English version
(Traduction de la version originale française)
Montréal, March 15, 2005 – Two years after what United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan still calls the illegal invasion of Iraq, a global day of action against the war of occupation being carried out in Iraq will be held next Saturday, March 19, 2005. In Montréal, the Échec à la guerre Collective has called for a demonstration which will start at Dorchester Square at 1 p.m. In Canada and the United States, actions will be held in 37 and in 7261 cities respectively. Around the world, there will be mobilizations in London, New York, Rome, Seoul, Madrid, San Francisco, Istanbul, Manila, Melbourne, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Rio, among other cities.
The invasion under the deceitful pretext about weapons of mass destruction was followed by other lies and other violations of international law. In effect, under the cover of wishing to liberate the Iraqi people, then of wishing to re-establish the country’s security, more than 100,000 civilians have been killed, entire cities have been devastated, and thousands of people are arbitrarily imprisoned and often tortured. Under the pretext of putting Iraq back on the road to prosperity, U.S. Viceroy Paul Bremer, with ”provisional” then “interim” governments appointed by himself, illegally tried to massively privatize Iraq’s economy in line with their neo-liberal credo; the unemployment rate is now over 60 %, severe malnutrition among children has more than doubled, and potable water and electricity are no more available than immediately following the invasion. In the name of reconstruction, the U.S. invaders have awarded themselves fabulous contracts, often without calls for tenders, and Iraqi public funds have been squandered and misappropriated without constraint. All of which amply demonstrates that the intervention of the United States and of their allies in Iraq fits in with a logic of domination, not liberation.
Under these conditions, Canada should in no way contribute to the training of Iraqi military or police. The United States assert that Iraq represents the most important front in the “war on terror”. For our part, we oppose this so-called “war on terror” and the militarism and police state into which it leads us.
In compliance with international law, we demand that Canada condemn all wars of occupation (e.g. Iraq, Palestine), that it reject all notion of “preventive war” and that it refuse to participate in all military missions ensuing there from. Concretely, while Canada prepares to increase the number of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and to deploy combat units in the Kandahar region, we demand, on the contrary, their immediate withdrawal.
We similarly demand that Canada repeal all laws and cease all judicial procedures which run counter to the elementary rules of justice and which make a mockery of human rights. In particular, we demand the withdrawal of Bill C-36 and the abolition of security certificates.
And lastly, we demand that the supplementary 13 billion or so dollars announced in military and “security” expenses in the last Canadian budget be allocated instead to the development of a more equitable society, here and elsewhere, the only true guaranty of security for all.
∗ Translated from French by Steven Kaal
1 These numbers updated as of March 18, 2005