Guess what? Ceasefire.ca readers oppose Afghan mission

St. Steve Staples wants to make some sort of big deal by treating a nonsense online poll of his own seriously:

“End the War in Afghanistan,” say Ceasefire.ca supporters

Based on our online poll of over 1,800 Ceasefire.ca supporters, it is clear that the majority of respondents do not believe that the current path being taken in Afghanistan is the right one.

In fact, less than two percent of respondents still believe that the best course of action for Canada in Afghanistan is to continue attempts to defeat the Taliban through armed conflict. Rather, 45.4 percent would call for the immediate withdrawal of Canadian troops, while 45.6 percent would like Canada to support negotiations with insurgent groups such as the Taliban in order to put an end to the conflict.

The inauguration of the Obama Administration raised hopes within the U.S. anti-Iraq war movement, but it appears to have had little effect on the opinion of a large majority of Ceasefire.ca supporters.

Obama is strongly opposed to the war in Iraq [so why are US forces to stay with a combat role until August 2010?], but he has embraced the war in Afghanistan and has committed thousands more troops. Since 69 percent of respondents said that their opinions were unaffected by the change in U.S. administration, there appears to be a desire for a Canadian policy on Afghanistan that is independent from U.S. policy.

The Obama Administration has made no secret that it hopes for increased commitment from allies in Afghanistan, including Canada. Despite Obama’s enthusiastic reception by the peace movement, only 10 percent of our respondents were more likely to support a Canadian military presence beyond the end of the current mission in 2011, while 21 percent were less likely to do so.

Based on our poll, a more peaceful and diplomatic approach seems to be favoured among respondents, as 40 percent believe that Ceasefire.ca’s primary objective should be ending the war in Afghanistan, while 29 percent think that the focus should be placed on supporting the UN and peacekeeping efforts.

Unfortunately, this anti-military activist--he doesn't want the CF actually to fight--will be on a panel discussing the Afghan mission of CBC's The National tonight (April 27). It really is inexcusable that our major media continually give space to this extremist as some sort of "expert" or "analyst" on Afghanistan and things military, especially without noting that he is a committed advocate one particular viewpoint without even a pretense of objectivity.

From an earlier post about the controversy over a Fox News program that mocked the Canadian military:

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Mr Staples also said this in an Ottawa Sun story:

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"The dismissal of Canadian efforts in Afghanistan simply rubs salt in the wounds of Canadian families whose sons and daughters have been injured or killed in the war."..

Pity they had to quote St. Steve. What a flaming hypocrite he is, what with having opposed the combat mission--and dismissing our efforts--for years and advocating instead than the CF focus on UN peacekeeping. Just the sort of attitude the Fox fools were mocking. The Stapler wrote this in April, 2006:

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* Once a top 10 contributor of soldiers to UN peacekeeping, today we can fit all our Blue Helmets onto a single school bus - less than 60, out of more than 60,000 UN peacekeepers worldwide.

* Our 2,300-troop-strong effort in Afghanistan, a counterterrorism mission currently under U.S. command, is a proving ground for the adoption of U.S. war-fighting doctrine and a symbolic end to Canadian/UN peacekeeping...

This is what he wrote in June 2007:

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In a broader context, Prime Minister Harper's remarks last week may signal that the current military buildup and transformation of the Canadian Forces from peacekeepers to war fighters has reached its zenith...

Then this from February 27 this year:

Why Canadians want their country to be a peacekeeping nation
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By embracing UN peacekeeping, rightly or wrongly, Canadians are expressing a rejection of aggressive U.S.-led wars. Keep the military with the UN, otherwise, many fear, our forces will simply become an adjunct of the Pentagon, serving U.S. interests.

Sadly, successive Canadian governments have abandoned UN peacekeeping to the point where we have dropped from the first to the 53rd highest contributor, next to Malawi. Today we send so few soldiers, they could all fit on a school bus (62 Canadian soldiers out of 78,000 international troops on UN peacekeeping operations).

And so, while UN involvement plummets, 2750 Canadian troops are stuck in a failing US/NATO-led war in Afghanistan. It seems to me that Canadians actually know the score very well. Now, if only our government would listen.

Now take a look at who's involved at Ceasfire.ca, a website (the name says it all) the Stapler founded and that remains dear to his, er, heart. I'm tempted to sick Gutfeld et al. on him. Really tempted.

Update: St. Steve has bottomless gall; now he's urging Canadians to defend the forces the loves to loathe:

...Such a shameful display shows that no matter how much sacrifice Canadians make in Afghanistan, it will never be enough for some Americans...

The Rideau Institute [take a look at its "Board of Directors" webpage] is suggesting that Canadians write to Fox News asking the program’s host, Greg Gutfeld, to apologize for the segment...

Notwithstanding all his proclaimed devotion to the UN, Mr Staples conveniently never mentions that NATO's Afghan mission is authorized by a continuing series of UN Security Council resolutions and is thus a fully-fledged "UN mission"--just not one managed by the UN Secretariat. Which may be a pretty Good Thing given the poor performance of those UN-run "peacekeeping" missions.

More from Jack Granatstein, writing about Canada's "peace movement", at another post:

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Then there is Steven Staples. Staples worked for Maude Barlow’s organization and then for the Polaris Institute in Ottawa which, as it says, aims at “retooling citizen movements for democratic social change.” In January, 2007, Staples set up the Rideau Institute for International Affairs, “an independent, research, advocacy and consulting group,” and Byers and Mason are on his board of directors, while Barlow is listed as a senior advisor. As an advocacy group, the Rideau Group cannot provide tax receipts, so it struggles to raise funds and says it supports itself with donations from like-minded groups and by doing writing/consulting/lobbying work for organizations such as — surprise, surprise — the Council of Canadians.

Steven Staples sometimes seems omnipresent in the media, not because he is an expert on peace and security issues, but because journalists want balance. (If I have a pro-war opinion here, I must have an anti-war comment there. Only the Toronto Star’s Tom Walkom appears to believe that quoting Staples and Byers alone provides balance [an example is here--see my post for some facts) His program director, Anthony Salloum, a former NDP staffer on Parliament Hill, “found” some secret Department of National Defence documents in a garbage can (and if you believe this I have a Bloor Street viaduct I can get for you cheaply), and the two have a shrewd sense of what will get attention.

What unites all the new peace groups is their anti-Americanism. Canada is following the Bush agenda; Canada should get out of the American war in Afghanistan; Canada should halt its defence integration with the Yanks. Led by Barlow, Byers and Staples, the refrain is automatic and predictable. If Barack Obama wins the U.S. election, it will be interesting to see how the peace movement changes gears to denounce the new administration...

Since President Obama has proven true to his campaign position as rather a, er, hawk on Afstan, the Stapler has come up with nice bit of spin in his post above:

...there appears to be a desire for a Canadian policy on Afghanistan that is independent from U.S. policy.

And, one might add, from UN Security Council policy.

Update: Have learned that the Afghanistan panel St. Steve was to be on has been pre-empted by a swine flu special. Temporary relief.

Upperdate: A comment at Ceasefire.ca worth a read (via Terry Glavin).