{"id":506,"date":"2006-11-22T03:38:54","date_gmt":"2006-11-22T08:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=506"},"modified":"2018-08-20T00:00:21","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T04:00:21","slug":"wednesday-november-22-2006-canada-is-at-war-with-pakistan-didn%e2%80%99t-know-that-did-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=506","title":{"rendered":"Wednesday, November 22, 2006 \u2014 Canada Is At War With Pakistan. Didn\u2019t Know That, Did&nbsp;You?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cana\u00adda is at war with Pak\u00adistan.&nbsp;It is symp\u00adto\u00admatic of the stu\u00adpid\u00adi\u00adty, con\u00adfu\u00adsion and cow\u00adardice that has brought us into this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion that hard\u00adly any\u00adone in Cana\u00adda seems to know it, and few of those are will\u00ading to admit it.&nbsp;In the Alice-In-Won\u00adder\u00adland log\u00adic of this new mil\u00adlen\u00adni\u00adum, we are at war with a coun\u00adtry who is our declared ally.&nbsp;That coun\u00adtry\u2019s dic\u00adta\u00adtor toured our coun\u00adtry to loud applause, and cracked jokes on our tele\u00advi\u00adsion talk shows.&nbsp;Few had the courage to point out the obvi\u00adous: Pakistan\u2019s dic\u00adta\u00adtor, Per\u00advez Mushar\u00adraf, is con\u00adduct\u00ading a ter\u00adror\u00adist war on Afghanistan, a coun\u00adtry which we are com\u00admit\u00adted to defend\u00ading, and it is his sur\u00adro\u00adgates, con\u00adfed\u00ader\u00adates, and agents who are killing Cana\u00addi\u00adan sol\u00addiers.&nbsp;He is armed with nuclear weapons, his repres\u00adsive regime is the polar oppo\u00adsite of every\u00adthing Cana\u00adda is sup\u00adposed to stand for, and he is attack\u00ading us, killing our cit\u00adi\u00adzens \u2014 and yet our lead\u00aders kiss his bum every chance they get. We are bow\u00ading and scrap\u00ading before the man who is killing our sol\u00addiers. Wash\u00ading\u00adton has so declared, and our gov\u00adern\u00adment zeal\u00adous\u00adly obeys. That is what Prime Min\u00adis\u00adter Harp\u00ader con\u00adsid\u00aders to be \u201csup\u00adport\u00ading our troops\u201d.<!--more--><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">These are the&nbsp;facts:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Tal\u00adiban were armed and installed in Afghanistan by Musharraf\u2019s dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship in Pak\u00adistan, with the col\u00adlu\u00adsion of the Unit\u00aded States Gov\u00adern\u00adment.&nbsp;There, they insti\u00adtut\u00aded a reign of ter\u00adror of hideous bar\u00adbarism.&nbsp;The Afghan peo\u00adple suf\u00adfered great\u00adly under this regime, even more than they had suf\u00adfered under Sovi\u00adet imperialism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mushar\u00adraf used the Tal\u00adiban regime to house, fat\u00adten, and embold\u00aden the ter\u00adror\u00adist orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion known as Al-Kai\u00adda.&nbsp;Pakistan\u2019s mil\u00adi\u00adtary jun\u00adta, which has been allied to Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives since the time of Nixon and Kissinger, has been the prin\u00adci\u00adpal fun\u00adnel of funds to Al-Kai\u00adda.&nbsp;Sau\u00addi Ara\u00adbia, the main source of these funds, has also been a beloved ally of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Conservatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Al-Kai\u00adda attacked the Unit\u00aded States, killing thou\u00adsands of Amer\u00adi\u00adcans.&nbsp;Instant\u00adly, Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives rushed to pro\u00adtect the inter\u00adests of the crim\u00adi\u00adnal aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcies of Sau\u00addi Ara\u00adbia and Pak\u00adistan, who had financed and facil\u00adi\u00adtat\u00aded the attack on Amer\u00adi\u00adca. Since the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan pub\u00adlic would not tol\u00ader\u00adate inac\u00adtion in such a sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, Afghanistan was invad\u00aded, and the Tal\u00adiban removed from the cap\u00adi\u00adtal and some regions of the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">While Sau\u00addi mon\u00adey and the Pak\u00adistani mil\u00adi\u00adtary were the prin\u00adci\u00adpal expe\u00additers, financiers and allies of the Tal\u00adiban and Al-Kai\u00adda, Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtives declared that Mushar\u00adraf and the Sau\u00addi aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy were glo\u00adri\u00adous allies in the \u201cwar on ter\u00adror\u201d.&nbsp;Mushar\u00adraf con\u00adtin\u00adued to shel\u00adter, arm, train and pro\u00adtect both Al-Kai\u00adda and the Tal\u00adiban, grant\u00adi\u00adng them strate\u00adgic asy\u00adlum in the moun\u00adtains of Pak\u00adistan adja\u00adcent to Afghanistan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The Bush Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion, and most of its Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive oli\u00adgarchy, remain unin\u00adter\u00adest\u00aded in fight\u00ading Al-Kai\u00adda.&nbsp;Al-Kai\u00adda is not some\u00adthing to be fought \u2014 it is some\u00adthing extreme\u00adly use\u00adful to keep around.&nbsp;It is an all-pur\u00adpose tool for the Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive agen\u00adda of destroy\u00ading America\u2019s civ\u00adil lib\u00ader\u00adties.&nbsp;Any seri\u00adous inroads on Al-Kai\u00adda, such as the defeat and cap\u00adture of Osama bin Laden, would high\u00adlight its inti\u00admate con\u00adnec\u00adtions with Con\u00adser\u00advatism in Amer\u00adi\u00adca.&nbsp;Instead, the Bush Admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion exploit\u00aded pub\u00adlic con\u00adfu\u00adsion to do what it real\u00adly want\u00aded to do, which was to invade Iraq.&nbsp;So Mushar\u00adraf was allowed to put up a pup\u00adpet show of oppos\u00ading the Tal\u00adiban and Al-Kai\u00adda, while in fact con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading to shel\u00adter and sup\u00adport&nbsp;it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There are two groups that the peo\u00adple of Afghanistan fear and hate, two forces that have oppressed and exploit\u00aded them:&nbsp;the Tal\u00adiban and the rur\u00adal war\u00adlords.&nbsp;These two groups flow into each oth\u00ader, and are pret\u00adty much inter\u00adchange\u00adable from moment to moment.&nbsp;The Amer\u00adi\u00adcan gov\u00adern\u00adment recruit\u00aded large num\u00adbers of these vicious thugs as allies.&nbsp;The Bush admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion forced the shaky new Afghan gov\u00adern\u00adment to share pow\u00ader with these war\u00adlords.&nbsp;The fledg\u00adling Afghan gov\u00adern\u00adment does, in fact, con\u00adtain some peo\u00adple who sin\u00adcere\u00adly want to see Afghanistan devel\u00adop into a func\u00adtion\u00ading democ\u00adra\u00adcy.&nbsp;How\u00adev\u00ader, they are now pow\u00ader\u00adless. The Bush admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion has forced them to \u201cshare\u201d their par\u00adlia\u00adment with some of the most cor\u00adrupt, vio\u00adlent, blood\u00adthirsty gang\u00adsters on the con\u00adti\u00adnent, most of them col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtors with Al-Kai\u00adda, and almost all of them play\u00aders in the hero\u00adin trade.&nbsp;At all turns, gen\u00aduine democ\u00adrats and gen\u00aduine Afghan patri\u00adots have been forced to shut up and cater to these vermin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Mean\u00adwhile, Al-Kai\u00adda is safe\u00adly shel\u00adtered in Pak\u00adistan, where it can\u00adnot be touched.&nbsp;The Tal\u00adiban can use Musharraf\u2019s pro\u00adtec\u00adtion to con\u00adduct a long-term war to regain con\u00adtrol of the coun\u00adtry.&nbsp;The rur\u00adal pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion, who are caught between the U.S.-backed war\u00adlords and the Tal\u00adiban, have noth\u00ading to choose.&nbsp;They try to lay low and obey any\u00adone who shows up and barks an order.&nbsp;The Tal\u00adiban can roam around the coun\u00adtry\u00adside, demand\u00ading aid from the peas\u00adantry.&nbsp;Since the bulk of Afgha\u00adnis know that the Unit\u00aded States hasn\u2019t the slight\u00adest inter\u00adest in their free\u00addom or their well-being, and that it is vir\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly cer\u00adtain that some per\u00admu\u00adta\u00adtion of war\u00adlords and Tal\u00adiban will even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly rule the coun\u00adtry, then the safest strat\u00ade\u00adgy is to be as co-oper\u00ada\u00adtive with the Tal\u00adiban as pos\u00adsi\u00adble.&nbsp;They know that any\u00adone who is not will pay dear\u00adly when the Tal\u00adiban rule again.&nbsp;The dream of a demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic Afghanistan is now so improb\u00ada\u00adble that no oth\u00ader response is viable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Enter Cana\u00adda.&nbsp;The Cana\u00addi\u00adan gov\u00adern\u00adment, in a rare show\u00ading of courage, defied the efforts of Wash\u00ading\u00adton to bul\u00adly it into par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading in the quag\u00admire of Iraq.&nbsp;But a price had to be paid. We pret\u00adty much had to agree to par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpat\u00ading in Afghanistan.&nbsp;Ottawa\u2019s rea\u00adson\u00ading was obvi\u00adous: we could just bare\u00adly get away with refus\u00ading to join the Iraq adven\u00adture. A sop was nec\u00ades\u00adsary.&nbsp;The illu\u00adsion of inde\u00adpen\u00addent action could be main\u00adtained: it was, in the\u00ado\u00adry at least, an oper\u00ada\u00adtion under the flag of the Unit\u00aded Nations.&nbsp;Unlike the self-evi\u00addent\u00adly stu\u00adpid Iraq scheme, it had a ratio\u00adnale that Cana\u00addi\u00adans could agree to. The pro\u00adtec\u00adtion of a new demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic regime from gueril\u00adla action, hunt\u00ading down Al-Kai\u00adda, build\u00ading a demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic infra\u00adstruc\u00adture, aid to suf\u00adfer\u00ading peo\u00adple, and peace\u00adkeep\u00ading were things that Cana\u00addi\u00adans would sup\u00adport, and were plau\u00adsi\u00adble giv\u00aden the infor\u00adma\u00adtion at their disposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unknown to the Cana\u00addi\u00adan pub\u00adlic, our mil\u00adi\u00adtary had, from the very begin\u00adning, coun\u00adseled against send\u00ading our forces to Afghanistan.&nbsp;We did not have good qual\u00adi\u00adty intel\u00adli\u00adgence in the are\u00adna, which would be essen\u00adtial for suc\u00adcess, and our exist\u00ading forces were already over-extend\u00aded.&nbsp;Our equip\u00adment was not suit\u00adable to the ter\u00adrain.&nbsp;Our region\u00adal experts were unan\u00adi\u00admous in the opin\u00adion that this was one of the stu\u00adpid\u00adest places in the world to send our troops.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Lib\u00ader\u00adal&nbsp;gov\u00adern\u00adment over\u00adrode these&nbsp;objec\u00adtions, and&nbsp;sim\u00adply ordered&nbsp;our forces to do it any\u00adway.&nbsp;Polit\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions,&nbsp;name\u00adly our chron\u00adic dilem\u00adma&nbsp;of \u201csleep\u00ading with an ele\u00adphant\u201d,&nbsp;over\u00adruled mil\u00adi\u00adtary exper\u00adtise.&nbsp;The Lib\u00ader\u00adal gov\u00adern\u00adment reluc\u00adtant\u00adly com\u00admit\u00adted us to a large-scale involve\u00adment.&nbsp;The sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adous Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive gov\u00adern\u00adment&nbsp;eager\u00adly com\u00admit\u00adted us to&nbsp;more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Most of the Unit\u00aded States\u2019 more enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adtic allies in Afghanistan quick\u00adly jock\u00adeyed to acquire zones in the north, which did not involve seri\u00adous risk.&nbsp;But Cana\u00adda found itself pro\u00adtect\u00ading Kan\u00adda\u00adhar, the most dan\u00adger\u00adous spot.&nbsp;The White House was quick to find a pat\u00adsy that would take respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for this area.&nbsp;It is eas\u00adi\u00adly reached from the porous Pak\u00adistani bor\u00adder, and is the most dra\u00admat\u00adic prize the Tal\u00adiban can take in a log\u00adi\u00adcal pro\u00adgres\u00adsion towards return\u00ading to pow\u00ader.&nbsp;It is thus the most like\u00adly place where an embar\u00adrass\u00ading defeat can occur.&nbsp;The White House is not eager to have such a defeat focused exclu\u00adsive\u00adly on Amer\u00adi\u00adcan forces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">At present, Cana\u00adda is stuck.&nbsp;We are at war, but that war can\u00adnot be won.&nbsp;To win it would require invad\u00ading Pak\u00adistan, and that country\u2019s bru\u00adtal dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship is our \u201cally\u201d.&nbsp;It is our \u201cally\u201d who is orga\u00adniz\u00ading and man\u00adag\u00ading the war against us.&nbsp;Also, we are not allowed to touch any of the drug-rich war\u00adlords, who are pro\u00adtect\u00aded by the Amer\u00adi\u00adcans.&nbsp;Strate\u00adgi\u00adcal\u00adly, we can\u00adnot do any\u00adthing except under Amer\u00adi\u00adcan direc\u00adtion, and that direc\u00adtion is to manoeu\u00advre us into dis\u00adas\u00adter.&nbsp;If we leave, Kan\u00adda\u00adhar will imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly col\u00adlapse into chaos and be swept up by some war\u00adlord-tal\u00adiban combination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Despite the absur\u00addi\u00adty of the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, the ordi\u00adnary peo\u00adple in Kan\u00adda\u00adhar still see us as pro\u00adtec\u00adtors.&nbsp;Our pres\u00adence pre\u00advents the extin\u00adguish\u00ading of what lit\u00adtle civ\u00adil soci\u00adety has been able to sur\u00advive.&nbsp;Con\u00adtrary to the twad\u00addle ped\u00addled by aca\u00add\u00ade\u00admics and jour\u00adnal\u00adists, ordi\u00adnary Afgha\u00adnis under\u00adstand per\u00adfect\u00adly well what democ\u00adra\u00adcy is, how it is sup\u00adposed to work, and the ben\u00ade\u00adfits it can bring to their lives.&nbsp;In fact, like most of the world\u2019s rur\u00adal poor, they have a deep\u00ader under\u00adstand\u00ading of democ\u00adra\u00adcy than 99% of the world\u2019s intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adals.&nbsp;But they can also tell phoni\u00adness when they see it, and there is noth\u00ading more patent\u00adly pho\u00adny than George Bush\u2019s claim to be fur\u00adther\u00ading democ\u00adra\u00adcy.&nbsp;Bush\u2019s agents have done every\u00adthing in their pow\u00ader to sub\u00advert, ham\u00adstring, and crush any gen\u00aduine democ\u00adrats in the fledg\u00adling Afghan government.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Ordi\u00adnary Afghans can tell that the Cana\u00addi\u00adan sol\u00addiers in Kan\u00adda\u00adhar are try\u00ading to be on their side.&nbsp;That is why Cana\u00addi\u00adan forces con\u00adtin\u00adue to retain good\u00adwill with those Afghans who remain with\u00adin the effec\u00adtive cir\u00adcle of their pro\u00adtec\u00adtion.&nbsp;How\u00adev\u00ader, the frame\u00adwork under which Canada\u2019s armed forces has been sent to Afghanistan makes it impos\u00adsi\u00adble to sus\u00adtain this state&nbsp;of affairs.&nbsp;We are forced to be at war with a dan\u00adger\u00adous, pow\u00ader\u00adful mil\u00adi\u00adtary machine \u2014 and yet we are not allowed to even name whom we are fight\u00ading!&nbsp;Mushar\u00adraf, a dic\u00adta\u00adtor who is killing our sol\u00addiers, can even come on our <span class=\"caps\">TV<\/span> and pub\u00adlicly ridicule us, and still we are forced to pre\u00adtend that he is our&nbsp;ally.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This is the sad, sad sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion we are now in.&nbsp;The pre\u00advi\u00adous Lib\u00ader\u00adal admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion was too cow\u00adard\u00adly to be hon\u00adest with the Cana\u00addi\u00adan peo\u00adple about how we were being pres\u00adsured and swin\u00addled into this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, and the cur\u00adrent Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion, which is noth\u00ading but the squeal\u00ading pet ham\u00adster of the Bush admin\u00adis\u00adtra\u00adtion, is eager to dig us in deeper.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Only a few thou\u00adsand Cana\u00addi\u00adan sol\u00addiers are direct\u00adly involved, but the Cana\u00addi\u00adan peo\u00adple do not, repeat <em>do not <\/em>want any of those sol\u00addiers to be used to screw inno\u00adcent peo\u00adple.&nbsp;We most def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly do not want to walk into some\u00adplace, make a big mess, and then sneak out.&nbsp;That is some\u00adthing that comes eas\u00adi\u00adly to our neigh\u00adbours, but we were raised dif\u00adfer\u00adent\u00adly.&nbsp;We would think it shameful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It looks like that shame is now inevitable.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cana\u00adda is at war with Pak\u00adistan.&nbsp;It is symp\u00adto\u00admatic of the stu\u00adpid\u00adi\u00adty, con\u00adfu\u00adsion and cow\u00adardice that has brought us into this sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion that hard\u00adly any\u00adone in Cana\u00adda seems to know it, and few of those are will\u00ading to admit it.&nbsp;In the&nbsp;\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=506\">Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-au-blog-2006"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9333,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions\/9333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}