Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press and Brick Ogden an American Expatriate in Amsterdam has been a key supporter of this project.
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the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
Will Canada to War with Iran Next?
by C. L. Cook The Canadian Broadcast Corporation is reporting today comments made by Defence Minister Peter Mackay charging Iran is responsible for arming Taliban elements of the Afghani resistance. It is, the CBC says, the first time Canadian officials have made such allegations publicly.
MacKay was in Afghanistan with Canada's Chief of Defence Staff, General Rick Hillier, and made his statement after helping serve Christmas dinner to some 900 Canadian soldiers stationed at Kandahar Airfield.
The American military similarly charged Iran provided
weapons and materiel to Iraqi resistance forces, so MacKay's comments
are hardly surprising given the close contact the two administrations
have shared since Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's ascension
nearly two years ago.
As well as a "muscular" approach to foreign
relations and the wars and occupations going on in Iraq, Afghanistan,
and Palestine, the two governments also sing from the same hymn book on
domestic social issues such as the War on Drugs, same-sex marriage, and
opposition to the Kyoto Accord on climate change.
Though the
allegation of aiding and abetting the Iraqi and Afghani resistance
respectively has not been proven by either America, or now Canada, (and
MacKay offered no clues as to where he received his information) the
minister asserted Iran was passing along to the Taliban so-called
"Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's), saying:
"We're very
concerned that weapons are coming in from Iran. We're very concerned
that these weapons are going to the insurgents."
MacKay may
indeed be concerned about IED's; of the 74 Canadians reported killed,
and many more injured, since Canada's "mission" in the Central Asian
country began shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the majority of those
casualties have been the result of roadside bombs.
Speaking before the soldier's mess, the minister saluted the troops, saying:
"Everyone in Canada is cheering for you; you're Canada's team."
Not
mentioned by Minister MacKay were polls in Canada that claim the
majority of Canadians do not support sacrificing more soldiers on the
distant battlefields of Afghanistan now, and have never supported the
Canadian Forces' mission-shift that has taken the country away from its
traditional "peacekeeping" functions to more emulate U.S./Israeli style
occupation-garrison duty.
With MacKay's hyperbolic Christmas
performance, consisting as it appears to have done, of inaccurate, and impolitic accusations, it
begs the question: Were MacKay's statements just a matter of too much
Christmas cheer, or does this salvo fired against Iran portend an official government of Canada policy shift, and perhaps a deeper involvement in war fighting in store for Canada in the new year coming?
Peter MacKay doesn't listen to arguments, he follows Bush's gut. written by Albertan,
December 26, 2007
Peter MacKay has the same tenuous grasp on reality that George W. Bush does. No matter what, he will find excuses to extend the deployment of the military, waging war while pretending to be Christian. The Conservatives whined and wanted to get Canadian troops sent to Iraq in 2003. If the Harper government had its way, we would be in Afghanistan for 50 years, we would be in Iraq, and we would be in Iran.
Even their slogans are copied directly from the Bushies: "Support our troops! (but don't question the war!)"
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A Breath of Fresh Air written by JP,
December 26, 2007
Thank God for the new Canadian government. Mackay is giving Canadians a reality check. We have to be tough on those that threaten international security, break international law and plan to nuke other countries. Irans actions have been unacceptable. And its about time we start sticking with our best ally and closest friend, the United States.
I would laugh, JP if I thought you were joking, but something tells me you don't see the irony of your comments: "We have to be tough on those that threaten international security, break international law and plan to nuke other countries." Tell me J., who do we know that has threatened international security, broken international law, and plan to nuke other countries lately? And what do you call someone who barges into your house, threatens your livelihood? You call them a "best ally and closest friend." Pathetic. And what, J. exactly is "the new Canadian government?" I'm curious about that.
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No WMDs In Iran? Find A New Excuse To Attack written by CT,
December 26, 2007
The Bush Administration lost its WMD argument for attacking Iran earlier this month. So now Iran is supposedly supplying weapons to Afghan insurgents. Bush is now trying to create a proxy war with Iran through Afghanistan and he wants Canada (Harper and MacKay) to help him.
Comment: I fear that Canada, against the will of its people, has like we Americans been drawn into a "black hole" of war death and spending for profits serving the global military industrial banking complex, led by the US. It is time for Canadians to speak up and defend their Constitution and international human rights law treaty obligations and resist global criminality underpinning the Afghan occuaption.
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Even their slogans are copied directly from the Bushies: "Support our troops! (but don't question the war!)"