As the Bush administration heads into months of negotiations with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on the future of US troops in Iraq, it aims to stretch the bounds of executive power to unprecedented lengths. The administration plans to bypass Congress… Read moreBush to sidestep Congress on Iraq military pact
We’ve noted that CentCom commander Adm. William Fallon is an exponent of the “pragmatist” view on Iranâa point also stressed by this March 11 AP account of his sudden resignation. Does this signal a silent coup by Cheney and the… Read moreFallon “resignation”: neocon coup?
Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, kidnapped in Iraq last month, was found dead on March 13, his body half-buried in an empty lot in the northern city of Mosul. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blamed Rahho’s death on al-Qaeda and said… Read moreAbducted Chaldean archbishop found dead in Iraq
From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), March 8: On the 8th of March This Year… “No to Women Killing… No to the Gangs Who Promote Sexual Cleansing… Yes to an Iraq that is Free of Women Haters” The 8th of… Read moreIraq: civil resistance protests “sexual cleansing”
Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani said March 8 he seeks a “strategic” partnership with Turkey as he wrapped up a visit to Ankara aimed at easing tension sparked by the Turkish military’s eight-day incursion into Iraq last month. Speaking to members… Read moreTalabani schmoozes Turks, sells out PKK
A double bombing in a crowded Baghdad shopping district killed at least 53 people and wounded 130 March 6. The blasts took place in the primarily Shi’ite, middle-class Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah. The tactic was to draw in the people… Read moreIraq: more bombs, more mass graves
At least 23 were killed and dozens were wounded March 3 when two car bombs, including one driven by a suicide attacker, blew up in Baghdad. In the suicide attack, a man drove a minibus into the headquarters of the… Read moreIraq: bombs in Baghdad; mass grave in Samarra
Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received what the United Arab Emirates’ Gulf News called a “hero’s welcome” in Baghdad, where Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the Islamic Republic’s recent approach towards his country has been “extremely helpful.” He described his… Read moreAhmadinejad gets “hero’s welcome” in Baghdad
At last two are dead and 12 wounded in an ambush 130 kilometers south of Kirkuk on a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims returning from the Arbaeen celebrations in Karbala March 1. “Two people, including a woman, were killed and 12… Read moreIraq: more Shi’ite pilgrims killed
Unknown gunmen kidnapped Chaldean Archbishop Faraj Rahho in Mosul after killing two of his bodyguards and his driver soon after he left Mass in the northern Iraqi city’s Safina Church. Pope Benedict XVI regretted the kidnapping and said he is… Read moreChaldean archbishop kidnapped in Mosul
by Richard Sanders, Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade
A Canadian Brigadier General, Nicolas Matern, has just arrived in Baghdad. This former commander of Canada’s Joint Task Force 2 counter-terrorism unit is the deputy commander of the US 18th Airborne Corps and he now reports to Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, who leads the 170,000-strong Multi-National CorpsâIraq. Its primary task is to conduct “offensive operations to defeat remaining non-compliant forces.”
Matern is the third Canadian Forces (CF) general to help lead a command group overseeing the US-led war in Iraq. His predecessor, CF Maj. Gen. Peter Devlin was the Deputy Commander General of the Multi-National ForceâIraq since December 2006.
Prior to Devlin’s posting, which started in January 2004, CF Maj. Gen. Walt Natynczyk commanded ten brigades totaling 35,000 troops stationed throughout Iraq. When Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson gave Natynczyk Canada’s Meritorious Service Cross, her office extolled his “pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and operations [which] resulted in a tremendous contribution to…Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, and…brought great credit to the Canadian Forces and to Canada.”
It may come as a surprise to most Canadiansâincluding many peace activists in this country, that Canada is even involved in the Iraq war. Even more shocking may be the news that the provision of top CF personnel to command posts in Iraq is but one example among many contributions that the Canadian government has made to this US-led war.
Unfortunately, the Liberal government’s 2003 pretense that Canada was opting out of participation in Iraq has been repeated so many times that it has become accepted as the truth. Even when presented with multifarious examples of Canada’s complicity in this war, some Canadians are loath to believe it. The fact that the Canadian government has been a major player in the Iraq war since its very inception, also directly contradicts the powerful national myth that Canada is a global force for peace.
This Canadian myth has taken on the appearance of a state religion and some of its faithful adherents demonstrate a strong reluctance to question it. This is evident in [social networking site] Rabble’s online “left-wing discussion forum” (called Babble) where a debate has raged since the publication of an earlier version of this article appeared in Vancouver’s Common Ground magazine (February 2008).
While many Canadians, even some on the “left,” have difficulty accepting the reality that Canada is deeply engaged in the Iraq war, this fact was admitted early on by then-US Ambassador to Canada, Paul Cellucci. On March 25, 2003, during the “shock and awe” bombardment of Iraq, Cellucci gratefully acknowledged to members of the posh Economic Club of Toronto, that “ironically, Canadian naval vessels, aircraft and personnel…will supply more support to this war in Iraq indirectly…than most of those 46 countries that are fully supporting our efforts there.”
Although Cellucci’s statement merely scratched the surface of Canada’s initial “support” for the Iraq war, at least he let the cat out of the bag. As then-Secretary of State Colin Powell had explained a week earlier, “We now have a coalition of the willing…who have publicly said they could be included in such a listing…. And there are 15 other nations, who, for one reason or another do not wish to be publicly named but will be supporting the coalition.”
Canada was, and still is, the leading member of this secret group, which we could perhaps call CW-HUSH, the “Coalition of the Willing to Help but Unwilling to be Seen Helping.”
The plan worked. Most Canadians still proudly believe that their government refused to join the Iraq war. Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the ways in which our government joined the fray:
Protecting and Supporting the Coalition Navy:
Thirteen hundred Canadian troops aboard four of Canada’s multi-billion dollar warships escorted the multinational fleet, including US aircraft carriers, through the Persian Gulf and right up to the shores of Kuwait, thus putting them safely in place to bomb Iraq. Besides performing such “force-protection operations,” Canadian frigates also contributed vital “fleet-support” functions to coalition warships.
Leading the Coalition Navy:
Canadian Rear-Admiral Roger Girouard commanded Coalition Task Force 151, leading 20 warships from six countries during the “shock and awe” bombardment of Iraq which killed thousands of innocent people.
Providing War Planners:
At least two dozen Canadian war planners working at US Central Command in Florida were transferred to the Persian Gulf in early 2003 to help oversee the war’s complicated logistics.
Helping Coordinate the War:
Canadian military personnel, working aboard American E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System warplanes, helped direct the electronic war by providing surveillance, command, control and communications services to US war-fighters.
Providing Airspace and Refueling:
Countless US warplanes carrying troops and equipment have flown over Canada, to and from the Iraq war. With as many as two or three such flights a day and carrying about a thousand US troops to battle, many such warplanes were allowed to refuel in Gander, Newfoundland.
Providing Air Transport:
At least three Canadian CC-130 military transport planes were listed by the US military as helping supply coalition forces during the Iraq war.
Freeing up US Troops:
Canada’s major role in the Afghan war has freed up many thousands of US troops for deployment to Iraq.
Providing Ground Troops:
At least 35 Canadian soldiers were directly under US command, in an exchange capacity, on the ground, participating in the invasion of Iraq.
Facilitating US Weapons Testing:
Two types of cruise missiles (AGM-86 and -129) and the Global Hawk (RQ-4A) surveillance drone, used in Iraq, were tested over Canada.
Depleted Uranium (DU) Weapons:
Canada is the world’s top exporter of uranium. Our government pretends that Canada’s uranium is sold for peaceful purposes only, but absolutely nothing is done to stop the U.S. from using DU in their weapons. America’s A-10 Wart Hog warplanes have fired DU munitions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, while each cruise missile contains three kgs of DU ballast.
Providing RADARSAT Data:
Eagle Vision, a US Air Force mobile ground station which controls Canada’s RADARSAT-1 satellite and downlinks its data was used from the start of the Iraq war. Since December 2007, RADARSAT-2 data has also been available to US warfighters in Iraq.
Diplomatic Support:
Then-Prime Minister Jean ChrĂ©tien supported the right of the US to invade Iraq, although Kofi Annan said it was an illegal occupation. ChrĂ©tien “urged Canadians…not to criticize the US for attacking Iraq,” saying that to do so “would comfort Saddam Hussein.”
Training Iraqi Police:
Canada has spent millions sending RCMP officers to Jordan to train tens of thousands of cadets for Iraq’s paramilitary police force.
Training Iraqi Troops:
High-level Canadian military personnel joined the NATO Training Mission in Iraq to train the trainers of Iraqi Security Forces who are on the leading edge of the US occupation. A Canadian colonel, under NATO command, was chief of staff at the Baghdad-based training mission. Canada was the leading donor to this centre, providing an initial $810 thousand.
Funding Iraq’s Interior Ministry:
Canada provides advisers and financial support to this Ministry which has been caught running torture centers. Thousands of its officers have been withdrawn for corruption, and it has been accused of working with death squads that executed a thousand people per month in Baghdad alone during the summer of 2006.
Military Exports:
At least 100 Canadian companies sold parts and/or services for major weapons systems used in the Iraq war. For example, Quebec-based SNC-TEC sold millions of bullets to the US military forces occupying Iraq. General Dynamics Canada, in London Ontario, sold hundreds of armoured vehicles to the US and Australia. Between October 2003 and November 2005, these troop transport vehicles logged over 6 million miles in Iraq. And, Winnipeg’s Bristol Aerospace sells cluster-bomb dispensing warheads used by US aircraft in Iraq.
Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments:
The CPP forces working Canadians outside Quebec to invest their pension money in hundreds of military industries, including most of the world’s top 20 weapons producers. These CPP investments include the leading prime contractors for virtually all the major US weapons systems used in Iraq.
So, the next time a proud fellow citizen tells you that Canada didn’t join the Iraq war, refer them to this article and then remind them of Mark Twain’s famous qwip: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
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This article first appeared on the website of the Ottawa-based Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT).
RESOURCES:
Common Ground magazine
http://commonground.ca/
Babble
http://www.rabble.ca/babble/
From our weblog:
Kandahar carnage; Canada sends in the drones
WW4 Report, Feb. 24, 2008
/node/5130
From our archive:
The invasion begins
WW4 Report, March 23, 2003
/static/78.html#iraq1
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Reprinted by World War 4 Report, March 1, 2008
Reprinting permissible with attribution
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