Anti-war Rally March 18th

"When we send troops into the field, I expect Canadians to support those
troops". - Stephen Harper

"Stephen Harper: Expect resistance to war."
- Toronto Coalition to Stop the War

"From NATO's perspective, they look at this as a 10-year mission. Right?
Minimum. There is going to be a huge demand on Canada to contribute over
the longer period of time." - Rick Hillier

"If you believe what you hear, the reason our forces are in Afghanistan
is to help the suffering Afghan people. A little bit of reconstruction,
some nation-building, a few photo ops with cute children — who could be
against that? Trouble is, that’s not why we’re in Afghanistan...
Canadians aren’t buying it. According to a Globe poll, public support
for our Afghan mission is running at 27 per cent." - Margaret Wente,
Globe & Mail

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War Free Song of the Week: Enemy by John Beeney

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Put Stephen Harper on Notice
We Still Say No To War!



Download the poster

March 18 marks three years since the
invasion of Iraq. Since then, public
opinion, especially in the United
States, has shifted dramatically.
Only one year after Bush's
re-election, a clear majority of
Americans now oppose the occupation,
want the troops brought home and
believe the war was a mistake.
Globally, anti-war sentiment is just
as strong or stronger.


It's clear that the anti-war movement has made a difference. We might
not have stopped the war in Iraq but we significantly reduced the number
of countries able to join the "coalition of the willing" and we've
exposed the pro-war arguments - to find weapons of mass destruction, to
bring democracy to Iraq, and to stop terrorism - as completely false.

But despite that success, the drums of war are beating again - this time
for Iran. Just like he did before he invaded Iraq, George Bush is making
lots of noise about "weapons of mass destruction" despite the fact that
the US has more WMDs - including nuclear weapons - than any other
country in the world. And no matter what Bush says to vilify Iran, we
must always respect its right to self-determination and oppose any plans
to attack.

In Canada, we mustn't forget our government's role in all of this. Just
because we don't have troops in Iraq doesn't mean we're not part of the
"war on terror." Canada has nearly 2,000 troops in Afghanistan - our
biggest deployment since the Korean War - which relieves US troops to go
to Iraq. According to Defence Chief Rick Hillier, the mission of our
troops in Afghanistan is "to kill and be killed."

Furthermore, the Canadian government has recently increased military
spending by $13 billion - including money for an additional 8,000
"combat-ready" troops - and has increased its support for the Bush
Administration in the US by issuing a new "International Policy
Statement" that outlines Canada's role as a henchman to US hawks.

Now that Stephen Harper is prime minister - the only federal leader to
openly support the war in Iraq - the anti-war movement must send a loud
and clear message to the new government: we STILL say no to war! We
opposed the war on Iraq and we'll oppose the war on Iran. We want US war
resisters coming to Canada to be allowed to stay. And we want Canadian
troops brought home from Afghanistan now!

Join us in the streets on March 18!

Stop the War:
Demonstrate on the 3rd Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq
Saturday, March 18 @ 1PM
US Consulate, 360 University Avenue, Toronto