NEWS

 

Canada In Afghanistan (What do you think?)

Nicole Burton, News Editor
Brent Morley, OP Contributor

 

Last week, Douglas students took part in a 3rd annual,
province-wide “Student Week Against War and Occupation.”
The event happened only months after a number of significant
decisions were made around changes in the Canadian military.

We wanted to see what the student body thought about these
decisions, so last week, we posed five questions to students. A
selection of their responses are below.

1. “What do you think about the decision to
double the Canadian military budget from $12.8
billion to $26 billion?”

“T agree. Definitely. It should be increased. Look at the
number of incidents on the East Coast with the Sea

r: . . See
King helicopters. It shows how much of a risk person-
nel are taking. Whether it’s for the machines or the per-
sonnel, I’m in favour of it.”
—Arthur Lunn, Sports

“Pretty stupid! There’s no point in it. They should
spend it on school and health care. I think it’s a waste
of money.”

—<Agam Bassi, General Studies

“T think they should pump that money into something
more important, like social security, education, helping
with mental illness...just look at all the poverty in
Downtown [Vancouver]! It could go to help with that.”
—Anonymous, Criminology

2. “What do you think about the recent decision to
deploy 2000 more soldiers to Afghanistan?”

“T didn’t even know they sent any....”
-Nikki, Early Child Education

“T think that it’s ridiculous. Canada is saying it is against
the war in Iraq, while we are alleviating the stress on
American forces by putting 2000 troops in so they can
take 2000 out in Afghanistan.”

-Christine, General Studies

“T think the soldiers are there to help rebuild a society
that is in desperate need of help. I don’t think that

people who are against having soldiers in Afghanistan
fully understand the nature of the problem. Perhaps
they don’t understand why the Taliban had to be
removed from the country.”

—Sheava, General Studies

“We don’t have any business being over there [in
Afghanistan]. They haven’t done anything to us. After
9/11, Bush didn’t really care what happened to people
in these countries. There’s no military movement in Iraq
or Afghanistan that’s affecting anyone positively. Sure,
Osama bin Laden was supposed to be in
Afghanistan...after 9/11. So what are they doing there
now? Even by that argument, it’s too little too late.”
—Kyle Schafer, Commerce and Business
Administration

3. “What do you think about the recent decision to
add 5000 more soldiers to the Canadian Armed
Forces, and the decision to add 3000 reserves?”
“Are they starting a draft? "Cause if they do, I’m leaving
the country!”

—Sharon, Criminology

“You know, we’re just following in the footsteps of the
States! We could be using that money for helping them,
instead of killing them. We’re supposed to be known as
a peaceful country.”

—Pam, Criminology

4. “General Rick Hillier is the top soldier in the
Canadian armed forces. At a press conference on
Canadian troop deployment to Afghanistan, he
said, “We’re not the public service of Canada. Our
job is to be able to kill people.” And in direct refer-
ence to the people of Afghanistan, “These are
detestable murderers and scumbags, I'll tell you
that up front right now. They detest our freedoms;
they detest our liberties. And we’re not going to let
these radical murderers rob from anyone, and we’re
certainly not going to let them rob from Canada.”

“What do think about General Hilliet’s
comments?”

“...General Hillier should be called General Hitler, our
job is not to kill...we should leave those people alone.”
—Monica, General Studies

“What are we defending? What threat do we face?
Couldn’t that money be better spent on healthcare and
social programs?”

-Anonymous, General Studies

“Tt is really scary to think [about] someone with the
amount of power that a general has, making statements
about being willing to kill on a‘whim. It is such a biased
view that the Afghan people are ‘detestable, murdering,
scumbags.””

—Nola, General Studies

nicolemarieburton@yahoo.ca

“For anyone to publish what this man said, they'd better
try and back up what he’s saying with some real infor-
mation about what’s happening in that country. To me,
this is just plain racist.”

—Sheila Sinclair Smith, Psychology

5. “Should people in Canada have a say in these
decisions about the Canadian Military?”

“T don’t think the general population in Canada is capa-
ble of making decisions on their own.”
—wNatalia Hautala, Music

“Yes! It’s the Canadian military! Decisions should repre-
sent the whole of Canada, not just the people at the
top.”

—Anita, Psychology

What do you think about this issue? Send your thoughts
on this debate to the OP News Editor at nicole-
marieburton@yahoo.ca.

 

   

 

Picketers Grill CBC President

Robert Rabinovitch at McGill Event
President's appearance at the Faculty Club
draws picketers from Ottawa

Liam Churchill, McGill Daily (McGill University)

MONTREAL (CUP)—Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation President Robert Rabinovitch was forced
to use the back door of the McGill Faculty Club on
Tuesday, as locked-out CBC employees walked a picket
line in front of the building.

Rabinovitch, who is also the Chair of McGill’s
Board of Governors, was at McGill to participate in a
panel discussion marking the inauguration of the
Beaverbrook Chair in Ethics, Media, and
Communications—a post to be held by another pan-
elist, Marc Raboy.

Before the discussion began, a group of about 15
CBC employees marched outside the Faculty Club, car-
rying signs that read “Locked Out by CBC.” The work-
ers have been locked out since Aug. 15, following 15

CUP Wire