Book Review: Lester Pearson’s Peacekeeping: The Truth May Hurt, by Yves Engler

From the late 1940s until the 1960s Pearson backed all of the major U.S. moves against nationalist governments that sought to control their countries' internal resources. The most notorious are the 1953 CIA inspired coups against democratically elected administrations in Guatemala and Iran. Neither has never really recovered from the consequences of those decisions by Washington to intervene.

Pearson was adamant and consistent in opposing every significant anti-colonial movement in the developing world from the 1940s to the 1960s whether it involved Algeria, Indochina or Africa or Indonesia.

Furthermore, he fought against UN resolutions denouncing apartheid in South Africa, accepted American nuclear weapons on Canadian soil following the U.S. inspired election defeat of Conservative PM John Diefenbaker and provided plenty of diplomatic support to the American war in Vietnam -- despite the well publicized scolding received from President Lyndon Johnson after Canada's PM urged a bombing pause over North Vietnam in April 1965.

Engler suggests that Canada made a lot of money out of the Vietnam War through the sale of raw materials like nickel, aluminum, iron ore and steel, as well as weapons to the Americans. During its failed battle to keep Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) in the 50s from becoming independent states, France was also a beneficiary of tens of millions of dollars in Canadian arms through NATO's Mutual Aid Program, he adds.

He writes that Pearson was not adverse to red baiting his critics of his decisions in the CCF/NDP and the peace movement.

Canada's Defrocked Prince of Peace  - by Kim Petersen

http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/02/canadas-defrocked-prince-of-peace

"...Lester Pearson's Peacekeeping notes that some Zionists referred to him as 'Lord Balfour of Canada' and 'Rabbi Pearson'. Pearson even received the Theodore Herzel award from the Zionist Organization of America for his 'commitment to Jewish Freedom and Israel.'.."

Engler’s next to final arguments cover the scope of Canada’s support for the US imperial project in all its facets. Pearson’s basic attitude expressed after the US fiasco at the Bay of Pigs, was that the Americans “are a wonderful and generous people, the least imperialistically minded people that ever had world power thrust on them.” The big lie still works.

Engler works through other examples. The Brazilian coup of 1964 served Canada’s corporate interests, mainly mining (as Canada now works its wonders in Central America and Peru). Pearson supported the US invasion of the Dominican Republic, again for corporate interests including mining and the seventy per cent stake in the country’s banking. Naval vessels were sent to the Barbados in a show of strength for their independence celebration.

Africa received its fair share of attention. The racist regime in Rhodesia received Canada’s support. The Portuguese were supported in their last stand with their African colonies, going beyond diplomatic and economic support to supplying military aid. Military trainers helped overthrow the government of Ghana in 1966.

Israel enters the picture again when Egypt blockaded the Strait of Tiran. From all its reactions to this, Cairo radio labeled Pearson a “silly idiot” and Al Ahram wrote, that Canada was “a stooge of the Western powers who seek to colonize the Arab world with Israel’s help.” The error in the latter message is that Canada is not a stooge, but a more than willing participant in the U.S. imperial drive.

Secondly, that it best serves the purposes of the "Conservative" reactionaries currently in power. They delight in claiming that there is nothing new going on in their military adventurism and police state expansion. This treatise "from the far-left" supports their claims quite elegantly.

i think mulcair's "i like mike" comment was pretty clearly based on the mythology around the guy (uh, nobel peace prize?) than anything else.  seriously good to have this stuff out there, as we continue the drive to kill off the liberal party of canada and replace it with a good solid leftist party.

finally, this is one of the craziest statements i've ever read:

2. The world’s leading intellectual, Noam Chomsky, considers Lester Pearson a war criminal.

chomsky is completely irrelevant, and i couldn't see how he would be "the world's leading intellectual" any more than anyone i picked based on my own interests.  definitely not a very good "thing you didn't know about pearson."