The Harper Government and the War in Afganistan
- Harper’s Conservatives staunchly support the war in Afghanistan despite the increasing violence and human rights violations being perpetrated.
- According to the United Nations, the number of Afghan civilians killed by Western forces and the Taliban has drastically increased in 2008. In fact, in mid-August a single US airstrike killed 92 civilians, including 60 children.
- The insurgency in Afghanistan is being spurred by the actions of Canada and its allies. A 2007 Senate Defense committee report explained that “life is clearly more perilous because we are there.” Similarly, when the Globe and Mail interviewed 43 Taliban footsoldiers in Kandahar on their reason for fighting, twelve said their family members had died in US airstrikes and 21 said their poppy fields had been targeted for destruction by anti-drug teams.
- In May 2007 Harper’s Conservatives were caught denying allegations that Afghan prisoners were tortured before they had investigated these allegations. The allegations of torture were found to be true.
- A major French TV station caught a Canadian commander in Afghanistan telling villagers: “too bad for you if you don’t want to tell us where the Taliban are hiding. We will come and kill them. We will drop many bombs and fire all over. Is this what you want? Well then continue telling us nothing.”
- To understand the scope of Canadian military operations, Department of National Defense files made public in February show, “Canadian troops fired nearly 4.7 million bullets at insurgents over the last 20 months in Afghanistan.”
The Issues
Other Resources
RSS Feeds
Search This Site
