[antiwar-van] Emergency Action to Protest Canada's Military Occupation in Afghanistan

[shannon]

*please forward widely*

Emergency Action to Protest Canada's Military
Occupation in Afghanistan

WHEN: Thurs March 2nd 4PM
WHERE: Canadian Forces Recruitment Office
       1070 W Georgia (West of Burrard)

ORGANIZED BY: Mobilization Against War and Occupation
(MAWO) 

www.mawovancouver.org | info at mawovancouver.org

----------------------------------------
Below Press Release also sent to Media:
----------------------------------------

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2, 2006

Vancouver Anti-War Coalition Responds to Tenth
Canadian Soldier Death in Afghanistan
CANADA OUT OF AFGHANISTAN NOW!

STOP THE CANADIAN WAR DRIVE!
INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO CANADA’S OCCUPATION OF
AFGHANISTAN!

Press Contacts: 
Nita Palmer – 604-780-7604

-------------------------
EMERGENCY RALLY AGAINST THE CANADIAN OCCUPATION OF
AFGHANISTAN
Thursday March 2nd
4pm
Canada Forces Recruitment Centre
1070 W. Georgia St Vancouver
------------------------- 
EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE
Thursday March 2nd
3:45pm
Canada Forces Recruitment Centre 
1070 W. Georgia St Vancouver 
----------------------- 

On the morning of Thursday March 2nd, Canadian Cpl.
Paul James Davis of Bridgewater Nova Scotia died when
his military vehicle “flipped over” during a “routine
patrol” in Kandahar Afghanistan. Seven others were 
injured in the crash, including BC-local Mark Taylor
from Prince Rupert. 

Cpl. Davis is the tenth Canadian soldier to die in the
increasingly violent “combat mission” that is Canada’s
occupation of Afghanistan. 

Vancouver’s anti-war coalition, Mobilization Against
War and Occupation (MAWO) has called an emergency
press conference and picket line action at the
Canadian Forces Recruitment Centre in downtown
Vancouver to 
respond to Davis’s death with a CALL FOR AN
INDEPENDENT PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO CANADA’S OCCUPATION OF
AFGHANISTAN and the demand: CANADA OUT OF AFGHANISTAN!

MAWO’s Acting-Secretary and Spokesperson Nita Palmer
explained Davis’s death in the context of the
escalating Canadian war drive in Afghanistan: “The new
Canadian war drive is in full swing,” she said, “As of

February 28th there are 2,300 Canadian troops on the
ground in Afghanistan, mostly in the heavy combat area
of Kandahar. Already we are seeing that Canada’s ‘top
soldier’ Rick Hillier’s predictions about this combat 
mission are coming true – Canadian soldiers are coming
home in body bags.”

Also on February 28th, Canadian Brigadier-General
David Fraser took command of the entire NATO
International Security Assistance Force, including the
2,300 Canadian soldiers as well as British, Dutch, and
US troops. Upon taking over command of these forces,
Fraser told CTV that he would lead the occupation
forces in to the Afghan peoples’ “sanctuaries.” 

He said, “We’re going into their yard. We’re going to
start kicking them.”

A major opinion poll released last week by CTV and the
Globe and Mail found that 62% of respondents in Canada
are against the 2,000 strong deployment of Canadian
troops to Afghanistan. The same poll found that 
nearly a third of those who support the deployment
would change their minds if the numbers of Canadian
troops coming home in body bags increased
significantly.  

New Prime Minister Stephen Harper responded to this
poll on the floor of the House of Commons, saying,
“This is a critical mission; it’s important for global
security.” 

MAWO and the picketers in front of the Canada Forces
Recruitment Centre have a different view. They see the
mission in Afghanistan as an occupation that has
killed over ten thousand innocent people, dropped the
life expectancy of all Afghan people by four and a
half years, decimated an already miserable education
system, destroyed practically all the basic
infrastructure of Afghanistan, and made life for women
even worse
than under the Taliban. They take the mounting deaths
of Canadian soldiers as evidence of Canada’s
destructive role in Afghanistan.

-30-


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com