United States Air Force spy plane U-2 Dragon Lady, a part of the arsenal deployed in Iraq. It uses Canadian technology developed by Calian Technologies.
by Richard Saunders, Coordinator, Coalition to End the Arms Trade
The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT), a Canadian anti-war network based in Ottawa, has published a detailed report exposing Canadian corporate complicity in the Iraq War. This report highlights Canadian war industry exports for 39 varieties of war planes deployed in the invasion and occupation of Iraq since March 2003.
COAT’s report lists 130 Canadian military companies and provides hundreds of internet links on the key products and services they have provided for many of the world’s deadliest weapons systems used in Iraq.
The three dozen data tables in this exposé also reveal corporate links to the so-called Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries (CADSI). This federal government-funded lobby group is the organizer of CANSEC — Canada’s largest military export bazaar. CADSI’s upcoming CANSEC 2009 trade show will be hosted at the City of Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park, May 27-28, 2009. This directly contravenes the City’s 1989 motion banning all arms exhibitions from municipal facilities. This ban resulted from COAT’s first campaign, exactly 20 years ago.
Among the military companies belonging to CADSI, is Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien’s Calian Technologies. SED Systems, a wholly owned division of Calian, will again exhibit its wares at the CANSEC war show this May. SED’s “Manportable Surveillance & Target Acquisition Radar“ has been used in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Balkans. Read three Citizen articles on CANSEC and the Mayor’s conflict of interest in promoting the CANSEC weapons exhibition. Calian products are embedded in the following war planes used in the Iraq War that are detailed in this COAT report: C-130 “Hercules” F-117 “Night Hawk” RQ-4 “Global Hawk” U-2 “Dragon Lady” F/A-18 “Hornet”. Calian products are also employed in the MQ-8B “Fire Scout,” a killer aerial robot drone equipped with laser-guided missiles, that is slated for deployment in Iraq.
Most Canadians strongly oppose the Iraq war and would be shocked to learn that so many companies in this country have aiding and abetting that illegal invasion and occupation. Some 1.3 million Iraqis have been killed as a direct result of the war since the “shock and awe” aerial bombardments of 2003. The Canadian government has also supported the Iraq War in many other significant ways besides allowing, and often financing, Canadian military production and exports destined for America’s top weapons technology.
Click here to access COAT’s full report containing numerous data tables exposing details about Canadian war industry exporters complicit in the Iraq War and their links to the upcoming CANSEC arms bazaar in Ottawa.
Please circulate this report and join us in opposing CANSEC.
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