For six years, some 55,000 troops have been in Afghanistan fighting a seemingly endless war. Billions of dollars of foreign aid have been poured into the country. Thousands of military and civilian causalities are the tragic human cost. International observers report that corruption is rampant, and the opium trade flourishes. A new Taliban insurgency is active. Washington has lined-up its junior partners to hold down Afghanistan, especially since 9/11 while the Americans devote their main energies to keeping Iraq from falling apart. In Canada meanwhile an unprecedented public concern has emerged, shown with every opinion poll which shows a majority of Canadians want to end Canada's currently defined military involvement in Afghanistan.
In Quebec, the public demand for immediate withdrawal is highest and very visible. Afghanistan and Canada brings together some of the most articulate and expert persons on this hot public issue. The contents lucidly review the facts about what is going on in this war-torn country. The changes brought about in both Canadian foreign policy and defense policy by the current Conservative government are critically examined.
The impact of a massively increased military budget of billions of dollars and the corporate contracts changing Canada's domestic and international priorities are analyzed. The massively advertised military recruitment campaign and the changed role of the Canadian armed forces are shown to have a distorting effect on society. These and related issues are brought to light in this cogently edited anthology.
This video is from the Pimento Report #10:
Contributors to this major book include these distinguished persons: Michael Neuman, Murray Dobbin, D'Abord Solidaires, John W. Warnock, Tariq Ali, Echec a la Guerre, Stephen Cornish, Linda McQuaig, Ira Basen, Ligue des droits et libertes, Richard Preston, Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims, Asad Ismi, Rose Marie Whalley, John Foster, A. Walter Dorn, Pierre Beaudet, Claude Castonguay, Richard Preston, Peggy Mason, Lucia Kowaluk and Steven Staples.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements / Introduction
- The Context Putting an End to the "Great War for Civilization - D'abord Solidaires War-fighting
- Role in Afghanistan Betrays Canadian Values - Murray Dobbin
- Canada in Afghanistan: "a well-intentioned atrocity" - Michael Neumann
- History and Background What Is Canada Promoting in Afghanistan? A Brief History of Its Role - John W. Warnock
- Afghanistan: Mirage of the Good War - Tariq Ali
- Canada's Role in the Occupation of Afghanistan - Échec à la Guerre
- Current Situation and Canada's Role How Much Is This War Costing Canadians? - Steven Staples
- The Challenges to Aid: Humanitarian and Development Work in the "War on Terror" - Stephen Cornish
- Afghan Torture Furor Shows How Canada Kowtows to the US - Linda McQuaig
- No Life Like It: The PR Battles of the Canadian Military - Ira Basen
- Is the War in Afghanistan Legal? - Ligue des Droits et Libertés
- Finally We Know Why Canada is War-fighting in Kandahar - Richard Preston
- Women's Question The Role of Women in Building Afghan Society - Cheshmak Farhoumand-Sims
- An Interview with Afghan MP Malalai Joya - Asad Ismi
- A Visit to a Pashtun Village - Rose Marie Whalley
- Geo-politics and Energy What Our Leaders Won't Tell Us - John Foster
- A Pipeline Through a Troubled Land: Afghanistan, Canada, and the New Great Energy Game - John Foster
- What Can Be Done? What Has Happened to Canada's Honourable Role as a Peacekeeping Nation? - A. Walter Dorn
- Canada and the Crisis in Afghanistan - Pierre Beaudet
- Afghanistan - A Disastrous Situation - Claude Castonguay
- An Alternative to the Manley Report - Richard Preston
- Back to the "Peace" in Peacebuilding: An Old/New Role for Canada - Peggy Mason
Lucia Kowaluk is a grass-roots community organizer and former coordinator of the Urban Ecology Center of Montreal. Steven Staples is the head of the Rideau Institute in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a major researcher, often interviewed in the media on Canadian defence and foreign policy.
200 pages, 5.5x8.5, bibliography and index
Paperback
978-1-55164-328-1 $24.99
Hardcover
978-1-55164-329-8 $44.99
PDF eBook
978-1-55164-349-6 $11.99