[Stopwar-l] Stop the War on Mali - Canadian Peace Alliance

[StopWar]

***Statement this week from the Canadian Peace Alliance on Canada's
participation in the conflict in Mali.***

Stop the War On Mali

January 15, 2013

The Government of Canada has recently announced that it is sending a CF-17
transport plane to northern Mali to add to the military buildup by the
NATO powers in the area. The Canadian Peace Alliance is calling on the
government to recall the plane and to cease any further contribution to
the France-led mission.

One transport plane and a few Canadian “trainers” is just the thin edge of
the wedge. There is a real fear of “mission creep” as witnessed in the
Libyan situation. Canada’s involvement as a junior partner to a NATO
aggression in Africa could mushroom in the coming months and years. All
this is being done without public or parliamentary debate. This unilateral
support for war by the Harper government without consultation must stop.

The Tuareg people of Northern Mali have been waging a campaign for
independence for decades, which has been a thorn in the side of both the
Malian government and to those who wish to exploit the natural resources
of the area. The borders drawn up by the French colonialists were never
appropriate to the needs of the primarily nomadic peoples of the deserts
in the north.

More recently, the overthrow of the Libyan government by NATO (with direct
Canadian military participation) has allowed for huge numbers of weapons
to fall into the hands of local militias. The Mali situation is,
therefore, yet another case of blow-back against Western interests.

The failure of the Libyan mission is one of the more recent causes of the
current conflict in Mali. Sending Western troops to the region does
nothing more than compound that folly and continue the cycle of perpetual
war in the region. Canada should not participate.

The real reason for NATO’s involvement is to secure strategic, resource
rich areas of Africa for the West. Canadian gold mining operations have
significant holdings in Northern Mali as do may other western nations.
Canada’s new interventionism, which includes the building of 3 military
bases in Tanzania, Senegal and Kenya, is therefore primarily about
securing the area for further plunder. Canadian troops are already
stationed in Niger ready to launch an invasion. We also urge the Canadian
Government to withdraw all troops from the surrounding region. We also
call on Canadians to demand of the Harper government that it withdraw from
membership in NATO, membership which constantly drags us into every neo-
colonial, military adventure of the western powers in the world.

Also of concern is the use of the “Islamist” threat to justify any
intervention by the NATO powers. Islamophobia is a key tool in
perpetuating these foreign advances. It is ironic that since the death of
Osama Bin Laden, the US military boasts that Al-Qaeda is on the run and
has no ability to wage its war. Meanwhile, any time there is a need for
intervention, there is suddenly a new Al-Qaeda threat that comes out of
the woodwork.

Canada must not participate in this process of unending war.

http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/Stop-the-war-on-Mali.html





-- 
StopWar - Vancouver's Labour/Community coalition of organizations united
for Justice and Peace

stopwar at resist.ca
http://stopwarca.wordpress.com/

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