• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

27-28 Oct 07 Anti-War Marches in CAN

The Bread Guy

Moderator
Staff member
Directing Staff
Subscriber
Donor
Reaction score
2,453
Points
1,260
According to this e-mail shared with me (.pdf), this one starts @ Victoria BC Cenotaph

TROOPS OUT NOW! TAKE TO THE STREETS ON THE NORTH AMERICAN DAY OF
ACTION AGAINST WAR!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Bush out of Baghdad! Canada Out of Kandahar! Join the Resistance!
Rally and March in Downtown Victoria
Date: Sunday, October 28th
Time: 1 pm
Place: Departure from the Cenotaph in front of the BC Legislature

Featuring:
Malalai Joya - Afghan Women’s Rights Activist and Member of Parliament
Francisco Juarez – Military Families Speak Out
The Canada Out of Afghanistan Campaign
UVIC Students Against War
…and many more!

…followed by an evening of resistance with Malalai Joya!

Check below for details on the Victoria demonstration, info on how you can get involved, an
announcement for the evening event with Malalai Joya, and some general material on the war in
Afghanistan.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

OCT. 28: RESISTANCE IN CANADA, RESISTANCE IN AFGHANISTAN

Cities across North America will take to the streets the weekend of October 27/28 to demand the end of war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Canada, Harper’s aggressive military intervention is coming under fire, and demands to bring the troops home now are growing louder each day. In Afghanistan, activist and Parliamentarian Malalai Joya was subjected to death threats and suspended from a Parliament after speaking out against a government run by warlords.

ON OCTOBER 28 IN VICTORIA, MALALAI JOYA WILL JOIN DEMONSTRATORS IN VICTORIA TO DEMAND AN END TO WAR AND OCCUPATION!

Tell Harper, Hillier and the Government of Canada to bring the troops home now!

* Bring placards, banners, puppets, noisemakers and drums! *

Organized by the Canada Out of Afghanistan Campaign
www.canadaoutofafghansitan.ca

Organized and endorsed by:
Council of Canadians
Greater Victoria Seniors
International Socialists
Military Communities Speak Out
Raging Grannies
UVIC Students Against War
Victoria Peace Coalition
War Resisters Support Campaign
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
OCT 28: HOW YOU CAN BE INVOLVED!

We meet every Monday at 7 pm in the UVIC Student Union Building basement, and everyone is welcome. We are also always looking for people to pitch in by postering, handing out leaflets, and spreading the word! On the day of the rally, we will need people to walk with the banner, hand out flyers, and holler slogans! For more information or to let us know that you’ll be attending our meetings, write to us at: outofafghanistan@yahoo.ca.

To add your organization to the list of groups endorsing the Victoria demonstration, write us a note at:
outofafghanistan@yahoo.ca
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

AN EVENING OF RESISTANCE WITH MALALAI JOYA
A post-rally event!

Date: October 28
Time: 7 pm
Place: David Lam Auditorium, University of Victoria

Co-sponsored by:
Armed with Understanding (UVIC Student Society)
Canada Out of Afghanistan Campaign
Greater Victoria Seniors
UVIC Students Against War
Victoria Coalition for Survivors of Torture
Victoria Peace Coalition
Victoria Public Interest Research Group
For more information on Malalai Joya:
http://www.malalaijoya.com
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A CALL FROM THE CANADIAN PEACE ALLIANCE AND THE COLLECTIF ECHEC A LA GUERRE

The war in Afghanistan is getting worse day by day. The Government of Canada and its NATO allies tell us that security and reconstruction are improving and that the battle for the hearts and minds of the Afghan people is being won by the west. In reality the situation is much more dire.

Reconstruction has been proven to be a smokescreen and the resistance to the occupation is growing. Violence increases every month that our soldiers remain in Kanadhar.

It is time to stop the bloodshed - not in 2009 as our politicians suggest - but now. The Canadian Peace Alliance and Collectif Échec à la guerre call on the people of Canada and Quebec to demonstrate this October 27, 2007 and call for the troops to be brought home.

On that day people from Canada and the United States will be marching to end war. Our friends in the US have put out a call for events to end the Iraq war on same date; so we will be jointly marching to end the violence that our governments are intent on continuing.

The state of reconstruction in Kandahar is a shambles. The Senlis Council recently released a report that investigated the reconstruction claims by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The Senlis Council found little of the promised reconstruction in Kandahar. The Afghan people are starving just outside the gates of the Canadian base. Their local hospitals have no medicine or equipment despite promises of money from CIDA. These failures, coupled with the rise in civilian casualties, have resulted in more people joining the resistance.

And what has been accomplished? Canadians have once again lost the Panjwai district of Kandahar after fighting four separate battles to hold it and being pushed off of that land again and again. After more than 18 months of fighting in the south which has killed hundreds of civilians and dozens of Canadian soldiers, the fight is still on for the same patch of land that was "secured" more than a year ago.

How many more will die on both sides to keep taking and retaking a spot of land?

The poppy trade is booming in Afghanistan with a record crop worth more than $3 billion USD this year. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report showed a 35 per cent increase in opium production from a year ago. This will only get worse the longer NATO stays in Afghanistan. The UNODC argues that more control from the state of Afghanistan will reduce opium production. More than 60 percent of the elected members of the Afghan parliament are connected to warlords and drug barons. To increase the control of the drug warlords in the opium producing areas will not result in a decrease in opium production.

The irony is that opium production had been eradicated by 2001. This increase in production is a direct result of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.

The head of the Army in the UK, General Sir Richard Dannatt stated that the war in Afghanistan could go on for a generation. Thousands more civilians and soldiers will die and the resistance to the NATO occupation will grow. It is time to end this war.

On October 27 people in Canada and the US will be marching to call for peace in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands will march in a pan-Canadian day of action. Join us!

Out of Afghanistan - Out of Iraq
Harper and Bush Bring the Troops back!
http://www.acp-cpa.ca/
 
Well... at least they aren't saying we are in Iraq as well.  ::)
 
If you want troops out NOW, then fine.  That's a valid opinion.  If you LIE in order to get a point across, well, then, you deserve nothing. 
 
I think the Out of Iraq was geared more to the Bush portion of their second statement...
 
niceasdrhuxtable said:
I think the Out of Iraq was geared more to the Bush portion of their second statement...
No, it was pure ignorance on their part.  Of that I'm certain.  My own niece asks me "Are you going back to Iraq?"  I reply "Afghanistan", to which she says "whatever.  It's all the same"

If she weren't my niece....

Though she does support both missions.
 
milnewstbay said:
Featuring:
Malalai Joya - Afghan Women’s Rights Activist and Member of Parliament
Francisco Juarez – Military Families Speak Out
The Canada Out of Afghanistan Campaign
UVIC Students Against War
…and many more!

Our very own "War Resister".  ::)

Able Seaman Juarez actually sailed out West while he was in the Navy.
 
Francisco Juarez is no more part of a military family than I am of the New Democratic Party.
 
I wish they weren't allowed to use Military Families Speak Out that name for their group.  :threat:
 
They want to get their point of view across? Fine

We can get our point of view across too. Many members have a positive view of what we have done in Afghanistan, and a fair portion want to go back to continue the job. If a large number of service members who served in Afghanistan, Mirage and the Arabian Sea were to write letters to the editor for publication on the 27-28, called into call in radio shows those days and posted on blogs outlining the various positive aspects of the mission in Afghanistan that they were involved in and stated their willingness to go back, that message from the thousands of troops all across Canada will totally overshadow the paltry few protesters crowded together for their tight shot in the newspaper. If military family members were willing to also write and call in support of the mission and their deployed family members, then Canadians would really see and hear "Military Families Speaking Out".

Remember, we have done many great things in Afghanistan and should be more than willing to share with our fellow Canadians.
 
Well maybe it will be as cold as it was last year in Fredericton when they tried the "big" protest.  Then there will be four people and one dog again.
 
kincanucks said:
Well maybe it will be as cold as it was last year in Fredericton when they tried the "big" protest.  Then there will be four people and one dog again.

- Watch the dog.  He's the ringleader.
 
kincanucks said:
Well maybe it will be as cold as it was last year in Fredericton when they tried the "big" protest.  Then there will be four people and one dog again.

I guess they aren't half as determined as the soldiers who are actually fighting the war. A bit of cold never hurt anyone ;D
My personal opinion on this, is it sickens me that there is actually a decent portion of the nation with little to no knowledge about the war, who will protest the war. They throw around useless and often on true reasons why we shouldn't be there. In my World History class this week, I have heard from reasonably intelligent students, that we are killing Afghani and Iraqi civilians all for oil in Afghanistan all because President Bush, wants us too. Does this seem a little odd to anyone?
  It really grinds my gears when people talk like they know about something they know absolutely nothing about, I know I have been guilty for doing this before, thus making me a hypocrite, but at least I can admit I am wrong, if I never admitted to my wrong doing, I guess I could be compared to the war protesters  ;)
  It boggles me why they would protest the war, and say quotes like '' Support our troops by bringing them home '' I hope they don't think they are doing us a favor? Everyone I have spoken to who has been over to the sandbox, says they agree with the war, enjoyed their time there, even when things got hairy, and plan to go back again. Our Canadian troops, are glad to be there, and glad to help, we don't want people on the home front waiving protest signs and asking for our return.
 
P.S. When I refer to ''our'' or ''us'' in some parts in my previous three paragraphs it sounds an awful lot like I am inferring I am a soldier who has been over. However I have not been over, and am just ranting. Much respect to those who have gone over.
 
If anyone is around UVic tomorrow night, I'm taking part in a panel discussion about Canada's involvement in Afghanistan.  It's being put on my Students Against War at Uvic, and co-hosted by some other peace organization. 

Believe it or not, they are trying to put on a balanced event.  They looked for members of the CF to join in the discussion, and extended invites to the base, but as is the norm for how we conduct our business, the official position is that we don't get involved in discussions that could involve matters of policy. 

There were initially going to be two panalists on the anti-war side, Anthony Fenton and Francisco Juarez, but since I am the only person on the pro-afghan involvement side, they dumped Mr. Juarez.  The panel is being mediated by the centre for dispute resolution to ensure balanced speaking time.

I will in no way be discussing policy at this event, but will be there to present my side of our involvement based on my experiences with having been in Afghanistan. 

I don't have the highest of hopes that there will be too many open minds in the crowd, but I suppose that I always hold out hope for the odd one. 

For those of you who are reading this and cringing about a CF member speaking in a panel about this subject, I have cleared the event with our base public affairs so that they are in the loop. 

For all those in the area, this will also be your chance to question the anti-afghan side, so please come out and bring an open mind and your questions.

SNJ 
 
I wish someone can smack that asshat on the head and tell him to change the group's name. He is NOT part of the military, and should not and does not deserve to use that term...
 
I wonder how the march will go in Montréal. Anarchists always find the way to make things go bad.

When I was in CÉGEP, I went to a march against the failure tax (Taxe à l'échec). One of the student union leader of my college was my roommate, so I stuck with him. I was there when all the groups discussed the path of the march. I didn't know why but the anarchists insisted to go into a certain street. And what happened when we went into that street? The anarchists broke into the Sony store and stole some stuff!!! The riot squad charged on us, so we had to flee by the Métro.

I never went to a march again, and I kept myself far away from the student union after that. :D

I wasn't RIGHT in my head when I choose to attend that march.  ;D
 
I see that under the list of sponsors for the events, two seperate press releases have two seperate entities listed:

Francisco Juarez – Military Families Speak Out

and the second lists:

Military Communities Speak Out

What they both actually mean is:

Francisco Juarez Speaks out (and not for me!!)


So nice to see that these asshats can't even get that little bit of their shit together and factual.  ::)

How does something sponsor something ... when the damn website is still under construction and non-existant??

BTW, they've never responded to my query as to why, if it was a site for "military families (or is it communities??) speaking out" ... why I had to be silent and was not eligible for membership because I don't agree with them him and their his views on the current CF mission in Afghanistan.
 
Do you think if the people who were marching knew about these satistics, to witch would not be possible if it were not for the troops making the peace in order for the NGO's and others to do their thing in country, that they would change thier veiws?


Afghanistan Progress Statistics, valid through October 2007 – for updated version contact Brian.Shipley@international.gc.ca


DEVELOPMENT: increase prosperity and self-sufficiency

Education
- over 6 million children (1/3 girls) enrolled in school, 2007-08 (Afghan Ministry of Education); vs. 2001 figure: 700,000, boys only
-  establishing 4,000 community-based schools & training 9,000 teachers (4,000 female); 120,000 children (85% girls) will benefit
-  literacy courses for over 5,600 people (over 5,100 women) in Kandahar

Economy: - per capita income has doubled in three years
- microfinance program (  top donor): over 380,000 people are accessing savings & small loans service in 23 provinces including Kandahar; more than 2/3 are women; repayment rate over 90%; more than 10,000 new clients on average each month
-  1,500 women developing home-based gardens
-  alternative livelihoods programmes to develop agriculture

Community Development & Infrastructure
- National Solidarity Program: over 17,500 Community Development Councils elected; over 29,000 local infrastructure projects approved nationwide; over 12,700 already completed
-  529 councils, 544 completed projects in Kandahar province: including over 1200 wells, over 150 km of irrigation canals and systems, and 500 culverts
-  more than 10 vocational training initiatives in Kandahar
- almost 6,000 km of roads are being built or refurbished nationwide

- National Area Based Development Programme:  infrastructure in 12 districts of Kandahar province: 4 bridges and 2 dams under construction
- 70,000 farmers have received seeds and fertilizers

-  key Kandahar-Spin Boldak highway being rebuilt & paved

Health: - 7.3 million children targeted for polio vaccination nationwide through March 2009,  including approximately 350,000 in Kandahar province
-  adding obstetric care unit next to Kandahar City Hospital; 14 maternal health care professionals received obstetrics training
- 4,000 new medical facilities have opened nationwide since 2004
- 83% now have access to basic medical care (vs. 9% in 2004)
- infant mortality down 22% since 2000: 40,000 more babies survive every year; under-5 child mortality down 26%
-  over 200,000 recipients in Kandahar of emergency food aid since Dec 2006

Refugees: over 5 million have returned since 2002; over 339,000 in 2007 alone with UNHCR assistance ( -supported)
- 90% of returnees find jobs within six months of return

Humanitarian demining: nearly 1.2 billion square metres of land cleared since 1989; 55% reduction in monthly victims, 34% decrease in highly-affected communities
–  support includes targeted demining in Kandahar province; more than 680,000 square metres cleared since March 2005, benefiting over 4000 people





GOVERNANCE: justice, rule of law, and human rights

Elections: over 10 million Afghans registered to vote in free and fair elections for President (2004) and Parliament (2005); 347 women were candidates for lower house

Legislature: 30 parliamentary commissions established; 300 MPs and 500 staff received training

Freedom of Expression: at least 7 television and 40 radio outlets now broadcasting (including  1 CF radio station in Kandahar); more than 350 newspapers and magazines publishing

Gender Equality:  Women’s Rights Fund: 30 projects funded, including radio programs, awareness training, and legal aid assistance

Corrections:  2 civilian mentors/trainers in Kandahar, 1 advisor on corrections for UNAMA in Kabul

Rule of law:  75 prosecutors trained, 68 public defenders, 90 judges (including 16 women); 75 judges trained in specialized procedures, 20 judges trained as trainers of others

Afghan National Police:  - complement of 10 civilian and 24 military police trainers/mentors at Kandahar PRT
- over 475 ANP have received training through the PRT
-  Police OMLT: comprised of CF combat arms units and military police who will work at the district levels to help develop ANP training
-  Senior police advisers: 1 at Canadian Embassy, 2 at CSTC-A (US-led training and reform), 1 deployed to new EU Police Mission HQ in Kabul (up to 11 more to come)
-  support for police salary payments nationwide (Law and Order Trust Fund - LOTFA)
-  funded the construction of 11 Afghan National Police checkpoints and 6 sub-stations allowing the ANP to establish presence and conduct operations in and around Kandahar City


SECURITY: consolidate peace and extend Afghan government control over territory
Afghan National Army:  coordinating and mentoring the training of  soldiers at the Afghan National Training Centre in Kabul; helped train over 35,000 graduates so far
- Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT):  approximately 150 CF personnel mentoring 5 ANA kandaks (battalions) + HQ element in Kandahar province
-  ongoing combined operations with ANA and ANP in Kandahar province
-  denying Taliban and other enemy forces both sanctuary and secure lines of communications in Zhari and Panjwayi districts

Peace: 63,000 former combatants disarmed/demobilized; 85,000 light weapons collected; 16,000 heavy weapons secured ( -supported)
 
painswessex said:
Do you think if the people who were marching knew about these satistics, to witch would not be possible if it were not for the troops making the peace in order for the NGO's and others to do their thing in country, that they would change thier veiws?

May there be no doubt in your mind that they know about them; they just choose to ignore them and write them off because they are not conducive to the left-wing anti-establishment agenda.

It's the same reason that neither you, nor I (being members of the military family & community), are allowed to become members of the "Military Families Speak Out" site ... because we are informed and don't choose to ignore the facts, nor do we choose to errorneously push and support their non-fact-based left-wing bullshit.
 
SweetNavyJustice,

Nice to see that UVic is trying to show a ballanced view on things.  After their ban of a CF booth at a career fair (and their reasons behind it) it's a nice change.  You'll have to let us know how it goes.
 
Back
Top