The Canadian occupation of Afghanistan is on its last legs. After
eight years, the Canadian state and the corporate media have failed in
their attempt to convince ordinary Canadians of the benevolence of
Canadian imperialism.
Despite all of the feel-good stories of Canadian soldiers opening up
Tim Hortons and playing pick-up hockey in Kandahar, Canadians have
become fed up with the nasty truths coming out of Afghanistan—from
propping up the corrupt Karzai government that legalized rape, to the
ever-growing number of bodies coming back to Canada. Richard Colvin’s
testimony, admitting that Canadian soldiers were complicit in the
torture of prisoners (with the knowledge of the Prime Minister’s
Office), is the finishing touch.
Colvin was the senior Canadian diplomat in Afghanistan and was
stationed in the country for 17 months. Today, he occupies a key
position at the Canadian embassy in Washington, DC. While in
Afghanistan, Colvin reported directly to the leaders of the Canadian
military mission in Afghanistan, and his reports were directly read by
General Rick Hillier, the head of the Canadian armed forces at the time.
Testifying at a parliamentary committee investigating the mission in
Afghanistan, Colvin admitted that up until 2007, all of the prisoners
captured by Canadian soldiers were likely tortured after being handed
over to Afghan authorities. Colvin went on to say that most of these
detainees were probably innocent: “They were picked up … during
routine military operations, and on the basis typically not of
intelligence [reports] but suspicion or unproven denunciation.”
Furthermore, Colvin stated that most of the detainees were not
“high-value targets,” those actually responsible for the Afghan
resistance. Colvin said, “Many were just local people: farmers; truck
drivers; tailors, peasants – random human beings in the wrong place at
the wrong time.”
The Canadian mission was very much aware of the fate of Afghan
prisoners, even those that were innocent. “According to our
information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were
tortured. For interrogators in Kandahar, it was standard operating
procedure,” said Colvin. This knowledge wasn’t just limited to the
Canadians; the Red Cross was also aware of the torture going on and the
fact that Canada was directly involved in handing over detainees to
face torture. Colvin testified that throughout 2006, the Red Cross
routinely attempted to contact the Canadian mission in Kandahar but
“the Canadian Forces in Kandahar wouldn’t even take their phone calls.”
Perhaps the most damning part of Colvin’s testimony was the effect
the occupation was having in Afghanistan. According to Colvin, the
actions of the Canadian military mission effectively ended up being a
recruiting tool for the Taliban. “In Kandahar, Canada needs to convince
local people that we are better than the Taliban, that our values were
superior, that we would look after their interests and protect them. In
my judgment, some of our actions in Kandahar, including complicity in
torture, turned local people against us. Instead of winning hearts and
minds, we caused Kandaharis to fear the foreigners. Canada’s detainee
practices alienated us from the population and strengthened the
insurgency.”
The hypocrisy of the Afghan mission has been made very clear for
Canadians. For years, the government, the bosses, and their allies in
the corporate media have tried to convince us that Canada was in
Afghanistan for a greater good—to try to bring freedom and democracy to
the Afghan people, and to improve their lives. Instead, increasingly we
are being told of the real truths coming out of Afghanistan. Instead of
helping the Afghan people, the Canadian mission ruined the lives of
thousands. In a perverted sense of accomplishment, Colvin also noted
that Canadian soldiers were particularly adept at handing people over
for torture, admitting that Canada captured six times as many people as
the British, and 20 times more than the Dutch.
The Conservative government is desperately trying to salvage the
prestige of the occupation of Afghanistan and trying to backtrack on a
promise to remove Canadian troops by 2011. Even though Colvin said that
the PMO would have certainly been briefed on the tortures occurring in
Afghanistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter
MacKay continue to deny that anything wrong happened in Afghanistan.
The government, instead, is turning on Colvin! Conservative MPs have
suggested that Colvin is lying for propaganda purposes. Conservative MP
Jim Abbot said, “Out of 5,000 Canadians who have travelled through
there, at least in that period of time, you were the one single person
who is coming forward with this information. So you will forgive me if
I am skeptical.” However, the real kicker came from Tory MP Cheryl
Gallant who blamed Colvin for reducing public support for the
occupation of Afghanistan: “The fanning of the fames of outrage over
allegations [of torture], however unproven, are really having the
desired effect on the Canadian people of wanting our troops to return
even quicker.”
From the very beginning, we stated that the Taliban could never be
defeated on the basis of a foreign invasion. A foreign occupation of
Afghanistan would be the best recruiting tool for the Taliban. We also
stated that the so-called “superior morality” of the Western military
was a lie. Canadian and allied imperialism is prepared to go to any
length to gain profits, as these reports of torture show. The real
basis for freedom and liberation for working-class and peasant Afghans
is through a common struggle with their counterparts all over the
Middle East and Indian sub-continent.
The invasion of Afghanistan was never about freedom and democracy.
The imperialist powers (including Canada) wanted to secure the region
for their own interests. The bosses are desperately trying to salvage
something from this disaster but it is too late—there is no support,
neither in Afghanistan nor Canada.
Troops out now!
Source: Fightback
