Derrick O'Keefe

Omar Khadr first to face trial for war crimes under Obama

derrick — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:57:26 +0000

Shame on Harper, shame on Obama and shame on us all. The Toronto Star reports today that "this week the first war crimes trial under the Obama administration will feature its only remaining Western prisoner and one who was 15 when captured."

Wikileaks: CIA recommends France use Afghan women's rights to boost war

derrick — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:57:46 +0000

A secret CIA report, brought to light last month by Wikileaks, reveals the cynical battle plans for the "war of perception" being waged over public opinion in Europe about NATO's war in Afghanistan. The four-page document is well worth reading, mainly to see exactly how cyncial the powers-that-be are when assessing the public.

Who are we fighting for? The Corleones of Kandahar

derrick — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:26:30 +0000

A few months back, I wondered aloud if Canadians were killing and dying for Kandahar's Al Capone. Since then, there have been new revelations bolstering the case for gangster metaphors in describing the Karzai family at the head of the NATO-backed regime in Afghanistan. President Hamid's half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, has come under particular scrutiny. Julius Cavendish writes in the April 3 UK Independent:

Left Forum 2010: Rekindling the radical imagination

derrick — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:38:37 +0000

I attended this year's Left Forum in New York, a gathering of thousands of progressive academics and activists held March 19-21. I spoke at a panel co-organized by the Canadian Peace Alliance and the Campaign for Peace and Democracy on the topic of the war in 'Af-Pak'.

The final plenary on March 21 featured a tribute to Howard Zinn, with actor-teacher-activist Brian Jones performing Zinn's Marx in Soho. With the Forum being held at PACE University in Lower Manhattan a stone's throw from Wall Street (and not far from Soho), the play was a joyful reminder that the ideas of both Zinn and Marx will resonate until the global dictatorship of Capital is brought to an end.

War extension looms: Will the Liberals (again) help Harper stay in Afghanistan?

derrick — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:32:13 +0000

Yesterday’s Globe and Mail featured one of Ottawa’s worst kept secrets as its front page story: the United States will be officially requesting that hundreds of Canadian troops remain in Afghanistan after the 2011 pull-out from Kandahar. The article implies that such a continued military role would not contradict the 2008 parliamentary motion on the war:

Let's go Dutch! Government of the Netherlands collapses over Afghan War

derrick — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:23:02 +0000

The 'Olympic Truce' continues to be nothing more than a sick joke for the people of Afghanistan, as at least 27 more civilians were killed in a NATO bombing in Uruzgan on Sunday.

There is one big Winter Olympic country, however, that has (by sheer coincidence) given a nod to the values represented by the idea of a Truce during the Games. The government of the Netherlands has collapsed over the issue of the war, which is very big news indeed. Dutch troops, who have been stationed in Uruzgan, will be on their way out in six months. The Guardian reports:

Malalai Joya: 'Defenceless and poor' Afghans are main victims of NATO offensive

derrick — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:18:02 +0000

Both the Vancouver Olympics and NATO's offensive in Afghanistan's Helmand Province are now a week old. Sadly, very few media outlets have picked up on the story of the blatant hypocrisy of launching this offensive during the so-called "Olympic Truce". Nor have many in Canada given space to critical perspectives on 'Operation Moshtarak'.

Where's that Olympic Truce?

derrick — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:28:05 +0000

Last week, I wrote a piece in the Georgia Straight about the war in Afghanistan and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver:

The Governator to carry Olympic Torch in Vancouver

derrick — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:25:01 +0000

Because sometimes it's better to laugh than cry ...

The London conference on Afghanistan: Rebranding an unpopular war

derrick — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:37:15 +0000

Lawrence Cannon, Canada’s foreign minister, is on his way to London for a major international conference on the future of Afghanistan, January 28. Hilary Clinton and other high level representatives from the NATO countries will be present, as will embattled Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

One wonders if this major global media focus on Afghanistan was part of the Harper government’s calculation in proroguing Parliament. The torture and abuse of Afghan detainees is also an issue in several European countries, and so the less riled up the Canadian press corps is from any fresh revelations back home, the better.

Racism, misinformation and militarization have hurt Haiti relief effort

derrick — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:04:50 +0000

Everyone should check out and share the essential coverage Democracy Now! is providing of the disaster in Haiti. Amy Goodman and others from DN! are reporting from Port-au-Prince.

Yesterday, DN! reported that 'Misinformation and Racism Have Frozen Recovery Effort at General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.' This from an interview with Dr. Evan Lyon from Partners In Health (PIH):

Disaster in Haiti: Solidarity needed more than ever

derrick — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 08:09:04 +0000

Waking up this morning, the news from Haiti is almost too much to take. To make an emergency donation now, please go HERE. The Haitian people have suffered enough throughout their history. Having giving humanity the gift of turning the words liberté, égalité, fraternité into reality with a heroic and successful slave rebellion in the late 18th century, they have been punished, scorned, exploited and abused ever since.

Omar Khadr's plight part of Canada's scandal of war and torture

derrick — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:46:21 +0000

Amnesty International is holding an important event in Vancouver today on the case of Omar Khadr. It starts at 5:45 p.m. with a vigil in Victory Square (West Pender at Hamilton), followed by a forum at 6:30 p.m. at SFU Harbour Centre, 515 West Pender Street (Segal Room). I will be one of the speakers at the forum, and so I thought I would share here a few thoughts on Khadr's plight.

Even some right-wing pundits concede Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue Parliament was done in part to avoid more scrutiny of the Afghan detainee scandal. In his interview last week on CBC’s The National, the Prime Minister shrugged off the whole thing, “I think polls have been pretty clear that that's not on the top of the radar of most Canadians.”

Worth repeating: It's the foreign policy, stupid

derrick — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:04:30 +0000

If anything has become clear early in 2010, it’s that the deadly logic of the “war on terror” continues, even though the new U.S. administration doesn’t use that phrase anymore.

Deadly end to 2009 in Afghanistan: Five Canadians killed, including journalist

derrick — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:25:07 +0000

As a deadly year in Afghanistan winds down, reports confirm five more Canadians have been killed. Four soldiers and a Calgary Herald journalist, Michelle Lang, died in an explosion Dec. 30 in Kandahar Province.