Pan Canadian Day of Action against the war in Afghanistan, 2008

Afghanistan War

SUPPORT OUR TROOPS,
BRING THEM HOME!
- End The Combat Mission NOW!
- Support an Inclusive Peace Process
- Canadians Overwhelmingly Suppport Peace
- The War in Afghanistan Is Illegitimate

Peace Now!!
Canada should be in the forefront of encouraging:
1.The implementation of guidelines and procedures to ensure an end to Canadian counterinsurgency operations
2.A call to review NATO's failing combat centric strategy
3.A comprehensive peace process

END THE COMBAT MISSION NOW!
For the past 8 years the global peace movement has argued that combat troops will not solve the systemic problems in Afghanistan. Stephen Harper's government, in a June 10 report to Parliament, finally admits that "Afghanistan cannot secure peace or realize its governance and development objectives by military means...” And yet the occupation of Afghanistan is still being construed as a long-term counterinsurgency war even though there are declining expectations that it can be won.

SUPPORT AN INCLUSIVE PEACE PROCESS!
A new Parliamentary report on “Canada in Afghanistan” includes recommendations for Canada to use a diplomatic process and development efforts to promote the “creation of conditions favorable to a peace process in Afghanistan.” The key point here is an indigenous peace process. The Committee Report offers yet another recognition that peace in Afghanistan will not be won on the battlefield. It will be built through a process that involves dialogue, negotiations, and reconciliation programs.

“Anti-War @ Laurier (AW@L) recognizes that war is an ongoing destructive and un-ethical force and that we have a responsibility to oppose war in all its forms. AW@L is committed to being a force of resistance and voice of dissent against war through solidarity, creativity and action.”

CANADIANS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORT PEACE!
On March 13th, 2008, the Liberal and Conservative parties ignored the will of the majority of Canadians and voted to extend Canada’s participation in the war in Afghanistan until July 2011. In the face of this blatantly undemocratic decision, the anti-war movement is mounting vocal opposition to denounce the lies and omissions about this war.

THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN IS ILLEGITIMATE AND RACIST!
The current war is not actually about the Taliban and "terrorism," but about opening a secure corridor through Pashtun tribal territory to export the oil and gas riches of the Caspian Basin to the West. It has been sold on racist, islamaphobic grounds. Canada and the rest of NATO have no business being pipeline protection troops. Canada's military intervention in Afghanistan has jeopardized its national security by putting it on the map as an anti-Muslim nation joined at the hip with Bush and his ruinous policies. Simply put, our attempt to occupy Afghanistan is colonial, unjust, unethical, immoral and impossible.

“Canada MUST withdraw its troops from their current counterinsurgency combat role in favour of a civilian focused effort in support of reconstruction and related peacebuilding efforts.”

END THE OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN!!

Anti-War @ Laurier: www.peaceculture.org
Project Ploughshares: www.ploughshares.ca
Canadian Peace Alliance: www.acp-cpa.ca
K-W Humanists: www.kwhm.org
Christian Peacemaker Teams: www.cpt.org

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AW@L SHUTS DOWN LOCAL SHELL STATION FOR FOSSIL FOOLS DAY
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April 1, 2008

[read press release]

FEBRUARY

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March and Rally for the
Pan-Canadian Day of Action Against the War in Afghanistan
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October 27, 2007.

AW@L has declared the rally against the war a success. After much dialogue, the rally took place with the support of the local veterans association, the school, and the city, and was held at the main entrance way of the University, the Underpass on University Avenue. Participating in a National day against the war in conjunction with an American national day of action against the war in Iraq, nearly a hundred students and community members marched from the corner of Erb and Caroline to the University at a location directly across from the recently erected memorial at Veteran's Green. Once there, the crowd was entertained by the "Raging Grannies" and "radical cheerleaders" and heard speeches from the President of the local Veteran's Association, member of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and the KW Humanist Movement as well as professors and AW@L members.

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Anti-War Rally and Non-Violent Direct Action A
Huge Success!!
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October 5, 2007

Friday morning, student activists from AW@L ‘shut down’ Colt Canada, a major corporate war profiteer located on Wilson Avenue in Kitchener.

The rally send the message that Canada’s occupation of Afghanistan is no more legitimate than the American war in Iraq--the target for Friday’s action is a perfect example of how the Canadian war industry is inseparable from the American project of global military dominance.

The message “shut down the war machine” was prominently displayed from the roof of the gun factory. One key aspect of the message is that Canada and Ontario should “fight climate change, not oil wars.”

The whole action and rally was an explicitly peaceful and non-violent protest.

A big thanks goes out to all those that came out, it was a fabulous day and it went extremely well!