By Wendy Gillis, Toronto Star, July 6, 2010

The first U.S. Iraq war resister to seek refuge in Canada has won another shot at permanent residence.

The Federal Court of Appeal ruled unanimously Tuesday that a Canadian immigration official failed to consider the hardships of high-profile American deserter Jeremy Hinzman when she denied him permanent residence in Canada.

The court said the official’s June 2009 rejection of Hinzman’s permanent residence application was “significantly flawed” because the officer did not take into consideration Hinzman’s “strong moral and religious beliefs” against participation in war.

That means officials must another look at Hinzman’s application to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.

Article Continues . . .

By Dene Moore, The Canadian Press, July 3, 2010

Master Cpl. Jody Mitic

VANCOUVER – Master Cpl. Jody Mitic was a sniper on patrol with his unit in Kandahar province in January 2007 when he stepped on a land mine and lost both legs below the knee.

In the split second it took for the charge to explode, Mitic’s life changed instantly, irrevocably.

“I’ve been a soldier since I was 17 and I’d hoped to be a soldier until the day I died,” the young father, nary a hint of self-pity in his voice, said in a recent interview. “In my heart I will be, but I’m just going to have to choose a new career path now.”

Mitic is one of the more than 500 Canadian soldiers who have been wounded in action in Afghanistan; even more suffer from “invisible wounds” that range from mild depression to debilitating post-traumatic stress syndrome, experts say.

Article continues . . .

By Graeme Smith, Globe and Mail, April 10, 2010

To the Canadian soldiers who worked with them on a daily basis, the members of Brigade 888 were trusted allies, protecting not only the governor of Kandahar but a Canadian outpost located in his palace.

They and the man they served, Asadullah Khalid, have been gone for almost two years, but the city has yet to forget them. Kandahar is a tough place, but Mr. Khalid and his bodyguards are remembered as particularly brutal. The Canadians who knew them say they witnessed no abuses by the guards, but Brigade 888 was notorious among the locals.

People still speak in hushed tones about its torture chambers – the sleep deprivation and electric shocks.

A former palace official says he witnessed a prisoner hanging from the ceiling of a guardroom “trussed like a chicken.” A man who was among those detained says he endured weeks of beatings supervised by the governor himself.

Article continues . . .

Revelations don’t get much more explosive than this. On Parliament Hill Wednesday, the Afghanistan committee heard from Malgarai Ahmadshah, an Afghan Canadian who worked for the Canadian Forces as an interpreter. Here’s the Globe and Mail:

Mr. Malgarai, whose Canadian Forces’ codename was “Pasha,” was an interpreter for the military in Afghanistan for one year ending in June, 2008…

I saw Canadian military intelligence sending detainees to the NDS when the detainees did not tell them what they expected to hear,” Mr. Malgarai told the special Commons committee on Afghanistan.

If the [Canadian] interrogator thought a detainee was lying, the military sent him to NDS for more questions, Afghan style. Translation: abuse and torture.

Effectively, he said, “the military used the NDS as subcontractors for abuse and torture. …

Article continues . . .

Half of Canadians do not support the country’s military being deployed to Afghanistan, and 60 per cent oppose extending the mission past its current end date of July 2011, a new poll suggests.

The poll, conducted by research firm EKOS and released Thursday exclusively to the CBC, found 36 per cent of respondents supported the mission, though only 28 per cent would be amenable to prolonging it.

The survey, which also inquired about federal voter intentions, asked two questions on the Afghan deployment: “Do you support or oppose Canadian military participation in Afghanistan?” and “Do you oppose or support Canada extending its mission in Afghanistan?”

Article continues . . .

Canadian Peace Alliance
March 31, 2010

At the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting, held at Gatineau, March 29-30, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the assembled media and delegates that Canada will end its combat role in Afghanistan in 2011, despite Hillary Clinton’s appeal for Canada to stay.

By talking about the end of the combat role Harper has, however, kept the door open for a continued presence of Canadian Forces in Afghanistan, to train the Afghan army and police, to provide other logistical support for NATO forces, etc.

This is a sleight of hand, designed to mislead the Canadian people, the majority of whom want to end Canada’s combat role now. We have heard this argument from Harper before. In 2008, the Conservatives said that we would not stay until 2011, unless there was a change in the nature of the mission. The mission didn’t change and the troops stayed.

Foreign troops are considered as occupation forces by the Afghan population. No matter what the role post-2011, Canada will still be working to support an occupation that has created poverty and misery for the vast majority of the Afghan people. How Canada supports that occupation is not the question. Simply by being there, Canada helps legitimize both the NATO mission and the corrupt Afghan Government.

Read more at: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/After2011.html

Media Release from the Canadian Peace Alliance

Toronto, April 6, 2010 – The Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA), Canada’s largest peace network, renewed calls for Canadian Forces to be brought home from Afghanistan after Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened to join the Taliban in a meeting with Afghan parliamentarians. Karzai also criticized the heavy handed approach of NATO, including their repeated killing of civilians, and even implied that he would attempt to stop NATO’s planned June offensive in Kandahar from happening.

Read more at: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/KarzaiJoininTaliban.html

Al-Jazeera
April 6, 2010

One of the internet’s biggest sources of classified government information has released video of what it says is a US helicopter firing at civilians in Iraq.

Read more and see the video at: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04201045123449200569.html

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan officials investigating the deaths of five Afghan civilians gunned down in February during a bungled raid by American Special Operations forces believe that troops tampered with evidence at the scene, the lead investigator said Monday. NATO officials disclosed that they were looking into the allegations.

Read more at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/asia/06afghan.html

By Janyce McGregor, CBC News, March 26, 2010

Reading, sorting, and analyzing pages and pages of documents (even though there IS an awful lot of the censor’s black ink) isn’t everyone’s thing.

But a few of us here are into it, treasure-hunt style, and the results are getting into our newscasts already.

In the spirit of transparency, we wondered if some of you might want to join in the frenzy of scanning, parsing and debating that started yesterday afternoon here in the Parliamentary precinct. Why should opposition party researchers and the geekier members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery have all the fun?

So have at it folks — we’re sharing the full 2,628 pages of the documents tabled in the House of Commons yesterday morning with you.

Article continues . . .

The U.S. government will ask Canada to keep as many as 500 to 600 troops in Afghanistan after this country’s military deployment in Kandahar ends in 2011.

Sources inside and outside the government say the formal request is expected toward the end of this year through NATO. The troops would act as military trainers and would most likely be located in Kabul. The deployment would not involve putting Canadian troops in harm’s way, but could nonetheless set off a rancorous national debate among Canadians and especially within the Liberal Party.

No specific request has been raised in meetings between Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Defence Minister Peter MacKay. But officials in the departments of State and Defence have advised their Canadian counterparts that an “ask” is coming.

Article continues . . .

• Support for Canada’s role in Afghanistan below 50%: poll
• Most Canadians want troops home from Afghanistan: poll

By Canadian Muslims for Palestine, March 14, 2010

Canadian Muslims For Palestine (CMP), a national grassroots educational organization, denounces in the harshest possible terms the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound by members of the Israeli military on Sunday, March 7th.

The Al Aqsa Mosque Compound, also known as Haram al-Sharif or the Noble Sanctuary,  houses Al Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. More than 200 Israeli forces and police stormed the compound early Sunday, March 7th, injuring at least 20 Palestinians who were among those protecting Al Aqsa from Jewish threats of takeover during the Jewish holiday of Purim, according to published reports. Soldiers used rubber-coated bullets and tear gas against the Palestinians.  A 40-year-old woman, Fatima Al-Barsi, suffered a broken leg when Israeli soldiers attacked her as she was trying to enter the mosque, according to Maan News Agency.

American Muslims for Palestine stated that Israel had the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem nearly locked down since Friday, one day before the beginning of the Jewish Purim holiday. Israeli soldiers denied access to Al Aqsa to all but about 50 Palestinians.

Earlier Sunday, March 7th, Israeli police escorted four right-wing Israelis into the mosque compound, according to Maan News Agency.  American Muslims for Palestine belives that Israel’s actions are designed to provoke violence and unrest among the Palestinian population. The actions are reminiscent of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to Al Aqsa in 2000. That provocation sparked the beginning of the second intifada. Sunday’s storming of the Al Aqsa compound is another example that Israel does not want peace.

CMP condemns the actions by the Israeli military and calls on Primer Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon to speak out against the actions of the Israeli military. CMP also calls upon worldwide faith leaders to condemn Israel for actions that prevent Palestinians from worshiping in Al Aqsa mosque.

TAKE ACTION

Call or e-mail the offices of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and tell them to hold Israel accountable in the areas of human rights and ensuring Palestinian access to Al Aqsa mosque.

Call upon the World Council of Religious Leaders and ask them to pressure Israel to cease actions designed to provoke violence.

TALKING POINTS

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the freedom to practice religion
• Preventing Palestinians access to Al Aqsa deprives them of the basic right to worship
• Al Aqsa is sacred for more than 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe
• Storming the Al Aqsa compound is an inflammatory move, aimed at sparking violence
• The second intifada erupted in reaction to the controversial visit to the Al Aqsa compound made by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
• These actions will endanger the peace and stability in the region as well as globally

CONTACT

PRIME MINISTER
Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister
House of Commons
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
E-Mail: pm@pm.gc.ca OR Harper.S@parl.gc.ca

MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Hon. Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-5516
Fax: (613) 992-6802
E-Mail: Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca

Canadian Muslims for Palestine is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness for Jerusalem and its environs through spiritual, educational, political and social services programs based on the Islamic principles of social justice, self-reliance and human dignity.

Email: CMPalestine@CMPalestine.org
Website: http://www.cmpalestine.org

By Bill Robinson, Rideau Institute, March 5, 2010

(Ottawa) The new federal budget commits the Harper government to going ahead with its planned increases in military spending in both the coming year (fiscal year 2010-11) and the next, after which, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says, the size of planned increases in military spending will be reduced for two years. The military budget is then projected to resume the upward track promised in the Harper government’s so-called Canada First Defence Strategy.

As Flaherty explains it, “Budget 2010 reduces growth in National Defence’s budget by $525 million in 2012–13 and $1 billion annually beginning in 2013–14. Defence spending will continue to grow but more slowly than previously planned.” The Finance Minister’s chart, above, illustrates his explanation.

But for the time being at least, the government’s spending plans are about as clear as mud. For starters, Flaherty’s chart excludes incremental spending on Afghanistan and other operations, such as Olympics security. The actual level of military spending is thus higher than shown in the chart, although that extra amount is likely to decline as the Afghanistan mission winds down (assuming nothing comparable takes its place).

And that’s not all. While the chart shows a 2009-10 spending level of slightly more than $18 billion, the budgetary Main Estimates give a figure of $19.2 billion for that fiscal year – still not including the costs of Afghanistan and other operations. You have to go to the 2009-10 Report on Plans and Priorities to find the actual level of 2009-10 spending, which, once Afghanistan, other missions, and sundry supplementary top-ups are added, is expected to total more than $21 billion.

The military spending figure for the coming fiscal year, according to the Flaherty chart, will be about $19 billion, or nearly one billion more than in 2009-10. Meanwhile, the Main Estimates put the 2010-11 figure at $21.1 billion, or nearly $2 billion more than reported in the 2009-10 Main Estimates.

So are we looking at a 5% increase in military spending this year or a 10% increase? It’s likely that the 2010-11 Main Estimates figure includes most or all of expected incremental operations spending, whereas the 2009-10 figure did not, so the increase is probably closer to 5%, but we don’t yet know that for sure. The 2010-11 Report on Plans and Priorities will give us the most complete and reliable figure, but that document hasn’t been released yet. It may be out later this month.

In the meantime, count on the usual suspects to call the government’s promise to reduce the rate of increase in the military budget a couple of years from now a cut in the budget. The rest of us can wonder how the 2.7% annual increases promised in the Canada First Defence Strategy turned into something that looks more like a 5% (or greater) increase in this year of supposed restraint.

Bill Robinson is a defence analyst and senior adviser of the Rideau Institute.