Peace Action Called for October
Canadian Peace Alliance Issues a Call to Action
The Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA) has issued an action calling for Canada out of Afghanistan and the United States out of Iraq. The date for the action is October 27/07.
The call to action is officially named:
Not One More Dead
Bring the Troops Home Now
Pan-Canadian Day of Action Against War
The Canadian government has been telling its people that the reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan are being proved a success; that a better way of life is being experienced by the people there, and that this is a worthwhile mission as a result.
However, the message the government and corporate media are communicating, and the reality of the situation, are far different. The Senlis Council recently released a report that investigated the reconstruction claims by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and actually found little of the promised reconstruction in Kandahar. Beyond the gates of the Canadian base, the Afghan people are starving, their local hospitals have no medicine or equipment despite promises of money from CIDA, there is a rise in civilian casualties, and as a result, more people are joining the resistance
Dozens of Canadian soldiers have been killed while attempting to secure the Panjwai district of Kandahar -- and 18 months later, troops remain there still trying to "secure" that same patch of land. All the while, the poppy trade is booming 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. These numbers are expected to increase, because more than 60 percent of the elected members of the Afghan parliament are connected to warlords and drug barons. Opium production had been eradicated by 2001, making this increase in production a direct result of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan.
The Canadian government has said that troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2009, but with everything that is happening over there, 2009 is not soon enough.
As well, on October 27, 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.
If your peace group is going to be planning an action on October 27, the CPA wants to hear about it so that they can post it on its website.
