[van-announce] Iran response plan / Statement on Cdn "aid" to Afghanistan

[Derrick O'Keefe]

*Please forward widely*

The StopWar.ca coalition is calling for emergency
mobilizations in the event of any military strike or
attack against Iran. We are asking all organizations
and individuals to demonstrate on both the day of and
the day following any such attack:

6pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson Street Side)

It is now well established that both the United States
and Israel have developed plans for such an attack,
and that the use of "tactical" nuclear weapons against
Iran has not been ruled out.

The Canadian government has been part of the campaign
for sanctions against Iran, just as Stephen Harper
gave unconditional support to Israel's devastation of
Lebanon this past summer. We, therefore, also urge
that people make their elected representatives aware
of their opposition to Canadian support for an attack
on Iran.

A collection of important articles about the threats
of war on Iran can be found at the Canadian Peace
Alliance site: http://www.acp-cpa.ca/en/IranMain.htm

Finally, organizations and individuals are encouraged
to bring signs, banners and statements opposing any
attack on Iran to the March 17 Day of Action.

***

Harper’s New Afghanistan Aid Package Is A Smokescreen
Military Aid Will Not Bring Peace to Kandahar.

February 27, 2007

Stephen Harper’s announcement of $200 million in aid to Afghanistan is 
designed to create the illusion of a shift in policy from war-making to 
reconstruction but will result in little improvement in the lives of the 
Afghan people. In fact, much of the aid will go to support the security 
apparatus of the occupation and will not provide any real development. This 
decision is about damage control. It comes after the high-profile Senate 
committee report outlining the failures of the NATO mission in Afghanistan, 
and recent reports by the Senlis Council of terrible conditions at the 
Kandahar hospital.

Harper’s aid package includes, among other things, increased funding for the 
Afghan police forces and for opium eradication programs. The opium 
eradication programs are building opposition to the occupation by destroying 
the only crop that makes enough money to feed the farmers. The Afghan police 
who will receive this funding are still under the command of notoriously 
corrupt warlords and government officials, many of whom are, ironically, 
heavily involved in the drug trade. Funding opium warlords and opium 
eradication programs simultaneously is not a good use of Canadian taxpayers’ 
money.

There is some money for micro-credit programs and for funding to pay school 
teachers. These programs will only be welcomed by the people of Afghanistan 
if they are not being administered by the occupation forces. Unfortunately, 
there are countless examples of aid being used by the military to win the 
support of local commanders, ensuring that it will be viewed as part of the 
military operation. Aid must be distributed by agencies outside the Western 
intervention.

Much of the money promised to Afghanistan is "phantom aid" which never gets 
through to the people but rather sits in the bank accounts of corrupt 
warlords, Western corporations and aid agencies. There is no evidence that 
this new funding will be any different.

This aid package is designed to deflect growing opposition to Canada’s war 
in Afghanistan. Its failure will be seen in the coming months as the 
resistance to the NATO occupation intensifies. Recklessly throwing money at 
programs that run counter to providing security will, once again, condemn 
the Afghan people to more violence. On March 17 people in cities and towns 
all over Canada will once again march to end this deepening quagmire.

Canadian Peace Alliance

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