Protests in Canada hit Afghan war

[tuvor]

The opposition to Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan is growing and taking a concrete form.

The Collectif Échec à la Guerre, the Canadian Peace Alliance, the Canadian Labor Congress and the Canadian Islamic Congress are jointly calling for a countrywide day of protest on Oct. 28.

In 2003, these same forces brought 250,000 to 350,000 people into the streets of Montreal to oppose the war in Iraq just before it started. About 10 percent of the people of Quebec took part throughout the province.

In early August, they brought out 15,000 to 20,000 people to protest Israel’s attack on Lebanon and Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan.

Their call explicitly demands: “End Canada’s occupation of Afghanistan.” They point out that “This October marks the fifth anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, and the people of that country are still suffering from the ravages of war. Reconstruction in the country is at a standstill and the needs of the Afghan people are not being met. The rule of the new Afghan state, made up largely of drug-running warlords, will not realize the democratic aspirations of the people there.”

http://www.workers.org/2006/world/canada-1019/