Fredericton Peace Coalition

The simplistic propaganda that equates “support for the troops” with support for the President’s war politics has always been cheap demagoguery, designed to shut down (or in the case of talk radio, out shout) reasoned political criticism of the war.

Canadian officials have often pointed to hopeful developments in southern Afghanistan, but they rarely challenge the statistics cited by the United Nations and private security analysts that suggest an overall worsening trend.

“The security situation in Afghanistan is assessed by most analysts as having deteriorated at a constant rate through 2007,” said a paper by the UN Department of Safety and Security in August. That report showed violent incidents increased almost 25 per cent this year, although the authors noted that the figure may be conservative. 

After the biggest opium harvest in Afghanistan’s history, American officials have renewed efforts to persuade the government here to begin spraying herbicide on opium poppies, and they have found some supporters within President Hamid Karzai’s administration, officials of both countries said.

Patrick Coburn: Six years after a war was launched to overthrow the Taliban, British solders are still being killed in bloody skirmishing in a conflict in which no final victory is possible.

Amy Goodman: The barbarous military regime depends on revenue from the nation’s gas reserves and partners such as Chevron, a detail ignored by the Bush administration.

Cinema Politica Fredericton presents the documentary

A complex historical truth emerges in Nicolas Rossier’s intelligent examination revealing the oft-supressed story of the 2004 coup d’etat in Haiti, as well as the systemic violence and human rights violations that erupted under the interim government. An interview with the deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Pretoria, South Africa, is juxtaposed with the views of a wide range of supporters and critics, including US Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega. It is not Aristide and the Lavalas supporters who emerge looking like thugs but international interests concerned with suppressing popular democracy and ending the reforms Aristide was capable of making – despite embargoes and the need to service a debt for loans Haiti never received. 2005. 84 min. Directed by Nicolas Rossier. Film to be followed by a discussion with Haiti Action Fredericton.

Fredericton Peace Coalition Position Statement on Yellow Ribbons “…we will be asking local businesses and churches to reconsider what displaying a yellow ribbon really means. For those wanting to show their support for the troops, but not the war, we will be offering another image that states “bring them home.”

Afghanistan is currently suffering its most violent year since the 2001 U.S.-led intervention, according to an internal United Nations report that sharply contrasts with recent upbeat appraisals by President Bush and his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai.

Canada’s Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day says there will be “consequences” for any illegal refugees who try to enter Canada without proper documentation.

300 Uncharged Prisoners Still in Guantanamo from 2001 Reward Program