Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan
November 28, 2007
The following is a letter I submitted to the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan. Please note that URL References have been added since my submission.
To The Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan,
I am submitting you my personal assessment of the real reasons we are in Afghanistan in support of option 4, to withdraw all Canadian military personnel except a minimal force to protect aid workers and diplomats.
The Myth
We have been told ad naseum by the mainstream media over and over again that we are fighting a war in Afghanistan as part of the war on terrorism, for democracy and for women's rights.
Each one of these assertions is false.
The war on terror is predicated on the false flag terrorist events of 9/11. That is to say that all of the evidence regarding 9/11 points towards a terrorist act conducted by, or at the very least assisted by criminal elements within the United States government itself. This is true for all those that have the eyes to see and ears to hear the truth about those events – the evidence is simply overwhelming. History is filled with declassified examples of government-sponsored terror including, but not limited to, the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led the United States into Vietnam and in the attacks on the USS Liberty many years ago. The war on terror is in reality a war of terror conducted against us - the public. It is designed to make us terrified and compliant and justify the stripping of our hard won rights and freedoms.
The statement that we are there in order to bring democracy to a country that was a totalitarian regime that sponsored terrorism is ridiculous. Were this true, we would not be there supporting the current regime which is dominated by warlords and drug lords. In reality, we have simply replaced one totalitarian regime with another. And furthermore, as history has shown our government has never had any aversion towards supporting totalitarian regimes in the past, such as those in China or Central and South America, provided they were compliant with Canadian and US foreign policy and multinational corporate objectives. A case in point is that of Afghan member of Parliament Malalai Joya who was barred from the Afghan parliament for speaking out against the drug lords and warlords and their corruption. Did our government object to this treatment, of course they didn't.
As for women's rights, progress has been slow and limited at best. Malalai Joya has spoken at length about this so I won't go into it in any additional detail.
Clearly, the reasons we have been given to the public for our involvement in Afghanistan are lies and are as such propaganda.
Depleted Uranium, Nuclear War and Genocide
One of the most horrifying aspects of the war in Afghanistan is the use of hundreds of tons of depleted uranium munitions by Western nations. The use of depleted uranium is nothing less than a nuclear war that will have repercussions throughout the region and the world for generations to come. Not only is this in effect a genocide against the people of Afghanistan but it condemns many of our own soldiers to slow and agonizing deaths as a result of the radiation exposure as well as destroys the future of their families as their children are born with birth defects as a result.
"After the Americans destroyed our village and killed many of us, we also lost our houses and have nothing to eat. However, we would have endured these miseries and even accepted them, if the Americans had not sentenced us all to death. When I saw my deformed grandson, I realized that my hopes of the future have vanished for good, different from the hopelessness of the Russian barbarism, even though at that time I lost my older son Shafiqullah. This time, however, I know we are part of the invisible genocide brought on us by America, a silent death from which I know we will not escape."
- Jooma Khan of Laghman province, March 2003
Canada's involvement in the invasion and ongoing conflict in Afghanistan makes us complicit in this genocide.
As stated by Leuren Moret in her article “Depleted Uranium: The Trojan Horse of Nuclear War” the use of depleted uranium munitions is illegal under international law.
“Four reasons why using depleted uranium weapons violates the UN Convention on Human Rights:
- LEGALITY TEST FOR WEAPONS UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW
- TEMPORAL TEST – Weapons must not continue to act after the battle is over.
- ENVIRONMENTAL TEST – Weapons must not be unduly harmful to the environment.
- TERRITORIAL TEST – Weapons must not act off of the battlefield.
- HUMANENESS TEST – Weapons must not kill or wound inhumanly.
International Human Rights and humanitarian lawyer, Karen Parker, determined that depleted uranium weaponry fails the four tests for legal weapons under international law, and that it is also illegal under the definition of a ‘poison’ weapon. Through Karen Parker’s continued efforts, a sub-commission of the UN Human Rights Commission determined in 1996 that depleted uranium is a weapon of mass destruction that should not be used:
RESOLUTION 1996/16 ON STOPPING THE USE OF DEPLETED URANIUM - DU
The military use of DU violates current international humanitarian law, including the principle that there is no unlimited right to choose the means and methods of warfare (Art. 22 Hague Convention VI (HCIV); Art. 35 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva (GP1); the ban on causing unnecessary suffering and superfluous injury (Art. 23 §le HCIV; Art. 35 §2 GP1), indiscriminate warfare (Art. 51 §4c and 5b GP1) as well as the use of poison or poisoned weapons.
The deployment and use of DU violate the principles of international environmental and human rights protection. They contradict the right to life established by the Resolution 1996/16 of the UN Subcommittee on Human Rights.”
The Real Reasons Canada is in Afghanistan
Simply stated, the real reasons we are fighting in Afghanistan are for:
- Power
- Money
- Resource Control
- Integration into the Global Economic System
Power
In his September 2006 article “Afghanistan: The Other Lost War” Stephen Lendman correctly stated:
"The US war on Afghanistan was also planned well in advance (at least a year or more) of the 9/11 attack that provided the claimed justification for it. It was part of the US strategic plan to control the vast oil and gas resources of Central Asia that former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski under President Carter explained the importance of in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard. In it he referred to Eurasia as the 'center of world power extending from Germany and Poland in the East through Russia and China to the Pacific and including the Middle East and Indian subcontinent.' By dominating this region including Afghanistan with its strategic location, the US would assure it had access to and controlled the vast energy resources there."
Canada's assistance in prosecuting this war of empire to project the American hegemon over the entire planet is abhorrent to most Canadians. And make no mistake about it the United States is running an empire with bases in over 132 countries across the planet.
Money
As so eloqently stated by General Smedley Butler:
"WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small "inside" group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
And indeed the military industrial complex has been reaping huge profits from prosecuting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This includes not only American companies but Canadian companies such as General Dynamics Canada, SNC Lavalin group Inc., Bell Helicopter, Bombardier, CAE, Canadian Commercial Corporation, Atlantis Systems International, and many others.
Our brave soldiers are fighting and dying for the profit of these Canadian corporations and countless other corporate interests across the planet.
Also, after a country has been bombed extensively, its infrastructure must be rebuilt once again resulting in an opportunity for extraordinary profits for the corporations.
Resource Control
With control of the vast resources of Central Asia at stake as clearly stated by Zbigniew Brzezinski in his 1997 book The Grand Chessboard, and Afghanistan's strategic location for the transportation of those resources to market, it was necessary to control Afghanistan in anticipation of future construction of pipelines from Central Asia through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea.
Afghanistan itself, according to Soviet estimates from the late 1970s, has proven and probable oil reserves of 95 million barrels along with substantial natural gas resources estimated at 5 trillion cubic ft.
Furthermore, by providing troops in Afghanistan, we are also aiding the US in its prosecution of its illegal war for oil initiated by the WMD lie in Iraq.
Integration into the Global Economic System
An often overlooked and little understood reason for our involvement in Afghanistan, and anticipated involvement in other wars throughout the world, is the establishment of a single world system of financial control in the hands of private international financial interests.
"The powers of financial capitalism had another far reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements, arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was the Bank for International Settlements in Basle, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the worlds' central banks which were themselves private corporations."
- Professor Carroll Quigley from his book Tragedy and Hope 1966
This system of financial control has been successfully established in the Western countries and propagated relentlessly through the IMF and World Bank and their structural agreements to nations throughout the world through excessive debt, coercion, threats, corruption, overthrow of elected goverments, and outright war. This represents a long standing agenda by the elite to control every nation on the planet so they might control their resources, successfully extract the wealth of those nations for their own benefit, and dominate their political and economic systems.
What we see in reality are countries that have refused to comply with this agenda being labeled as rogue nations and as such have to be dealt with militarily in order to bring them under the same system of control. Nations who are independent of this system of control simply cannot be tolerated and must therefore be eliminated.
Conclusion
Why Canada would want to continue its involvement in a war that is predicated on a false flag terrorist event; that has contaminated the region with depleted uranium for generations to come; that has condemned its soldiers to slow painful deaths; that is illegal under international law; that has nothing to do with the war on terror, democracy or women's rights; and is really about the projection of power, corporate profits, resource control and establishment of a global system of financial control is simply incomprehensible.
Clearly, Canada should withdraw all military personnel except a minimal force to protect aid workers and diplomats. To do otherwise, is an affront to our ethics and traditions as a people.
If you truly care about our troops and Canada's international reputation, you will get us out of this fraudulent war, allow the people of Afghanistan to determine their own future, and provide financial and expert support to truly independent and democratic groups within the country in opposition to the warlords and druglords currently in power.
Of course, I know you will do nothing of the sort as your panel members are clearly in support of all of the real reasons for the war – John Manley for your role in advancement of the Security and Prosperity Partnership; Derek Burney through your role in NAFTA; Jake Epp for your support of the advancement of oil interests; Paul Tellier for your role as former CEO of the arms manufacturer Bombardier; and Pamela Wallin for your role as former media propagandist and your ongoing support of the creation of the North American Union. Let it be hereby stated that we know you are all champions of corporate / fascist governance by the elite for the elite. Further, you clearly support the propogation of elite power and rule worldwide, support the opportunity for the incredible profits to be made, and have complete disregard of the people and soldiers you claim to support as you ruthlessly serve the monied power interests described herein.
I will state it simply for those of you who are hard of thinking. We know you are not independent in any way and will support whatever position the government and integrated corporate interests tell you to support. This war is a fraud – you know it, we know it – and we're sick of it.
Thank you.
Guy Selzler