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Canada’s Secret War in
Iraq
By Richard Sanders
How easy it is to make
people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work
again! – Mark Twain
18/02/08 "CommonGround"
-- - On March 25, 2003, during the “shock and awe”
bombardment of Iraq, then US Ambassador Paul Cellucci admitted
that “… ironically, Canadian naval vessels, aircraft and
personnel... will supply more support to this war in Iraq
indirectly... than most of those 46 countries that are fully
supporting our efforts there.”
Cellucci merely scratched the
surface of Canada’s initial “support” for the Iraq War, but he
had let the cat out of the bag. As then Secretary of State Colin
Powell had explained a week earlier, “We now have a coalition of
the willing… who have publicly said they could be included in
such a listing.... And there are 15 other nations, who, for one
reason or another, do not wish to be publicly named but will be
supporting the coalition.”
Canada was, and still is, the
leading member of this secret group, which we could perhaps call
CW-HUSH, the “Coalition of the Willing to Help but Unwilling to
be Seen Helping.” The plan worked. Most Canadians still proudly
believe that their government refused to join the Iraq War.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Here are some of the
ways in which we joined the fray:
Escorting the US Navy: Thirteen hundred Canadian troops aboard
Canada’s multibillion dollar warships escorted the US fleet
through the Persian Gulf, putting them safely in place to bomb
Iraq.
Leading the coalition Navy:
Canadian Rear Admiral Roger Girouard was in charge of the war
coalition’s fleet.
Providing war planners: At least
two dozen Canadian war planners working at US Central Command in
Florida were transferred to the Persian Gulf in early 2003 to
help oversee the war’s complicated logistics.
Commanding the war: In 2004,
Canadian Brigadier General Walt Natynczyk commanded 10 brigades
totalling 35,000 troops. He was Second-in-Command of the entire
Iraq War for that year. When Governor General Clarkson gave
Natynczyk the Meritorious Service Cross, her office extolled his
“pivotal role in the development of numerous plans and
operations [which] resulted in a tremendous contribution… to
Operation Iraqi Freedom, and… brought great credit to the
Canadian Forces and to Canada.”
Helping coordinate the war:
Canadian military personnel working aboard American E-3 Airborne
Warning and Control System warplanes helped direct the
electronic war by providing surveillance, command, control and
communications services to US war fighters.
Providing airspace and
refuelling: Countless US troop and equipment transport aircraft
have flown over Canada, to and from the Iraq War, and many
refuelled in Gander, Newfoundland.
Providing air transport: At
least three Canadian CC-130 military transport planes were
listed by US military to supply coalition forces during the Iraq
War.
Freeing up US troops: Canada’s
major role in Afghan war has freed up thousands of US troops for
deployment to Iraq.
Providing ground troops: At least 35 Canadian soldiers were
directly under US command, in an “exchange” capacity on the
ground, participating in the invasion of Iraq.
Testing weapons and drones: Two
types of cruise missiles (AGM-86 and -129) and the “Global Hawk”
(RQ-4A) surveillance drone, used in Iraq, were tested over
Canada.
Depleted uranium (DU) weapons:
Canada is the world’s top exporter of uranium. Our government
pretends that Canada’s uranium is sold for “peaceful” purposes
only, but absolutely nothing is done to stop the US from using
DU in their weapons. America’s A-10 Wart Hog warplanes have
fired DU munitions in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq, while
each cruise missile contains three kgs of DU ballast. Providing
RADARSAT data: Eagle Vision, a US Air Force mobile ground
station, which controls Canada’s RADARSAT-1 satellite and
downlinks its data, was used from the start of the Iraq War.
Diplomatic support: Former Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien supported the “right” of the US to invade
Iraq, although Kofi Annan said it was an illegal occupation.
Chrétien criticized Canadian citizens who questioned the war,
saying they provided comfort to Saddam Hussein.
Training Iraqi police: Canada
has spent millions sending RCMP officers to Jordan to train tens
of thousands of cadets for Iraq’s paramilitary police force.
Training Iraqi troops:
High-level Canadian military personnel joined the “NATO Training
Mission in Iraq” to “train the trainers” of Iraqi Security
Forces who are on the leading edge of the US occupation. A
Canadian colonel, under NATO command, was chief of staff at the
Baghdad-based training mission. Canada was the leading donor to
this centre, providing an initial $810 thousand.
Funding Iraq’s interior
ministry: Canada provides advisors and financial support to this
ministry, which has been caught running torture centres.
Thousands of its officers have been withdrawn for corruption,
and it has been accused of working with death squads that
executed a thousand people per month in Baghdad alone in the
summer of 2006.
Military exports: At least 100
Canadian companies sold parts and/or services for major weapons
systems used in the Iraq War. Quebec’s SNC-TEC sold millions of
bullets to the US military forces occupying Iraq. General
Dynamics Canada, in London Ontario, sold hundreds of armoured
vehicles to the US and Australia. Between October 2003 and
November 2005, these troop transport vehicles logged over six
million miles in Iraq. Winnipeg’s Bristol Aerospace sells
cluster-bomb dispensing warheads used by US aircraft in Iraq.
Canada Pension Plan investments:
Canadians are forced to invest their pension money in hundreds
of military industries, including most of the world’s top 20
weapons producers, which are the leading prime contractors for
virtually all the major weapons systems used in Iraq.
So the next time a proud fellow
citizen tells you that Canada didn’t join the Iraq War, remind
them of Mark Twain’s famous quip: “It ain’t what you don’t know
that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that
just ain’t so.”
For more information on the
myth of Canada’s role as a global peacemaker, read Press for
Conversion,
http://coat.ncf.ca or write to COAT, 541 McLeod St., Ottawa,
ON, K1R 5R2. Richard Sanders is the coordinator for the
Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade.
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