As we honour today the men and women who have fought and died in uniform, it is important that our remembrance of them not be taken as an endorsement of war or a celebration of all things military. For many people, soldiers in uniform do not inspire feelings of pride but memories of horror, destruction, and death. Some of us are survivors of war or refugees. Others of us who were born here are Canadians because our parents or grandparents or great-grandparents fled the violence of wars in faraway lands.
war crimes
No justice for Maher Arar in U.S. court
"Extraordinary rendition" is White House-speak for kidnapping. Just ask Maher Arar. He's a Canadian citizen who was "rendered" by the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured for almost a year.
Taking liberties: 22 years behind bars for a 'crime of compassion'
When former U.S. president George W. Bush descended on the Regional Economic Summit in suburban Vancouver last October, there was, understandably, no shortage of protesters, pleas for indictments and cries of "war criminal." Left out of most news coverage as well as activist communiqués, however, was any focus on another former U.S. president who was tagging along, someone equally deserving of such protest but who seems, remarkably, to get off fairly lightly these days: Bill Clinton.
Norman Finkelstein: There was no war in Gaza, it was a massacre
What happened in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead was not a war but a massacre, a massacre of a defenceless, imprisoned and besieged civilian population. The IOF air assault (in the first of 3 weeks) dropped bombs around the clock hitting homes, hospitals, ambulances, UN and Red Cross outposts and compounds, schools, universities and government buildings, with the borders closed and no where in Gaza to seek refuge, "it was like shooting fish in a barrel." One thousand four hundred murdered with kill ratios of four-fifths being civilians (mostly women and children). For every Israeli citizen killed 100 Palestinian civilians were murdered.
Bradley Manning's pre-trial military hearing and possible death sentence
Accused whistle-blower Pvt. Bradley Manning turned 24 Saturday. He spent his birthday in a pre-trial military hearing that could ultimately lead to a sentence of life ... or death. Manning stands accused of causing the largest leak of government secrets in United States history.
Dick Cheney 'unwelcomed' in Vancouver
Video by Jase Tanner. "We're going to keep protesting until we get a government that respects international law, takes a stand against torture," says StopWar.ca organizer Derrick O'Keefe, September 26, 2011, at a rally to protest Dick Cheney's book tour stop in Vancouver. Individuals paid $500 a ticket to hear Cheney speak at the event organized by Le Bon Mot, and sponsored by the Globe and Mail and others. As a confessed war criminal and supporter of torture, Human Rights Watch and others have called for his arrest under international law.
Joshua Blakeney discusses the impunity afforded to war criminals in Canada
Journalist Joshua Blakeney explains the inconsistent application of Canada's laws pertaining to war criminals. With George W. Bush hoping to enter Canada to attend an economic summit on October 20, 2011 activists are pressuring law enforcement officials to recognize Bush's inadmissibility under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Joshua draws attention to Bush's confession to illegal acts in his recently published memoirs Decision Points and to the attempted citizen's arrest made by Mohawk activist Splitting the Sky on Bush in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
How Wikileaks has changed the world
Last Saturday was sunny in London, and the crowds were flocking to Wimbledon and to the annual Henley Regatta. Julian Assange, the founder of the whistle-blower website Wikileaks.org, was making his way by train from house arrest in Norfolk, three hours away, to join me and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek for a public conversation about Wikileaks, the power of information and the importance of transparency in democracies. The event was hosted by the Frontline Club, an organization started by war correspondents in part to memorialize their many colleagues killed covering war.
