Peter Mansbridge: Carrying the Torch of the New Told Lie

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PEJ News - C. L. Cook - Is it possible, after nearly three years of the war and occupation in Iraq, after the millions of words written and uttered regarding the lies leading to that illegal act, and the bald-faced perfidy that has followed, anyone with half an eye to what is going on could still believe the Iraq "campaign" was a result of the September 2001 attack against the World Trade Center and Pentagon? Is it possible someone working at the apex of the Canadian media could seriously ask the nation to swallow this demonstrably false premise?

"9/11 was, of course, the event that prompted the military campaigns both here in Afghanistan, and in Iraq." - Peter Mansbridge, The National Mar. 6, 2006

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Peter Mansbridge:
Carrying the Torch of the New Told Lie

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
March 6. 2006

Fascinating, now Canada has moved into the war-footing we've witnessed south of the border these past terrible years, to hear Canada's government news organ, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, importing propaganda from the mired U.S. The grossest of the lies designed to lend credibility to America's murderous rampage through benighted Iraq was George Bush's ludicrous allegation implicating Saddam Hussein with the 9/11 attacks.

For Peter's sake, and for Canadians who may have spent the past three years lost in the wilds; the connection between Iraq and 9/11 has been dismissed by everyone. Even the Bush camp never went as far as Mansbridge did tonight; having the good sense to merely mention, time and time again, Iraq and 9/11 together, leaving it to the feeble-minded to fill in the blanks.

Maybe Peter is onto something; maybe Afghanistan and Iraq are connected afterall. As Canada's role in-country becomes "more robust" in nature; and, as "our" generals appear on television, telling Canadians the mission could last more than a decade, and saying we should be prepared for more casualties, Afghanistan is starting to look a lot like Iraq.

And, isn't Ottawa starting to sound a lot like Washington?

Conservative Party Foreign Affairs minister, Peter McKay refuses to waver on the policies drawn up by his Liberal predecessors, while the freshly sworn Defence minister and former General, Gordon O'Connor refuses to consider debating Canada's Afghan adventure in Parliament. The Liberals have little to say, beyond that they too support the deepening mire that is the occupation. The New Democrats, arrived to the debate a day late and dollar short, having allowed the war issue disappeared through two elections, now have Jack Layton bleating for public hearings, though not going so far as to call for troops to be removed.

Canadians are dying and killing in Afghanistan. The death will continue, and for what?

The generals tell us "defence begins abroad," and if the Taliban take back the country, what country will fall, domino-like next? The C.B.C. promises more stories from Afghanistan to explain better to too-dumb Canadian opponents of the glorious little war beginning there.

And, the Prime Minister tells us today, it is the generals, not Parliament, not the government, not the people, that will determine how long Canada stays in Afghanistan.

Perhaps Peter's right; it is all connected.



Chris Cook is a contributing editor at PEJ News and host of Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. You can check the GR Blog here.

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And What of the Pacific?

There are actually some helpful pieces on the website of PPP.

This article from 2004 gives background of how PPP got involved:
http://www.pacificpeoplespartnership.org/archives/000024.html

Here's a speech that was given is Victoria which gives a critical
analysis of "development" work there:
http://www.pacificpeoplespartnership.org/archives/000048.html

What I understood from Randall was that while the armed conflict has
been "brought under control" by the Australian intervention, there is
still deep division among the people, and so the idea of a peace &
reconciliation process like South Africa's was suggested. Fred is in
Canada to participate in an evaluation-of-peace-process training in
Ottawa. PPP has already sent an intern to work in his department there
(http://www.pacificpeoplespartnership.org/archives/000084.html) and may
be further involved in supporting this work.

Gorilla Radio for Monday, March 6, 2006

PEJ News - C. L. Cook - This week: Scholars for Truth's Jim Fetzer and releasing the 9/11 files. From the Solomon Islands, Fred Fakarii and finding reconciliation. And; Janine Bandcroft bringing us up to speed on all that's good to do in and around Victoria this week.

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Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, 104.3 cable, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca He also serves as a contributing editor at the progressive web news site: http://www.pej.org.

You can check out the GR blog at: http://GorillaRadioBlog.blogspot.com

Gorilla Radio for Monday, March 6, 2006

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
March 5, 2006

It was the crime of the young 21st Century, since eclipsed by a myriad of others. Incredibly, four and a half years after the fact, the facts surrounding the “terrorist” attacks of 9/11 are yet to be fully released. Ask almost anyone, and what you’ll hear about that fateful day is the standard pap put out by the powers that be: 9/11 was the work of Osama bin Laden and his cell of Al Qaida.

But that assertion has never been tried, and there’s ample evidence that there was much more at work behind the aerial bombings of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the still unknown target of the plane downed in Pennsylvania. Jim Fetzer is with Scholars for Truth, an organization that last week demanded the Pentagon release the 9/11 files. He’s also a professor of philosophy at the University of Minnesota, Duluth and has devoted more than ten years to the study of the death of JFK and the “murder” of anti-war Democrat Senator, Paul Wellstone.

Jim Fetzer in the first half.

And; far off and away, in the middle of the Pacific, lay the Solomon Islands. Far from the consciousness of most of the world, the tiny island nation is instructive to all who care about the high-blown ideals we denizens of grander nations profess: Democracy, human rights, and the dignity of the person. Fred Fakarii is a Solomon Islander currently touring Canada to raise awareness here about the situation in his paradisiacal homeland. Fred Fakarii in the second half.

And; Janine Bandcroft will join us in at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with all that’s good to do in and around Victoria in the coming week. But first, Jim Fetzer and turning the stone on 9/11.

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