11, the Muslim community in most Western countries was markedly on the defensive. The “Good Muslim” “Bad Muslim” divide was broadly accepted. The 9/11 terrorist attacks allegedly perpetrated by Muslims were not only condemned, Muslim communities also supported the US-NATO invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, as part of a campaign directed against Islamic fundamentalism.
The fact that the 9/11 attacks were not instigated by Muslims has rarely been acknowledged by the Muslim community. Al Qaeda’s ongoing relationship to the CIA, its role as a US sponsored “intelligence asset” going back to to the Soviet-Afghan war is not mentioned. (Michel Chossudovsky, America’s “War on Terrorism” Global Research, Montreal, 2005)
On Aug. 28, 2010, a small group of Winnipeg citizens declared themselves “Crazy for Peace” and marched through downtown Winnipeg to urge their neighbours to speak out against war with Iran.
Contact Crazy for Peace 2010 on Facebook or by email at crazyforpeace2010@hotmail.com.
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