1,000 Canadian troops to join NATO brigade in Latvia

71 posts / 0 new

Thu, 2016-06-30 23:42

NDPP

'Four More Years': Canadian MP Chanting For Obama Draws White House Response

http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2016/06/30/four-more-years-canadian-mp-...

'It's parliament not a group of 14-year-old girls having a private Justin Bieber concert.'

...Canadian MPs gave him a standing ovation while he was asking for more money from Canada to meet its unreached military spending targets at NATO."

Canada To Send Troops To Latvia For New NATO Brigade

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nato-canadian-troops-baltics-1.3659814

"Trudeau government agrees to NATO troop deployment in Eastern Europe. Defence Minister Harjit Singh says Canada will take a lead role and establish one of the battle group formations requested by the alliance."

Shame on our silence...

Fri, 2016-07-01 00:27

Michael Moriarity

I wouldn't exactly put it in the words of the thread title, but I generally agree that it is unfortunate to have our MPs applauding the author of the most destructive terrorist campaign of the last decade. It is also most unfortunate that our government is willing to contribute to the reckless (and needless) provocation of Russia, with its risk of nuclear war. Shame on us indeed.

Fri, 2016-07-01 08:55

quizzical

oh they are going to try and spin this as a "peacekeeping" activity. no worries about NATO involvement.

Fri, 2016-07-01 09:20

had enough

Utterly pathetic to see those trained seals bob up and down. And I think little justin should be asked directly if he recognizes nato's actions in Libya as an international crime, among others.

Fri, 2016-07-01 11:05

Aristotleded24

Wasn't this annual meeting nicknamed the Three Banditos Summit a few years ago?

Fri, 2016-07-01 12:13

iyraste1313

Good for you people!
Is it possible to launch a campaign to talk with our soldiers?

Maybe with some encouragement by a Federal Court action against Canada´s involvement with NATO´s violation of the Agreement with Russia not to militarize the new autonomous republics formerly of the Soviet Union?

Fri, 2016-07-01 15:31

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
the new autonomous republics formerly of the Soviet Union?

Ya, just FWIW, they're not really "new". They existed as their own countries, with their own languages, cultures and governments for centuries, before being annexed and colonized by the Soviet Union.

Given that babble is explicitly anti-imperialist, it might be nice to occasionally recognize that, instead of acting like the Baltic states are some kind of rogue, breakaway malcontents, or for that matter pretending that the "ethnic Russians" living there now are anything but colonizers.

Fri, 2016-07-01 16:48

kropotkin1951

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:
the new autonomous republics formerly of the Soviet Union?

Ya, just FWIW, they're not really "new". They existed as their own countries, with their own languages, cultures and governments for centuries, before being annexed and colonized by the Soviet Union.

Please read some history okay. Latvia is a good example of the area and the various Empires that have ruled it. Please tell me how its history equates to centuries of its own country.

They definitely have their own culture and history but it was not an independent nation for very long.

Quote:

Latvia's capital cityRiga, founded in 1201 by Germans at the mouth of the Daugava, became a strategic base in a papally-sanctioned conquest of the area by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword. It was to be the first major city of the southern Baltic and, after 1282, a principal trading centre in the Hanseatic League.

By the 16th century, Baltic German dominance in Terra Mariana was increasingly challenged by other powers. Due to Latvia's strategic location and prosperous trading city of Riga, its territories were a frequent focal point for conflict and conquest between at least four major powers: the State of the Teutonic Order, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden and Russian Empire. The last period of external hegemony began in 1710, when control over Riga and parts of modern-day Latvia switched from Sweden to Russia during the Great Northern War. Under Russian control, Latvia was in the vanguard of industrialisation and the abolition of serfdom, so that by the end of the 19th century, it had become one of the most developed parts of the Russian Empire. The increasing social problems and rising discontent that this brought meant that Riga also played a leading role in the 1905 Russian Revolution.

The First Latvian National Awakening began in the 1850s and continued to bear fruit after World War I when, after two years of struggle in the Latvian War of Independence, Latvia finally won sovereign independence, as recognised by Soviet Russia in 1920 and by the international community in 1921. Constitution of Latvia was adopted in 1922. Political instability and effects of the Great Depression led to the May 15, 1934 coup d'état by Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis. Latvia's independence was interrupted in June–July 1940, when the country wasoccupied and incorporated into the Soviet Union. In 1941 it was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, then reconquered by the Soviets in 1944–45.

Fri, 2016-07-01 16:54

NDPP

Russians have been the largest ethnic minority in Latvia for at least a couple of centuries. Before Canada, 'our home on native land' even existed. And having been here during recent events in Libya, Syria and Ukraine, I see very little evidence that 'babble is explicitly anti-imperialist'. Support for Western warmongering, Russophobia etc. is all the rage here. The trained seals in Ottawa clapping for their evil Yanqui liege-lord shilling for NATO reflect attitudes held and expressed here that are frequently far more 'Right' than 'Left'.

Fri, 2016-07-01 17:03

#10

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
Please read some history okay. Latvia is a good example of the area and the various Empires that have ruled it. Please tell me how its history equates to centuries of its own country.

Very well. I totally get that "the official map of Europe", pre-20th century, needed to be drawn on a chalkboard. But the fact that other countries also invaded and occupied the Baltic states over the years doesn't really change my point.

Quote:
They definitely have their own culture and history but it was not an independent nation for very long.

Indeed. Here come some more colonizers, again.

I'm just asking whether it would be incompatible with babble's mandate to acknowledge that the Baltic states (and others) were colonized by the former Soviet Union? And maybe even to look upon that with the same contempt that we look upon other colonial adventures, instead of pretending that the wee little Baltic countries are somehow the big bully now?

Fri, 2016-07-01 17:16

#11

kropotkin1951

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Indeed. Here come some more colonizers, again.

I'm just asking whether it would be incompatible with babble's mandate to acknowledge that the Baltic states (and others) were colonized by the former Soviet Union? And maybe even to look upon that with the same contempt that we look upon other colonial adventures, instead of pretending that the wee little Baltic countries are somehow the big bully now?

Indeed here come the NATO colonizers with an occupation army to ensure that they remain controlled by the Western oligarchy. Back to the original Baltic German status it would seem.

But go ahead and keep up the anti-Soviet hate propaganda because of course only the Soviets in the history of the area were an evil colonizing empire not like the Swedes or Germans or Tsar.

Fri, 2016-07-01 17:42

#12

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
But go ahead and keep up the anti-Soviet hate propaganda

Hate propaganda? Srsly?

I'm just pointing out that the Soviet Union civilized them at the end of a gun.

But I think I've figured out why there's a double-standard with regard to that. Whereas the English and French colonists who came to Canada tried to civilize the First Nations with Christianity and the Magna Carta, the Soviet Union tried to civilize its colonies with Marxism. So clearly they meant well and should not be harshly judged. Amirite?

Quote:
because of course only the Soviets in the history of the area were an evil colonizing empire not like the Swedes or Germans or Tsar.

The Swedes and Germans are completely irrelevant in 2016. If 200 Canadian troops head to Latvia, the Swedes and Germans don't lose their shit.

Like, OMFGWTFBBQ, there will soon be 200 Canadian troops in a country half the size of the province of Ontario, with half the population of the GTA, just waiting for the "go ahead" order to lay seige to Moscow. Boy, if that's not provocation for WWIII, what is?

Fri, 2016-07-01 19:07

#13

kropotkin1951

Mr Magoo you are myopic when it comes to NATO aggression. You are very accepting of the "fact" that Canada needs troops in the Baltic states to counter the reality that Russia has an army. That goes along with the widely held belief in the "Free World" that if only every country in the world would accept NATO domination there could be peace in the world. I can't figure why some countries would push back against Pax Americana, can you?

I thought the Soviet Union was a brutal dictatorship and that is why we hated them. I've now come to realize that it was not so much the brutal dictatorship but Russia's insistence on not being dominated by the West that was the real point of contention.

Fri, 2016-07-01 19:51

#14

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
You are very accepting of the "fact" that Canada needs troops in the Baltic states to counter the reality that Russia has an army.

When did Russia get an army? I thought they were the innocent victims in all this aggression on the part of the wee Baltic countries.

I hope it's more than 200 strong, or they're doomed.

Quote:
That goes along with the widely held belief in the "Free World" that if only every country in the world would accept NATO domination there could be peace in the world. I can't figure why some countries would push back against Pax Americana, can you?

Sure I can. And I can also imagine why some countries might look to Russia and say "no, not again".

If NATO is going to launch WWIII against Russia they're going to need a lot more than 200 Canadian troops to do it. So can we put this silly "NATO is starting WWIII" trope to bed? Or does it have to hang over our heads by a thin thread forever, like the Sword of Dumb-ocles?

Fri, 2016-07-01 22:32

#15

Rev Pesky

Mr. Magoo wrote:
..,If NATO is going to launch WWIII against Russia they're going to need a lot more than 200 Canadian troops to do it. So can we put this silly "NATO is starting WWIII" trope to bed? Or does it have to hang over our heads by a thin thread forever, like the Sword of Dumb-ocles?

People of our age, Magoo, should remember when Cuba, after being invaded unsuccessfully by the USA, had some Russian missiles installed. I well remember how understanding the USA was. Would there be some reason Russia should look at USA troops in Latvia in a different way?

Fri, 2016-07-01 23:35

#16

Mr. Magoo

They might pause to note that a great deal has changed in the last half century.

What of the Latvians, though? Whose flag were they saluting when the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening? Or for the next thirty years? I'm still a bit puzzled as to how Russia is the real victim.

Sat, 2016-07-02 00:16

#17

NDPP

It would appear that the expressed sentiments of our parliamentarians are unsurprisingly reflected in the manifest denial of some here as to the accuracy of the OP. This is consistent with the disturbing pathology of silence, complicity, collaboration, even support for the fascist hegemon, Obama and Canada's junior partner role as the great satan's little helper always at the ready. History will show that in the main, to our everlasting shame, we went along to get along.

"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." Mussolini

"...He's opened up more offshore drilling than Bush, expanded fracking, deported more people than any president in history, killed thousands of Muslims (and is currently bombing seven Muslim countries), raised military budgets, cut federal taxes to their lowest levels in 60 years,

cut social programs, spent almost 8 years trying to strike a 'grand bargain' with Republicans to cut Social Security and Medicare (until this week when, in his last months in office, he's suddenly decided we should increase Social Security), worked hard to derail public health care in favor of a program drawn up by a conservative think-tank and first used by a Republican governor,

put troops on the Russian border, beefed up US military presence in Asia to threaten China, supported right-wing coups in Latin America [and Ukraine], gave Wall Street trillions of dollars in bailouts and credits, refused to prosecute any CIA officers for torture, (despite admitting 'we tortured some folks'),

jailed more whistleblowers than any other president, pushed fanatically pro-business trade treaties, and so on. Yet there is a mass delusion that he is some kind of socialist peacenik 'surrendering to terrorists' and giving away 'free stuff' to the lazy poor (when in fact the poor and middle class are sinking, while the rich have never been richer) etc..."

Terror War and Trumpery Take US Into Terra Incognita - by Chris Floyd

http://www.chris-floyd.com/home/articles/terror-war-and-trumpery-take-us...

"Learning From The Best" (Brad Lavigne, Hill & Knowlton) Obama team lectures NDP at Convention

Sat, 2016-07-02 00:38

#18

quizzical

lagatta wrote:
Apart from any other issues, this thread has perhaps the most over-the-top title in the history of babble. And NO, I am not a NATO supporter.

Alao, thw most egregious use of caps.

bestest laugh today!!!!!

Sat, 2016-07-02 04:20

#19

NDPP

Why Is NATO So Irrational Today?

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/06/30/why-is-nato-so-irrational-today/

"Why is the new tension rising in Europe between US/NATO and Russia so manifestly dangerous and - with the exception of the Cuban Missile Crisis worse than during the First Cold War?"

Sat, 2016-07-02 05:51

#20

Ken Burch

lagatta wrote:

Apart from any other issues, this thread has perhaps the most over-the-top title in the history of babble. And NO, I am not a NATO supporter.

Alao, thw most egregious use of caps.

That, and it would be a far more effective resistance tactice to withhold the physical contact in question from the person described in the title.

Sat, 2016-07-02 06:05

#21

Ken Burch

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:
But go ahead and keep up the anti-Soviet hate propaganda

Hate propaganda? Srsly?

I'm just pointing out that the Soviet Union civilized them at the end of a gun.

But I think I've figured out why there's a double-standard with regard to that. Whereas the English and French colonists who came to Canada tried to civilize the First Nations with Christianity and the Magna Carta, the Soviet Union tried to civilize its colonies with Marxism.

What they did in Eastern Europe, horrible as it wasm, had nothing to do with "Marxism". It was Stalinism(Great Russian Nationalism pretending to be revolutionary), and there was nothing in the original, liberating ideas of Marx that had anything to do with that, or with anything at all that happened in the USSR after 1921 or so(when the suppression of the Krondstadt rebels marked the end of anything radical or transformative in the Soviet Union). Stalin was not a Marxist-He was an egomaniac with superior surveillance technology and killing power at his personal disposal. If the Romanovs had stayed in power after the war, they'd have likely matched Stalin in the body count. Even Kerensky, if he had somehow hung on, would probably have been forced by the aristocratic reactionaries he always depended on for day-to-day political survival to let the Tsarist troops kill millions in exchange for their agreement to let tiny bits if "reform" occur.

Sat, 2016-07-02 09:42

#22

Geoff

Do the Babble moderators have any control over the titles of babble threads? This topic is important, and there have been some excellent posts, but the title trivializes the issue. A little too much 70's Trotskyist hyperbole?

Sat, 2016-07-02 09:51

#23

lagatta

Apart from any other issues, this thread has perhaps the most over-the-top title in the history of babble. And NO, I am not a NATO supporter.

Also, the most egregious use of caps.

Sat, 2016-07-02 09:57

#24

lagatta

The language in the title sounds more Maoiist than Trotskyist.

Though I actually made TWO typos in my comment about it. ;)

Sat, 2016-07-02 10:39

#25

Unionist

lagatta wrote:

The language in the title sounds more Maoiist than Trotskyist.

Though I actually made TWO typos in my comment about it. ;)

You misspelled Maaooiist.

Sat, 2016-07-02 11:22

#26

Rev Pesky

Mr. Magoo wrote:

They might pause to note that a great deal has changed in the last half century.

What of the Latvians, though? Whose flag were they saluting when the Cuban Missile Crisis was happening? Or for the next thirty years? I'm still a bit puzzled as to how Russia is the real victim.

Because the intended target of NATO aggression is not Latvia, or Ukraine, or whoever else NATO decides to destabilize to help achieve their ends. The target is Russia. That is because Russia is one of the only countries in the world that has the potential to stand in the way of the 'Project For A New American Century'.

And you might pause to note that very little has changed on that front in the last half century. US desire to be the sole arbiter of what's right and what's wrong based on the interests of US capital has not changed one iota.

Sat, 2016-07-02 17:50

#27

NDPP

The fact that some here think the title is hyperbolic simply indicates they have not been paying attention or are in deep denial as to what has transpired under this evil war-criminal's watch. (see #17) He is indeed a mass murdering fascist emperor. The Canadian parliament is indeed servile and collaborationist. And they are not alone in this unfortunately.

US Mayors Blast Obama, NATO: War Games on Russia's Border Endanger Humanity

http://sptnkne.ws/bAHV

"The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the official non-partisan organization for city leaders administering populations greater than 30,000, moved to condemn NATO's ANACONDA War Games on Russia's border as increasing the threat of nuclear conflict.

'The largest NATO war games in decades, involving 14,000 US [and Canadian] troops, and activation of US missile defences in Eastern Europe are fueling growing tensions between nuclear-armed giants', said the USCM warning in the lead-up to the military alliance's summit on July 8-9 in Warsaw Poland.

The US Conference of Mayors went on to criticize President Obama for capitulating to the defence establishment and 'laying the groundwork for the United States to spend one trillion dollars over the next three decades,' on the so-called nuclear modernization effort that will result in a net increase in America's atomic stockpile in contravention to the spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)..."

Sat, 2016-07-02 18:00

#28

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
Do the Babble moderators have any control over the titles of babble threads?

As it happens, the word "fuck" used to be verboten.

Sat, 2016-07-02 21:40

#29

lagatta

I'm certainly not in denial because I don't want our board to use the anti-imperialist equivalent of language to be found in the Sun or the Daily Mail.

And yes, when posting (obviously not when delivering work for $€£ etc) I seem to be making a lot of tpyos, as skdadl called them. I have to face facts and wear glasses while typing.

Sat, 2016-07-02 22:09

#30

NDPP

The title is fair comment. The words are carefully chosen, accurate and my own. Amazing what some people find objectionable on this 'progressive site'. And what they don't...

"It is not my feeling that the readership of rabble will drop over like a bunch of Tennessee fainting goats at the sight of the word 'fuck.'

Old Goat (from Magoo's link above)

Sat, 2016-07-02 23:01

#31

ikosmos

I thought the German Foreign Minister hit the nail on the head, and showed a deep sense of the history of his own country, when he said (or wrote) that a Panzer Parade on the eastern border of the "alliance" (i.e., NATO) is not going to improve security for anyone.

This stuff is just so obvious.

Sun, 2016-07-03 16:16

#32

NDPP

Obama Slams Russian Aggression Against Ukraine in Historic Speech in Canadian Parliament

http://uatoday.tv/politics/obama-slams-russian-aggression-against-ukrain...

"In a historic speech in Canada's parliament US President Barack Obama has once again called Russia an aggressor state and called on the allies to send a strong message of solidarity and commitment at next week's NATO summit in Warsaw.

'When nations violate international rules and norms, such as Russia's aggression against Ukraine, the United States and Canada stand united, along with our allies in defence of our collective security,' Obama said to Canadian lawmakers.

'And as your ally and as your friend, let me say that we'll be more secure when every NATO member, including Canada, contributes its full share to our common security,' Obama said.

'Because the Canadian Armed Forces are really good,' he added. 'If I can borrow a phrase, the world needs more Canada. NATO needs more Canada. We need you. We need you.'

A day after the US President's remarks Canadian media reported that Ottawa will deploy 1,000 soldiers in Latvia. The Canadian troops will join a total of 4,000 soldiers NATO is deploying to the Baltic states and Poland to help deter the Kremlin's threat..."

This is the disgusting warmongering that was applauded and cheered by your reprehensibles, including those whose party constitution called for Canada to leave NATO. The Canadian Parliament will never offer anything but criminal complicity and collaboration with American imperialism and war-crimes. All parties there represent the problem, NOT the solution.

To those who applauded. Your cowardice and expressed enthusiasm for American aggression and imperialism and the deep contempt you exhibited towards the victims, past and future of this imperium, will not be forgotten. Shame on you all!

Sun, 2016-07-03 16:56

#33

Unionist

NDPP wrote:

This is the disgusting warmongering that was applauded and cheered by your reprehensibles, including those whose party constitution called for Canada to leave NATO. The Canadian Parliament will never offer anything but criminal complicity and collaboration with American imperialism and war-crimes. All parties there represent the problem, NOT the solution.

To those who applauded. Your cowardice and expressed enthusiasm for American aggression and imperialism and the deep contempt you exhibited towards the victims, past and future of this imperium, will not be forgotten. Shame on you all!

Well said, NDPP.

When not a single MP (to my knowledge) has the integrity to get up publicly and condemn the sending of Canadian cannon fodder to the Russian border - in 2016 - then why are we pretending to be a country of peace?

I'm going to ask Alexandre Boulerice for his thoughts. Maybe someone could ask the Green Party, or some other NDP MPs? Do they actually jump up and down in delight over this warmongering?

Sun, 2016-07-03 17:37

#34

iyraste1313

Well said, NDPP....yes thank you...strategic thinking for building an alternative political movement must keep this in mind, as we seek alternative institutions to build our political momentum!

Sun, 2016-07-03 17:39

#35

lagatta

I hope this comes up for discussion at the World Social Forum. Canada has no business sending troops to Latvia.

Sun, 2016-07-03 18:03

#36

NDPP

Unionist wrote:

NDPP wrote:

This is the disgusting warmongering that was applauded and cheered by your reprehensibles, including those whose party constitution called for Canada to leave NATO. The Canadian Parliament will never offer anything but criminal complicity and collaboration with American imperialism and war-crimes. All parties there represent the problem, NOT the solution.

To those who applauded. Your cowardice and expressed enthusiasm for American aggression and imperialism and the deep contempt you exhibited towards the victims, past and future of this imperium, will not be forgotten. Shame on you all!

Well said, NDPP.

When not a single MP (to my knowledge) has the integrity to get up publicly and condemn the sending of Canadian cannon fodder to the Russian border - in 2016 - then why are we pretending to be a country of peace?

I'm going to ask Alexandre Boulerice for his thoughts. Maybe someone could ask the Green Party, or some other NDP MPs? Do they actually jump up and down in delight over this warmongering?

Thanks, but the root and germ of the problem is also right here. As evidenced by the cowardly change of an entirely accurate title. These babble physicians had best heal themselves first.

Sun, 2016-07-03 18:10

#37

Mr. Magoo

Quote:
As evidenced by the cowardly change of an entirely accurate title.

And yet somehow it's still entirely accurate.

Sun, 2016-07-03 19:31

#38

NDPP

No. Nor the one I gave it. But it's not the first time either. As always such changes, without explanation, further reveal the true nature of this place as well as the country and its sad subservience to power.

Sun, 2016-07-03 23:55

#39

NDPP

Bullshit. The intervention and alteration of my title was entirely wrong. So much for the credibility of phony 'freedom of speech' arguments a la Je suis Charlie. Bourgeois faux leftism at its finest. Nothing more than I've come to expect from this little gang having watched its bullying and dirty little tricks and back-channelling for some years now, systematically shutting down and pushing out all dissenters while afterwards claiming they jumped. It's actually very much like false-front Canada itself.

Mon, 2016-07-04 03:27

#40

NDPP

*Fuck the Fascist Mass-Murdering Emperor and Its Servile, Collaborationist Canadian Parliament!*

This was the original, given title of this thread which was excised and altered without permission or consultation. No explanation was offered as to the reasons for the suppression.

Mon, 2016-07-04 05:25

#41

lagatta

Yes, but the new title also defines the topic far better. And I agree with you in opposing sending Canadian troops to Latvia. Moreover, I'm opposed to NATO and now that the Warsaw Pact is no more, it is utterly absurd and a cover for unilateral aggression. But I don't agree that Obama is a "fascist". The US has no need for fascism, which first and foremost existed to smash powerful workers' movements. Really, while there have been some heroic struggles recently such as a May Day for undocumented workers' rights and the fight for 15, the US bourgeoisie is in no need of fascism (which would also kill or hamper some of its own). Plain old capitalism was capable of plenty of massacres of militant workers (Pinkerton?) and of Indigenous peoples and colonial groups.

I'm not saying that to defend Obama, drones or invasions, far from it. Just to be a bit clearer about historical terminology. The stuff about Mussolini and "corporatism" is a mistranslation. In Italian, "corporatism" referred to something like the guild system and the fascist idea - or fairy story - about stepping back from the class struggle between workers and bosses to an imaginary golden age. Of course Mussolini wound up defending big business, but to did those who said what's good for General Motors is good for the USA...

Mon, 2016-07-04 09:45

#42

swallow

It would indeed be more polite if those changing thread titles would take the time to inform thread participants of the change and the reason for it. Even if the new title is more descriptive of content.

Mon, 2016-07-04 09:55

#43

6079_Smith_W

lagatta wrote:

And NO, I am not a NATO supporter.

Good luck getting them to believe you if you aren't yelling and ALLCAPPING to their satisfaction.

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:32

#44

Caissa

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Magoo.

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:39

#45

kropotkin1951

swallow wrote:

It would indeed be more polite if those changing thread titles would take the time to inform thread participants of the change and the reason for it. Even if the new title is more descriptive of content.

The new title totally changes the focus from our servile parliament to the deployment of troops. It means that other than the first post we will not talk about the cheer leading by our MP's for aggression. Obama is a a war criminal just like his predecessors. America is a murderous imperial state controlled by an oligarchy. Debating the term fascist is also a deflection away from the topic's focus on the overt display of colonial toadyism that was on display in the H of C. All the MP's, except the Minster of Defence, displayed a colonial mindset that is reminiscent of the Ready Aye Ready sentiments from a hundred years ago when we not only sent our troops to fight the Germans we also sent them to fight the Russians who were uppity enough to have the audacity to overthrow our ally the Tsar.

American, Japanese, French, and British sailors at Vladivostok. They were part of the larger Allied intervention force operating against the Bolsheviks.

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:46

#46

ikosmos

The leaked e mails of former NATO Commander Philip "Strangelove" Breedlove just shows the degree to which those in "Think-Tank-istan" in and around Washington are willing to lie, cheat, and steal to justify endless military spending, war-mongering, preparations for World War III, and so on. The evidence is overwhelming. These people bear a responsibility for the thousands of unnecessary deaths in Ukraine, for example, and can and should be prosecuted for promoting war and death. Truly, Washington IS Barad-dur.

Of course, we can forgive the MSM for their mainly dead silence. It was a party weekend, right?

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:48

#47

Unionist

I asked for the title change, for two reasons: 1. It was impossible to tell from the thread title what it was actually about, so people interested in the actual discussion might pass it by. 2. The conversation was going down the road of whether Obama is a fascist or not, and whether "fuck" should be in thread titles.

So, I plead guilty. I thought this was an incredibly important conversation to have. And contrary to krop's post above, nothing prevents anyone and everyone from commenting on the compliance by parliament with imperial dictates.

In fact, I tried to raise that issue by asking where the NDP and Greens are at (should have added the BQ, but they generally support any imperial adventures) - why can't we actually have that conversation?

I wrote to Boulerice asking what his position was - and got no reply.

How exactly does the "opposition" get off scot free on an event like Canada building up troop strength on Russia's borders??

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:51

#48

NDPP

Thanks krop,

You are correct. This is what a fake-left does. Protects and defends power.

Mon, 2016-07-04 12:59

#49

ikosmos

Unionist wrote:
How exactly does the "opposition" get off scot free on an event like Canada building up troop strength on Russia's borders??

Some RT commentators predicted that one sort of fallout from BREXIT would be NATO (i.e., the USA and its vassals like Canada) doubling down on their Russophobia. The bogeyman is simply too handy to not use. Someone must be blamed.

Their cushy jobs in Parliament are just too nice to put in question by "troubling" questions about the role of the Canadian military in foreign "adventures".

One conclusion that social democrats and other fake leftists can shove where the sun doesn't shine: the urgent and crying necessity of a strong, independent Canadian Peace Movement is simply overwhelming. And, this issue shows why these despicable Parliamentary cretins don't support the strengthening of mass movements like the peace movement and pay mere lip service to such things. It is in conflict with their current role.

Our shithead politicians are simply traitors to the best interests of the Canadian people. There's no nice way to put this.

Mon, 2016-07-04 13:18

#50

NDPP

Which is why I put it the way I did. It was suppressed because someone who evidently controls such things decided it should be otherwise. Now we know a little more about how things really operate here. Not that this should come as a surprise.

There will never be a strong, independent Canadian Peace Movement, or any other strong independent movement here because as is the pattern with Canadian activism, there is always an elite which decides which voices are heard and which suppressed. The 'friendlies' are rewarded and become brokers in the sellouts. That is their reward. The NDP built a party based on this. This is the nature of power relations here repeated ad nauseum from top to bottom. Entirely corrupt and entirely impregnable.

This is the Canada in which we live and pretend is a democracy.

Please restore my title.

Mon, 2016-07-04 13:20

#51

kropotkin1951

Unionist wrote:

I asked for the title change, for two reasons: 1. It was impossible to tell from the thread title what it was actually about, so people interested in the actual discussion might pass it by. 2. The conversation was going down the road of whether Obama is a fascist or not, and whether "fuck" should be in thread titles.

So, I plead guilty. I thought this was an incredibly important conversation to have. And contrary to krop's post above, nothing prevents anyone and everyone from commenting on the compliance by parliament with imperial dictates.

The new title changes the focus away from our lackey MP's so while I get your point maybe you could try again to get a title that actually talks about the complicity in imperial aggression by all MP's rather than ignoring it. The first poster wanted to make that the focus although his title was unacceptable to many it needed tweaked not gutted.

The title is not really accurate either since it has been announced that the Canadian forces will be the lead on this mission. Those same MP's listened to and cheered Obama when he stated Canada needs to spend more on war. Again the new title deflects the talk away from our parliaments commitment to an increased role in the imperial army that is now threatening the Russians. None of our MP's stand for peace they stand for imperialism and that is the problem not the number of troops sent to Latvia.

The NDP will not speak out against this missions and just like in Libya they will support the unsupportable. I used to help elect MP's that would speak truth to power but they were marginalized and driven out by the big tent power at all costs wing of the NDP. If Bill Siksay was still in parliament I will guarantee he would not have cheered on the POTUS's war crimes.

Quote:

OTTAWA — The head of NATO is applauding Canada for agreeing to take a leadership role in the standoff with Russia.

Speaking in Brussels today, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Canada’s promise to lead a 1,000-strong force in Eastern Europe sends a clear signal that alliance members on both sides of the Atlantic are ready to defend one another.

The Liberal government announced last week that Canada would join Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States for a 4,000-strong NATO force in the region.

Canada is expected to take charge in Latvia, where Canadian and allied troops will act as a deterrence against Russian aggression or incursions.

Stoltenberg also included Canada in a list of alliance members that increased their defence spending last year.

http://www.macleans.ca/news/nato-head-applauds-canadas-decision-to-commi...

1,000 Canadian troops to join NATO brigade in Latvia

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