Canadian General Itching For A New Foreign War

by Obert Madondo | The Canadian Progressive, Aug. 5, 2012:

In The Twilight War, historian David Crist unravels “the secret history of America’s 30-year conflict with Iran.” A secret conflict that appears certain to become a real war soon. Led by Israel. A war Canada’s Chief of Defence Staff General Walter Natynczyk seems to have been itching for since the announcement of the end of our questionable military involvement in Afghanistan.

Natynczyk revealed his warmongering itch to the Canadian Press on July 7.

But what bothers me is the fact that the general assigns the war-itch to the ordinary men and women in uniform. He said:

We have some men and women who have had two, three and four tours and what they’re telling me is ‘Sir, we’ve got that bumper sticker. Can we go somewhere else now?’

And:

You also have the young sailors, soldiers, airmen and women who have just finished basic training and they want to go somewhere and in their minds it was going to be Afghanistan. So if not Afghanistan, where’s it going to be? They all want to serve.

It’s Natynczyk who hungers for a new war. In the same Canadian Press interview, he told his troops to keep their “kit packed up” because “the world is an unpredictable place right now.” And because “our allies want more of Canada, more of the men and women who wear Canadian uniforms.”

But Natynczyk’s warmongering merely echoes Prime Minister Stephen Harper‘s own lust for war. The Conservative government has made every effort to militarize Canadian society. And our foreign policy.  Last year, Canada embraced Britain’s murderous history of colonialism, racism and plunder when the military restored the “Royal” moniker to the navy and air force. All in the name of embracing “our heritage”.

Yves Engler, “Canada’s Noam Chomsky” and author of several books on Canadian foreign policy, sheds more light on the issue in this enlightening piece published by iPolitics. He tells us that during their first six years in office, the Conservatives increased the military budget from $15 billion to $23 billion. The number of troops “rose by about one quarter to 95,000. The special forces, which Ottawa can deploy abroad in total secrecy, more than doubled.”

“An increase in the size and strength of the military makes war more likely,” Engler asserts.

Furthermore, Canada is planning to set up permanent military bases in seven countries around the world. Canada has already signed agreements to set up camp Germany, Jamaica and Kuwait. New bases are imminent in Kenya, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea and Tanzania.

According to a military briefing note obtained by Postmedia, the bases are designed to improve the Canadian Forces’ “ability to project combat power/security assistance and Canadian influence rapidly and flexibly anywhere in the world.” Publically, defense minister Peter MacKay called the base initiative part of expanding “our capability for expeditionary participation in international missions… We are big players in NATO.

What’s the Canadian media saying about this madness? Well, only progressive blogs seem to have the balls to challenge it. Rabble.ca, for example, calls it: Military subversion: Adventurism, seduction and transformation on the frontlines.

The corporate media is celebrating the madness. These headlines:

• Winnipeg Free Press: Canada’s top soldier says troops ready and eager for new overseas missions
• MetroNews: Top soldier: Troops eager for new missions

Photo credits: Winnipeg Free Press

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