Last Wednesday Lauren Oates, who’s quoted in the article below, squared off against StopWar.ca’s Derrick O’Keefe in a debate at the Vancouver Public Library about the occupation of Afghanistan. In the opinion of this audience member, Derrick destroyed her arguments easily. She, along with Terry Glavin and others who find themselves in bed with the National Post, rest their cases on a combination of mythology about the benevolent nature of “Canadian peacekeeping” and outright lies about the occupation of Afghanistan. Lauren Oates explained that the armed forces of NATO countries are the only forces preventing war in Afghanistan. That is, she insists that war is not war, occupation is not occupation and warlords are not warlords.
In the audience at last week’s forum I sat behind Ian King, 24Hours newspaper columnist and member of Lauren Oates’ and Terry Glavin’s “Canada-Afghanistan Solidarity Committee” (CASC) that is also cited below. When Oates’ double talk was challenged by Derrick, Ian King showed the best and the brightest of his sides manners by lurching forward in his seat and giving Derrick the finger with both hands. At one point he just couldn’t contain himself any more and interrupted the discussion by yelling out at Derrick over the moderator.
Mimicking King’s double-finger salute, the National Post is attempting to smear the anti-war movement by case-studying MAWO. It’s shameful and dishonest of the Nat’l Post (big surprise, I know) to drag out the MAWO card as a smear tactic. The ease with which this can be done is another negative mark on Ali Yerevani’s contributions to the left. On the positive side, however, this kind of dishonest smear is also a sign that anti-war consciousness about the occupation of Afghanistan is continuing to grow amongst people in Canada.
The sense I got at the forum was that Lauren Oates, Terry Glavin, Ian King, Stan Persky (?!) and others who mouth this “benevolent” imperialism line are putting forward the ideas that are most important to argue against in the debate about Afghanistan. Seeing this article doubles this suspicion for me. I think CASC is an outgrowth of the government and media constructed popular misunderstanding about what “Canada” Is on the World Stage, combined with some (equally constructed) lingering fantasies about the White Man’s Burden.
It amazed me that Lauren Oates had the gall to suggest that the occupation of Afghanistan can only be ended if the “root causes” of Afghanistan’s “real problems” are addressed. I agreed with her about what the real problems are: outside interference, poverty, lack of social infrastructure. But she never said what the “root causes” are. I think the anti-war movement has a far better chance of explaining than her.
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The honest anti-war position: Support
New B.C. group aims to laud, not decry, Afghan mission
VANCOUVER -The rabble will gather again today, outside this city’s main public art gallery on a large, downtown square, near clothing shops and record stores. A good spot for an anti-war protest.
As they always do, leaders of the group Mobilization Against War and Occupation will distribute propaganda-filled leaflets. MAWO’s message: Canadian soldiers deployed in Afghanistan are criminals, “battling a popular resistance movement of regular Afghan people.”
The recent decision in Parliament to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan “means two more years of plunder, two more years of destruction we must demand an end to this cruel war drive,” reads MAWO’s latest pamphlet.
A poorly formed view, but not uncommon. Similar sentiments are expressed throughout the country. But a new countermovement has formed, one that lauds the Canadian Forces and its efforts in Afghanistan. (…)
