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COAT
began
in 1989 to expose and oppose Canada's largest weapons bazaar. (Early
history.) COAT's first campaign led to
Ottawa City Council's 20-year ban on
hosting arms bazaars on municipal property. For two decades, COAT has published Press for
Conversion! magazine, organized peace rallies, vigils,
conferences and campaigns against the arms trade, military air shows and Canada's role in US-led wars, coups, invasions and regime changes.
Please join us in the
ongoing struggle to debunk
the MYTH that Canada is a global force for peace. CANSEC
RESEARCH
HAITI
SLIDESHOWS
VIDEOS
CANSEC
2010
Canada's largest
War Industry Bazaar
Rally for PEACE!
Videos & photos
from COAT's
June 2 Rally!
A great success!
THANKS to all!
Media: CANSEC/COAT
Decorating
Fence
Summary article
War
Exhibitors
What
you can do!
Other
events
Media
Advisory
(English French)
===============
CANSEC '09
City of Ottawa ended a 20-year ban on arms bazaars.
About
Campaign
CANSEC
'09
Files
See Online Petition
Pictures Inside
===============
Campaign '08
War
Show Cancelled!
CANSEC '09 Exporters
Canada's
War
Exports
Weapons Galore!
Fuelling
Iraq War
Exports to Israel
Article:
10 Ways Canada supported 2004 Coup against Haiti's Democracy
Magazines:
* Lies without
Borders
*
Putting the Aid
in Aiding &
Abetting
*
CIDA:
Funding Regime Change thru Haitian 'NGOs'
*
Canada’s Top 10 Contributions to Haiti's 2004 Coup
Protests!
Videos, Photos and
Articles on 50
post-Earthquake Protests in
Haiti
Links to Articles:
InvAID:
Militarisation of Aid
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what
you
know for sure,
that just ain't so."
Mark Twain
CANSEC 2009:
Fuelling wars around the world
Canada in the
Big
Business
of War:
Afghanistan!
Iraq! and
"Missile Defence"!
No Means Yes:
Canada & BMD
Learn more
Mothers' Day
at the
War Show
Watch COAT's
documentary on the militarisation of air shows, Iraqi
children's war art, and how warplanes are used to either entertain and recruit
kids or kill them.
See it now!
===========
Myths for
Profit
This documentary
has
an interview
with
COAT's coordinator,
Richard Sanders
COAT's disarmingly anti-war magazine
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Background on "Conversion": COAT's
magazine began in 1990 with a focus on the economic conversion of military
industries to socially-useful civilian production. By 1999, our concept of
conversion had evolved to include cultural, psychological and other factors
essential to transforming a world ruled by war, greed, deception and violence,
where "might is right," to one based on peace, justice, truth, human rights and
nonviolence. COAT's publication has similarly evolved. Each issue focuses on a
different anti-war theme. (Please spread the word.
Here's a flier describing
many of our back issues)
Free sample copy: If you're in
Canada and haven't previously received a sample of our magazine, just
email your name, address and postal code. We'll mail you our next issue.
#64
(November 2009):"CANSEC:
War is Business"
This 50-page issue on Canadian government and corporate complicity in the lucrative business of war, includes articles, tables and charts on:
* CANSEC, Canada's top arms bazaar (returning to Ottawa, June 2-3, 2010)
* Recent Canadian military exports that have fueled 62 countries at war
* Canadian war industries aid and abet Israel's bombing of Gaza
* Canada Pension Plan investments in the world's top war industries
* Canadian parts/services for major weapons for Iraq and other wars.
* War-related exports of Ottawa Mayor's Calian Technologies
* Canada's top-40 war exporters and what they manufacture
According to the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, between 2003 and 2006, Canadian military exports totalled at least $7.4 billion, mostly to the U.S, where it went into the weapons used everywhere from Iraq to Gaza....
But there’s no business like the war business, as the U.S. has demonstrated time after bloody time."
Antonia Zerbisias, "My Canada includes war, environmental degradation and lost causes," Toronto Star, March 31, 2010.
"One of the best sources for
information and background on Haiti is the Coalition to Oppose the
Arms Trade. I urge you to visit the site.
We all, me included, need to know the terrible details of our destruction
of democracy in Haiti and our continued complicity in the repression of
the population.... [W]e need to be holding the Harper government to account for the current militarization of the disaster response."
Murray Dobbin, "Mea culpa on Haiti," January 25, 2010.
HAITI
(Issues 60 - 63)
#63
(November 2008)
"Lies without Borders:
How CIDA-funded 'NGOs' waged a propaganda war
to justify Haiti’s 2004 coup"
This issue examines five major themes used in the propaganda war against Aristide's popularly-elected government. CIDA-funded
"NGOs" in Canada played a major role in rationalizing the destabilization and
overthrow of Haitian democracy and then covered up the human rights atrocities
of the Canadian-backed, coup-empowered dictatorship that followed:
(1) the supposedly fraudulent elections of 2000,
(2) "Black Friday," a 2003 pretext incident falsely blamed
on Lavalas,
(3) "Operation Baghdad," a fabricated terror campaign blamed on
Lavalas,
(4) The so-called "voluntary departure" of Aristide, and
(5) The lie that there were "no political prisoners" during the coup regime.
There are also background articles on: (a) the
demonization of Vodoun and the politics of religion, (b) a CIDA-funded
group in Haiti (i.e., NCHR) that concocted many of the lies spread by
CIDA's partners in Canada and (c) how CIDA groups adopted the Haitian
elite's vicious epithet, "chimère," to tar all poor black supporters of
democracy as if they were violent thugs.
#62 (May
2008) "Putting the Aid in Aiding and Abetting:
CIDA's Agents of Regime Change in Haiti's 2004 Coup"
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) contracted a variety of "NGOs" in Canada to aid and abet its policy of regime change in Haiti. Although these largely Quebec-based groups are part of movements dedicated to peace, development, human rights and "Third World" development, they played essential roles in the successful effort to destabilize President Aristide's elected government. Some of these Canadian "NGOs" funneled CIDA grants to their "partner" groups in Haiti to conduct virulently partisan, anti-Aristide campaigns. Other CIDA-funded groups in Canada contributed to the cause by lending legitimacy to the dictatorship that was illegally installed in 2004. As cheerleaders for Canada's role in the 2004 coup, these agents of regime change also helped with propaganda efforts to cover up the worst of the human rights abuses of the illegal, Canadian-backed regime. The following CIDA-funded "NGOs" and their shameful roles are discussed:
Alternatives, Canadian Foundation for the Americas, Centre for International Studies and Cooperation, Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs, Development and Peace, Freedom Network, International Legal Resources Centre, Québec Association of International Cooperation Organizations, Rights and Democracy, and Roundtable on Haiti.
#61 (September
2007) "CIDA's Key Role in Haiti's 2004 Coup d’état:
Funding Regime Change, Dictatorship and
Human Rights Atrocities, one Haitian 'NGO' at a Time"
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) helped overthrow the democratically-elected government of Jean Bertrand Aristide in 2004. In the years prior to this US-led regime change, although Aristide and his Lavalas government were extremely popular among the country's poor citizens, CIDA drastically cut bilateral aid. CIDA then poured millions into extremely partisan Haitian groups that represented the interests of Haiti's corporate elite. These groups helped destabilize Haiti's legitimate government and called for its overthrow. After the Canada-backed coup, CIDA and its proxy groups backed the brutal dictatorship that oversaw the illegal imprisonment and mass murder of thousands whose crime was supporting the constitutional government they had duly elected. CIDA also funded the regime's "Justice" ministry—responsible for the police, prisons and courts—which led to the persecution of pro-democracy advocates. CIDA's phony "human groups" not only covered up the coup-installed regime's brutal atrocities, they fabricated evidence to frame Lavalas leaders—including the President, Prime Minister, cabinet ministers, MPs and key activists. This made it impossible for Aristide's party to compete in the rigged, CIDA-funded elections of 2007. (Update: Since this issue was published, Lavalas was banned from participating in two elections!)
#60 (March 2007)
"A Very Canadian
Coup d’état in Haiti:
The Top 10 Ways that Canada’s Government helped the 2004 Coup and its Reign
of Terror"
This issue of the magazine exposes ten ways in which Canada's Liberal government
was complicit in (1) aiding and abetting the 2004 coup d'état that ousted
President Aristide's democratically-elected government and (2) supporting the
illegal, coup-installed regime that was responsible for two-year human rights
catastrophe that followed.
In early 2004, a U.S.-funded, trained and armed paramilitary force of former
CIA-backed death squads and disbanded military men attacked Haitian police
stations, massacred government supporters and released human rights abusers from prisons.
The U.S., Canada and France did nothing to assist Haiti's beleaguered government
but actually demanded that it share power with representatives of Haiti's wealthy corporate elite
that had lost the 2000 elections and supported the rebels. On February 28, President Aristide was kidnapped and
forced into exile by U.S. Marines, with help from a foreign occupation force of Canadian
and French troops.
That day, Haiti's popular government—which had a clear mandate to govern until 2006—was
illegally replaced by a puppet regime approved by Aristide's opposition,
the occupation governments and the UN Security Council. This brutal, coup-installed
regime was responsible for a two-year reign of terror in which thousands of prodemocracy
supporters were executed and many more jailed without charge.
"In conducting my preparatory research for my field trips into Afghanistan, one of the most useful references has been Issue #59 of Press for Conversion! This catalogue of Afghan Warlords turned politicians has proven to be a handy guide prior to my numerous interviews with many of these same nefarious characters. In fact, that dog-eared copy of Issue #59 has accompanied me on all five visits to Afghanistan."
and Author
#59
(September 2006)
"The New Face of
Terror in Afghanistan:
How so-called
'Democracy' Empowered our Allies --
the Fundamentalists,
Warlords and Drug Barons"
Click
here, or on the cover image for a PDF file of this issue. (10 mgs)
A phony democracy – dominated by warlords, drug
barons, oil industry representatives and World Bank administrators – has now
been successfully imposed upon Afghanistan by the world's major military and
economic powers, including Canada. The current issue of Press for Conversion!
outlines the key steps in the supposedly “democratic process" that brought this
government to power. The process began very soon after 9/11, which offered a
convenient pretext needed for U.S. air strikes that began on October 6, 2006.
Some 3,000-3,400 innocent civilians were killed during the first six months of
that U.S. bombardment alone. Thanks to the subsequent military, financial
and diplomatic efforts of American, Canadian and other NATO-member states, many
of Afghanistan’s most violent and dreaded terrorists are now back in power,
running the country's government. There has been an appalling litany of scandals
surrounding this supposedly "democratic process" that aided and abetted the
return to power of our closest allies in Afghanistan, the notoriously-brutal,
fundamentalist "Northern Alliance" warlords.
Related Event: Fearless Afghan Women MP,
Malalai Joya, spoke to a crowd of 450 in Ottawa on September 13, 2006, and
COAT's coordinator, Richard Sanders, had the honour of introducing her.
(Click here for more
information.)
#58 (March 2006)
"Canada’s
Role in the Militarisation of Space:
RADARSAT - The Warfighters’ Eye in the Sky
and
its links to 'Missile Defense'”
RADARSAT, is probably Canada’s single-most important
technological contribution to the militarisation of space and
U.S. warfighting. It has cost Canadian taxpayers about one BILLION
dollars to produce the world's most advanced commercial satellite
system and U.S. military and intelligence agencies are now among
its top users. In exchange for launching RADARSAT-1 in 1995, the
U.S. government directly controls 15% of its observation time
and has used its earth images for Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaissance operations during wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan
and Iraq. When the Liberal government privatised RADARSAT--giving
it to Vancouver's MacDonald Dettwiler and Assoc.--this firm was
wholly owned by a U.S. war industry that builds "missile
defense" rockets. (David Emerson was on MDA's Board of Directors.)
U.S. and NATO warfighters are looking forward to the launch of
RADARSAT-2 in December of 2006. They have used war games to practise
using RADARSAT-2, particularly in its most coveted role: the tracking
and targeting of moving, ground vehicles. The exploitation of
this data was developed by Canada's Department of National Defence
in collaboration with the Ballistic Missile Defence Organization.
Together they developed plans for using RADARSAT-2 data in the
first-strike attacks of "Theatre Missile Defense" operations.
The idea of this “missile defense” is not to protect
the homeland but to defend missiles, troops and warships deployed
to distant war zones.
Here's an article
summarising this issue. Please forward it to friends, list serves
and post it to websites, etc.
#57 (October 2005) "Canada’s Role in so called 'Missile Defense'
Part II: Sea-based, Theatre Ballistic Missile Defense"
This issue contains more, original COAT research on Canadian contributions to the creation, development and deployment of "missile defense" weaponry, with a particular focus on sea-based systems within the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) program. TMD is at the cutting edge of what is popularly known as “missile defense.” Although the purpose of "missile defense" has been sold to the public as a system to protect them from rogue states and terrorists, its real purpose is altogether different. The reality is that before long, the advanced weapons systems–that are now being developed under the protective guise of "missile defense"–will be used for “offensive” purposes. Their role will be to protect troops, warships and their offensive weapons systems during wars of aggression. As usual, Canadian government, corporate, military and scientific communities have been, and still are, very deeply involved in this U.S.-led effort to build the most advanced tools of war ever seen. The contributions to “missile defense” made by these Canadian companies is examined: DRS Technologies Canada, ITS Electronics, Lockheed Martin Canada, Meggitt Defense Systems and Telemus.
#56 (June 2005) "Canada’s Role in so called 'Missile Defense'
Part I: NORAD, Government Largesse and the
ABC’s of Corporate Complicity"
Canada's supposed “no” to "missile defense" was a completely meaningless, PR gesture with no real or practical significance. The fact is that Canada's government did not do anything at all to stop the many already existing forms of Canadian complicity in “missile defense.” Neither did if prevent further participation in this U.S.-led weapons development program. The Liberal's "no" was cleverly designed to deceive the public, cover up existing involvement in these advanced weapons programs and to buy support for their failing minority government. The lie that Canada was not involved, was swallowed hook, line and sinker by the mainstream corporate media. Many peace activists, including some of the most high-profile opponents of "missile defense" in Canada erred when they accepted the government's ploy and claimed victory. By spreading such statements as "We win on missile defense!" and by naively congratulating the government for "not joining," many peace activists fell into the government's trap. This error has gravely undermined real efforts to stop Canada's ongoing role in the most comprehensive weapons development program in world history. This issue looks at the collaboration in "missile defense" by various government departments, agencies and crown corporations as well as Canadian companies such as: ATCO Frontec, AUG Signals, Bristol Aerospace, CAE, CMC Electronics Cincinnati, Cognos and COM DEV International.
#55 (December 2004)
"Missile Defense:
Trojan Horse for the Weaponization of Space"
"Missile defense" is a deceptive term -- it is a linguistic shield to protect the military-industrial complex (and political allies) from public attack. The term disguises their plan to put weapons into space. While politicians pretend that “missile defense” has nothing to do with space weapons, the corporate media perpetuates the myth that this military program is purely defensive. This incredibly expensive weapons system will supposedly protects the public from terrorists and rogue states. However, it continually fails even during rigged tests. “Missile defense” will never actually work because to protect the homleand because there are so many cheap and easy ways to foil it. So, if it is not a "defensive shield," what is it? This Press for Conversion! examines the nefarious, military origins of America’s space program and reveals that “missile defense” actually does work incredibly well at fulfilling these major goals:
(1) Subsidizing “corporate welfare bums”: Multibillion-dollar arms industries are making a killing; Taxpayers are footing the bill.
(2) Global military/economic control: With American space weapons able to attack targets anywhere on earth, the U.S. will control the ultimate, military "high ground." Using many quotes from military documents, this issue shows that the U.S. plans to wage wars from space to expand American control global resources and other commercial interests.
#54 (August 2004)
"All in the Family:
The Apple
does not Fall Far from the BUSH
The Bush family's links to fascism:
President George W.Bush's grandfather
(Senator Prescott Bush) and his great-grandfather (George Herbert
Walker) built vast fortunes that were later used to launch the
careers of George Herbert Walker Bush and George Walker Bush.
This is how the two George Bushes could afford to get their start
in the oil business as well as the slick business of politics.
This issue of COAT's magazine provides shocking evidence showing
that Prescott Bush and George H.Walker were the financial managers
of well-organised American effort to funnel the investments of
right-wing U.S. bankers and industrialists into Germany which
funded the rise to power of the Nazi Party and Adolph Hitler.
During WWII, the banking house of Prescott Bush and George H.
Walker profited from companies that used slave labour at the Auschwitz
concentration camp. Then, after the war, these forefathers of
President George Bush helped launder Nazi loot in the U.S. U.S.
intelligence agencies were then complicit in covering their tracks.
The ill-gotten financial empire was used to launch the careers
that eventually put two George Bushs in the White House. This
issue of COAT's magazine also looks at the political actions of
President George W.Bush, and his father President George H.W.Bush
and shows that they continued the political and economic legacy
of fascism that was begun by their forefathers.
#53 (March 2004)
"Facing the Corporate Roots of American Fascism"
Few realize that during the early 1930s, there was a homegrown fascist plot to overthrow the U.S. government and install a dictatorship. This plan was however thwarted by Marine Corps General Smedley Butler, who was then the most popular military leader. Butler pretended to go along with the conspirators in order to learn who was behind it. He then blew the whistle by testifying to a government committee on "unamerican activities." Butler named the corporate leaders who he had discovered were planning to oust President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The committee however did not pursue the main culprits behind the fascist plot and did not include many of their names in their report. This incensed Butler who then held press conferences and went on the radio to name the top corporate leaders behind the plot. This issue contains original COAT research that examines who these American fascists were. They were associated with a powerful organization called the American Liberty League. Many of the companies that the plotters owned and contolled are now among the world's wealthiest corporations. As it turned out, they did not need to go ahead with this plot in order to regain control of the White House. By reading this issue of the magazine you will find out who the plotters were, who financed them and how they schemed to overthrow the White House and empower a fascist government in America.
#52 (October 2003):
Operation Embedded Complicity:
Canada, Playing our Part in the
Business of War
This issue is filled with detailed analysis of the many ways in
which the Canadian government and corporations are deeply embedded
in the U.S. “war machine.” For example, the Canada Pension
Plan invests in America’s biggest war industries, including
those producing dozens of major weapons systems used in the Iraq
war that began in 2003. This issue has original COAT research
listing 100 Canadian military companies that have provided parts
and services for the major weapons systems used in Iraq. This
issue also exposes statistics on the how the Canadian government
has over the past few decades given billions of dollars to Canadian
arms industries that have aided and abetted US wars and invasions.
Also revealed is a the flow of financial support from Canada's
military industrial complex into both the Liberal Party and the
Conservative Party. This issue provides detailed evidence showing
that over the past decade, war-related corporations in Canada
have given millions of dollars in political donations to these
parties, and that the primary recipient of this corporate largesse
has been the Liberal Party.
View the ONLINE PETITION that COAT created to demand that the Canadian
government
Stop Canada Pension Plan Investments in War
View several thousand signatories and their comments
and enterprises that manufacture and trade in military arms and weapons,
have records of poor environmental and labour practices or whose conduct
and practices are contrary to Canadian values.'....
Mr. Martin said his motion was inspired by a recent study by the Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade, which linked CPP investments to top U.S. military contractors."
Bill Curry, "Invest pension fund ethically: NDP motion," Ottawa Citizen, February 8, 2004.
Pat Martin, NDP MP
#51 (May 2003):
The U.S. Role in Wars and Regime Changes
in the Middle East and North Africa since World War II
Why is the U.S. government reviled by so many people in the Middle East and North Africa? Is it, as President George W. Bush has claimed, simply because these people are jealous of American democracy and human rights? This issue of the magazine looks at the past 50 years of wars and regime changes in the region and unveils a consistent pattern of U.S. involvement. A more plausibly explanation for why U.S. foreign policies are vehemently opposed by many people in this region, is that the U.S. government has frequently backed repressive wars, invasions, coups, covert operations and dirty tricks in the Middle East and North Africa. This issue looks at two dozen specific examples of the meddlesome role played by U.S. military forces and intelligence agencies in the major wars and unpopular regime changes that have harmed the people of this region over the past five decades. These U.S. interventions have served to undermine democracy and basic human rights in the region since WWII. Case studies include U.S. involvement in the following countries:
Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
#50 (January
2003):
Going to War: The American use of War Pretext Incidents
This issue contains original research revealing that U.S. war planners have repeatedly used elaborate webs of deceit to con the public into rallying behind major wars whose real purposes involved building vast profits for small corporate elites. There has long been a specific pattern of trickery and propaganda that has been used to generate the much-needed domestic support for aggressive U.S. wars. This issue looks at seventeen case studies that occurred between 1846 and 2003. In each case, there were dramatic pretext incidents that aroused widespread sympathy and thus garnered much-needed public support for wars that would have otherwise have been unpopular. These incidents were either deliberately provoked, allowed to occur, completely fabricated or exploited after the fact. The real, largely economic, functions of these wars would not be accepted. Case studies include:
1846: The Mexican-American War; 1898: The Spanish-American War; 1915: World War I; 1941: World War II; 1950: The Korean War; 1954: The Covert War Against Guatemala; 1962: Plans to Create Pretexts for War with Cuba; 1964: The Vietnam War; 1979: The Covert War in Afghanistan; 1983: The Invasion of Grenada; 1986: The Bombing the Libya; 1989: The Invasion of Panama; 1991: The Gulf War; 1999: NATO's War Against Yugoslavia; 2001: The Afghan War and the "War Against Terror;" 2003: The New Iraq War.
Proposed COAT Video Project on War Pretext Incidents (This project is on hold.)
William Blum, a former US State Department employee, is the author of "Killing Hope: US Interventions in the Third World since World War II."
#49 (October
2002):
Real Reasons for Invasion of Iraq
Obviously the invasion of Iraq had nothing to do with either finding "weapons of mass destruction" or fighting terrorism. These were just the phoney pretexts that U.S. and British warplanners used to generate public support for the war. Neither can it be claimed that the U.S. wanted to promote democracy by ridding the Middle East of Saddam Hussein. If this was truly the case, why did the CIA back the Ba'athist coup in 1963 and then arm and finance Saddam's brutal regime throughout the following decades? This issue of COAT's magazine examines the "real reasons" for the U.S./UK-led invasion of Iraq, that began in 2003. These reasons include the following:
(1) controlling U.S. and allied access to Iraqi oil,
(2) feeding the military-industrial complex,
(3) distracting attention away from domestic economic woes and
(4) establishing military bases in Iraq in order to pursue the more ambitious imperial quest to control valuable strategic resources in the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere around the world.
#48 (July
2002):
Canada's Military Air Shows:
Reaching New Heights in the
Glorification of War
This issue contains a wealth of original COAT research about militarised
war shows. So called "air shows” are in fact the world's
biggest military propaganda exercises. These events are elaborate
"psychological operations" designed to build public
support for warfighters and their use of "air power"
in state-sponsored violence. War shows also serve other major
functions, such as the indoctrination of children and the recruitment
of youth into military career paths. This issue examines 27 of
Canada's largest war shows in great detail and reveals that 82%
of the almost 400 aircraft that were used to “entertain”
huge crowds at these spectacles were military. And, sixty percent
of the military planes that "performed" in Canada at
these events were fighters, bombers and military transport planes
of the US Air Force. This issue lists all of the wars in which
these warplanes have been used. It also looks at the weapons of
mass destruction that they have been used to "deliver"
to targets around the world.
Read more about COAT's 30-minute documentary:
"Mothers'
Day at the War Show."
#47 (March 2002):
Divide and Rule: Understanding
the India-Pakistan Conflict
This issue begins with a series of articles examining
the historical context of the conflict between India and Pakistan.
Much of the blame is laid on (1) British colonialism, and its
"divide-and-conquer" policies that culminated in partition,
and (2) the U.S. use of Pakistan as a military client state during
the Cold War. When the CIA fought its biggest covert, proxy war
in Afghanistan, it used Pakistan as a conduit for arming, financing,
training and equipping the fundamentalist, Islamist mujahadeen.
This was a deliberate effort to provoke the Soviet Union to become
embroiled in the war. This US support for terrorism had its repercusions
on Indo-Pakistani politics. The particularly thorny issue of Kashmir
as a potential flashpoint for nuclear conflict, between India
and Pakistan is also explored in a number of articles. Also examined
is the issue of the arms trade and Canada's role helping to arm
these two countries.
#46 (December 2001):
Power Politics:
Oil, Terror and the War Against Afghanistan
Published not long after 9/11 and the illegal U.S.
invasion of Afghanistan, this issue takes a radical look at the
underlying purpose of this war and the military occupation that
followed. To understand the real economic and geopolitical reasons
for this war, it is necessary to realise that the vast oil and
natural gas reserves of Central Asia, particularly around the
Caspian Sea, are highly-coveted by the US and others. Afghanistan
is needed as a ruote for a pipeline to get these resources to
the Persian Gulf so that they can be shipped to market.
#45
(July 2001):
Taking Over the World:
Militarism and Corporate Globalization
This issue looks at the origins of corporate globalization and contains
many informative articles that explore the important links between war,
militarism, big business and the increasing power that corporations wield over
governments around the world. Among other things, this edition examines the
important contribution played by military industries in making the world safe
for global capitalism.
#44 (April 2001):
Canada's Military Exports:
Fuelling wars and abusing international human/labor rights
This annual research report by COAT juxtaposes evidence from a variety of
sources to demonstrate Canada's complicity in international war crimes and
crimes against humanity. Information
presented includes:
(1) military export data from the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade,
(2) data on wars and armed conflicts that have been fuelled by
Canadian military exports,
(3) summaries of human rights abuses (including labour rights
violations) committed by governments receiving Canadian military
hardware, and
(4) Canadian government promotion of arms bazaars and other foreign
"business opportunities."
Case studies examining Canadian military exports and human
rights abuses, include:
Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Israel, Korea (South),
Malaysia, Morocco, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan,
Thailand, Turkey, UAE and Venezuela.
Svend Robinson, then-NDP MP, in the House of Commons, recorded in Hansard, November 19, 2001.
#43 (January 2001):
A People's History of the CIA:
The Subversion of Democracy from
Australia to Zaire
This issue summarises three dozen examples of the Central
Intelligence Agency's covert efforts to overthrow and undermine
democratic governments around the world since WWII. The case studies
examine the CIA's early support for German fascists and describe
many "dirty tricks" that they used to subvert governments
in countries such as:
Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Angola, Chile, Colombia, Congo,
El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Indonesia, Italy, Iraq,
Iran, Nicaragua, Panama and Vietnam.
Also included is a well-documented example from Canada. In 1963,
the CIA played a role in "knocking over" the Progressive
Conservative government of John Diefenbaker. Dief was successfully
ousted thanks largely to a joint effort by officials of the US
State Department, the CIA, the US Ambassador, top brass within
the Canadian and US militaries, and our corporate media. The US
pushed this "regime change" because Dief refused to
allow US nuclear weapons to be based in Canada. Within months
of Pearson's Liberals coming to power, they allowed the deployment
of US Bomark nuclear missiles in BC and Quebec.
#42
(October 2000):
Nonviolent Resistance to War and Injustice
This issue is a primer on the history and use of nonviolent
direct action as a powerful tool in the struggle to oppose war
and injustice. The articles are divided into three main sections
focusing on:
(1) the principles of nonviolence,
(2) various ongoing
campaigns around the world, and
(3) useful resources, including
organizations and publications.
#41 (July 2000):
Building a Culture of Peace
The articles in this issue, gathered from a variety
of sources, are organized into four sections:
* UN Year for a Culture of Peace
* Myth Making and Myth Breaking
* Converting the Symbols and Tools of War
* Challenging War Shows
A Rough Guide to the Real Obama, on $2.3 Billion a Day
(Click
above for some gory details)
Did you know that President Obama:
- voted for every one of President Bush's Iraq-War funding increases?
- believes Bush's "surge" in Iraq has "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams" and has proclaimed his "absolute" belief in the "War on Terror"?
- criticized the Iraq War because it is "unwinnable," not because it is illegal, immoral and has killed more than one million Iraqis?
- will probably leave 140,000 private contractors (mercenaries) and as many as 60,000 to 80,000 regular US troops in Iraq?
- is willing to bomb Iran and won't rule out a first strike nuclear attack?
- wants to send an additional 10,000 US troops to wage war in Afghanistan?
- wants to expand that war with unilateral air strikes to bomb Pakistan?
- supported Israel's war against Lebanon?
- supports Ballistic Missile Defense and the death penalty, but opposes gay marriage and universal, single-payer health care?
Unfortunately, this is just the tip of the Real Obama iceberg....
The naive idea that Obama opposes war is a powerful myth that impedes the
peace movement's ability to mobilize opposition to the continuation
of US militarism and imperialism....
COMPARE OTTAWA MAYORS!
Marion
Dewar(1928-2008)
Ottawa's much-loved former mayor was the NDP president, an MP, president of Oxfam Canada. Marion was a long-time supporter and mentor of COAT. In 1989, she MCed COAT's huge rally against the ARMX weapons bazaar. Twenty years later she opposed the City of Ottawa's provision of municipal facilities to CANSEC.
Larry O'Brien
Ottawa's current mayor is a controversial business man who stood trial for bribery and influence peddling for alleged efforts to rig the Ottawa election. (He won the election and the trial.) He is the founder (and remains on the board of directors) of Calian Technologies, an Ottawa-based war industry that exhibits its wares at the CANSEC arms bazaars.
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