I think that if we are going to congratulate Chrétien and the Liberals for anything having to do with this war, we should be recognize them for the absolutely fantastic propaganda campaign that they've carried out. They have miraculously managed to con the majority of Canadians into thinking that this country is NOT involved in the US war against Iraq when, as we've seen, Canada IS very deeply involved, more involved in fact than most of America's "Coalition of the Willing."
Much of the thanks for this con job must go to the mainstream media. It is doing a fine job of perpetuating the lie that the Canadian government is not involved. They surely don't need any additional help from the peace movement in promoting this deception. Surely, the peace movement should not do anything at all to assist the media or the government in spreading the myth even further that Canada has taken a stand for peace against this war. This now-prevailing myth can be heard on the lips of radio and TV anchors, hosts and interviewers. It is now the commonly accepted reality. It is rapidly becoming entrenched in the Canadian pysche. This chapter in the "Canada is a Peacemaker" myth, will go down in our history as one of the most dazzling examples of hypocrisy. I fear that even years from now, many Canadians will look back at this war and remember it as the one that Canada didn't participate in. The Canadian government is receiving kudos from many peace-loving Canadians and organizations, as if it was some great force for world peace, when the reality is that our government is once again deeply complicit in an US-led, illegal war.
The question that faces us is this mess is: do we want to help the media, the government, the military and various right-wing elements in this country who are propagating the predominating mythology that Canada is not involved in the war, or, do we want to try our best to expose this lie for what it is?
First, let's be clear about our situation. A massive war crime is now underway in Iraq. By aiding and abetting the US, Canada is a major contributing partner in this array of international crimes. Perhaps that, in part, is also why they are trying desperately to hide their complicity. Canadians are being duped into believing that our government and military are not involved in this crime.
Once we've seen through the government's public relations propaganda, one thing that we can do is talk to our allies in the peace movement who seem somehow to have fallen for the old Liberal scam. We can also express our opposition to those in the mainstream media that are continuously repeating phrases that reveal their underlying, naive assumption that Canada is not involved in this war.
We can point out that the pretence of posing as peacemakers while profiting from war is practically what defines classic, Liberal-style, peace politics. Remember the old saying about the Liberals that they run their campaigns from the left, but govern from the right? There is the same dichotomy between what they say and what they do, i.e., they talk like lefty humanitarians but rule like right-wing warmongers.
While on the subject of sayings, I am reminded of one of my favourite "Bushisms." On September 17, 2002, while visiting Nashville, Tennessee, "President" George Bush said: "There's an old saying in Tennessee I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee that says, fool me once, shame on shame on you. Fool me you can't get fooled again."
So, as we approach April Fools Day, we should recall that Liberal trickery is not just evidenced in their approach to peace issues. It runs the whole gamut of their political platform. The Liberals have viciously slashed funding for housing, health, education, the environment and overseas development, while at the same time they are always presenting themselves as the righteous champions of all these programs. This is, after all, really what defines the Liberal Party. This is what distinguishes them from the openly, right-wing parties that more or less unashamedly crush social programs on the basis that they are too expensive, or could be done more efficiently if privatized, or simply because less government is better, i.e., the "get the government off our backs" approach.
The power brokers within the Liberal Party -- the cabinet and the backroom PR boys that manipulate the public's perception about what Liberals stand for -- are essentially right-wingers who are smart enough to know that to maintain votes they must appear to be opposed to blatant rightwing politics.
Should we praise them when they make proud statements extolling social programs while at the same time they inflict death blows to the very programs that they claim to protect? Should we praise them for peace initiatives when they are meanwhile profiting from war?
To counteract the prevailing propaganda of this war, Canadian peace activists need to point out however and wherever we can that applauding the Canadian government for staying out of this war is not only inaccurate (because Canada IS in fact supporting the war with troops, warships, weapons, diplomatic support, etc.) but that it is also dangerous for our movement in the long run because it will help to prolong the reign of the Liberal Party.
If the Alliance Party was in power now are we so sure that Canada's actual, concrete commitment to this war would be all that different from the way it is? Perhaps under the reigns of the Alliance, Canada's commitment to this war would have looked more like the 1991 Iraq war when the Conservative Party was in power. They did contribute some warplanes in 1991. But remember that eight years later, Canada's contribution -- under the Liberal government -- to the US-led war against Yugoslavia, was much more vicious thanour role in 1991. Canada was responsible for a large percentage of the bombing sorties in Yugoslavia.
I would argue that if the Alliance was in power, Canada's contribution to the war would not be very different from the current Liberal contribution, at least in terms of the actual physical contribution to the fight. The real big difference would be in all the Alliance verbiage about their contribution to the fight. The Alliance would be much more up-front and honest about their contribution. In fact, they would take the list of ways that they were contributing (much the same list as what the Liberals are contributing) and they would puff up the public appearance of each and every item. The Alliance would have officially joined the "Coalition of the Willing," not pretended that they weren't even involved. They would have bragged about all of the many ways that they were supporting their American friends in this war, not pretending to be opposed to it.
I'm not saying I'd prefer an Alliance government but I am saying that it would be easier for us to oppose it. The Liberals create such a smoke screen and dodge around so much, that their policy on this war has take on the appearance of a neutron dancing around the nucleus of an atom. It is impossible to know exactly where they stand. The Hiezenberg uncertainty principal of atomic physics certainly applies to Liberal policies. Depending on who these chameleons are talking to, the position of their spots is sure to change.
Read more here ....
Canada's "Secret" Contribution to the War in Iraq: Knowledge Driven Revolution