Author: Yves Engler

Canada said their war in Libya was to defend human rights and enable democracy. But, NATO’s 2011 assault has unleashed a decade of instability and violence as well as deteriorating social and economic indicators. And they still haven’t held presidential elections.

Since the start of the month there has been an uprising against living conditions in Libya. Protesters are unhappy with power outages, corruption and the divided country’s failure to hold elections. On July 1 the parliament building in the east was stormed and burnt.

Describing the scene in Tripoli and Benghazi, New Arab reported, "Some brandished the green flags of the regime of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising that plunged the country into over a decade of violence." A June 27 Reuters story about the dire situation in the country’s eleventh biggest city explained: "Like everybody else Reuters spoke to in Sirte, he viewed the 2011 uprising as a foreign plot to destroy Libya and hankered for calmer times when Gaddafi lavished money on the city." In December the eastern and western based governments canceled a planned national election in part because Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, looked likely to win.

Continue reading “Is It Time for Canada To Apologize to Libya?”

The Liberals are intent on funneling ever more of our collective resources to bolster the US Empire, spending lavishly to "modernize" Canada’s chief bi-national military accord.

On Monday Defense Minister Anita Anand announced the government would spend $4.9 billion to upgrade the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The federal government said it will devote $40 billion to NORAD over 20 years, but it may be far more than that noted David Pugliese in a story headlined: "Cost to modernize NORAD set at $40 billion, but will final tally be higher?"

The media and government framed the announcement as strengthening Canada’s defenses. According to the Globe and Mail report, "the Canadian government has pledged $4.9 billion over six years to help upgrade North America’s air defenses, addressing the growing threat posed by hypersonic missiles and advanced cruise missile technology developed by Russia and China."

Continue reading “Canada To Spend Billions on NORAD So US Can Rule World”

A military funded academic, working at a school launched by Condoleezza Rice, claims leftist and antiwar journalists engage in Russian disinformation. His report doesn’t provide any evidence or refute anyone’s argument, but the mainstream media laps it up.

On Thursday the University of Calgary School of Public Policy released "Disinformation and Russia-Ukrainian war on Canadian social media". With the exception of a blog by Dimitri Lascaris that dismantled its absurd ideological premises, coverage of the report was almost entirely uncritical. Headlines included: "Canada target of Russian disinformation, with tweets linked to foreign powers" (Globe and Mail), "Why is Canada the target of a Russian disinformation campaign?" (CJAD Montréal) and "Canada is target of Russian disinformation, with millions of tweets linked to Kremlin" (City News Toronto). The report’s lead author Jean-Christophe Boucher was a guest on multiple TV and radio outlets, labeling those who question the role of NATO expansion, the far right and 2014 coup against an elected president in understanding the war in Ukraine "useful idiots" of Vladimir Putin.

Boucher and his co-researchers claim to have mapped over six million tweets in Canada about the conflict in Ukraine. They claim over a quarter of the tweets fall into five categories they label "pro-Russian narratives". But they don’t even attempt to justify the five categories. Instead, they simply list the most prominent commentators and political figures promoting these ideas under the rubric of "Top Russian-influenced Accounts". The list includes leftist journalists Aaron Maté, Benjamin Norton, Max Blumenthal, Richard Medhurst, and John Pilger. But no evidence is offered to connect these individuals to Russia.

Continue reading “Intellectual Prostitutes Call Critics Foreign Agents, Useful Idiots”

Canadians calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine have lost the plot. Unless their real aim is nuclear war.

Recently, former Conservative cabinet minister Chris Alexander, New Brunswick education minister Dominic Cardy and former Chief of the Defense Staff Rick Hillier have raised the idea of creating a “no-fly zone” (NFZ) over Ukraine. "We’re calling on all governments of the world to support creating a no fly zone over Ukraine," declared Michael Shwec, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, at a rally in Montréal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Congressman Adam Kinzinger have also called for NATO to adopt a NFZ.

A NFZ over Ukraine means war with Russia. It would force the US or NATO to shoot down Russian planes.

A war between Russia and NATO would be horrendous. Both the US and Russia have thousands of nuclear weapons. Highlighting the dangers, Paul Street wrote on Counterpunch that "any elected official calling for a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine should be forced to rescind that call or resign for advocating a policy that could lead to the end of human civilization."

Continue reading “Ukraine No-Fly Zone ‘Could Lead to End of Human Civilization’”

A friend in Montreal, whose partner is a teacher, recently messaged me:

"My wife, who sat through the Grade 4 virtual Remembrance Day activity organized by the school board described what it was like: The students watched two soldiers walk around a military base giving a tour. This included tanks. … A student asked if they use the tanks. The soldiers stumbled a bit and the spiritual animator intervened and said ‘we don’t ask soldiers about whether they use weapons or shoot people’. The soldier intervened and got upset. He said something to the effect of ‘no soldier joins the army to shoot people. We join to help people. Some people shoot people, but they have mental health problems that they need help with’. Then a captain cut in, seeming upset. He said ‘soldiers are trained and given an education. And it’s an education, not brainwashing!’ …

The Canadian military has been offering events and speakers – usually Afghanistan war vets, big banners and displays, etc. But I’ve never heard of this before. Touring a military base for 10 and 11 year-olds."

While there are likely many, I’m aware of at least one other instance where the army brought a tank to a schoolyard. In 2007 CBC reported that a Grade 4 "class at Holy Cross Elementary school [in St. John’s, Newfoundland] were given a firsthand show-and-tell session with a tank and related gear."

Continue reading “Canadian Forces Promote Militarism in the Classroom”

The growing campaign to oppose Canada spending tens of billions of dollars on 88 new fighter jets faces an important, if unconventional, obstacle: the warplanes themselves. Fighter jets are an important tool of militarist propaganda.

In recent weeks Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) planes have done numerous flyovers and participated in airshows across the country. As part of "Operation Inspiration" CF-18s flew over the Prince George Exhibition and lower Vancouver Island. The RCAF does flyovers at dozens of special events every year. In 2019 they flew by the opening game of the NBA finals and the Toronto Raptors’ massive victory celebration.

Fighter jets also participate in numerous airshows every year. In recent weeks CF-18s were part of the Camrose Drive-In Airshow, Cold Lake Aqua Days and Abbotsford International Airshow. To create popular support for the Air Force the RCAF has promoted airshows and flying for a century. In "The Public Face of the Royal Canadian Air Force: The Importance of Air Shows and Demonstration Teams to the R.C.A.F" Timothy Balzer writes: "For almost as long as Canada has had an air force, it has had demonstration flyers displaying the skill and daring required to be a pilot. From the first formation flight in 1919 on, demonstration teams have played an important role in keeping the Royal Canadian Air Force engaged and interacting with the Canadian public."

Continue reading “‘Sexy’ Jets, Airshows Sell War and Militarism”