Despite United States' Ambassador Paul Cellucci's stinging criticism of the Canadian government's decision not to join the U.S.-led war on Iraq, Canada's military forces are heavily involved in the conflict and in support of U.S. aggression across the Middle East.

The labour-based New Democratic Party, one of five parties in the Canadian Parliament, published the following criticism of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's Liberal government on the NDP web site on March 28:

"Where do the Liberals Stand on Canada and the War? Canada has more personnel in the Gulf than all but three members of Bush's 'coalition of the willing.' Canadian ships are escorting George Bush's war ships and orders were recently changed to let them travel as far as Northern Kuwait. Canadian military surveillance aircraft in the Gulf area directly transmit data to the US Navy. In Parliament, the Liberals voted against withdrawing these military personnel from the Persian Gulf war zone. New Democrats are clear: NO WAR ON IRAQ!"

The Toronto Star reported on March 28 that "The (Canadian) military has acknowledged that 31 Canadians on exchange are playing support roles with coalition units involved in the Iraq campaign, but yesterday was the first time the government admitted the troops could be serving inside Iraq - in a war Canada refused to join." "The defence department won't comment on reports that six of the Canadians are serving with Britain's 1st Armoured Division, now involved in the tank attack on Basra, in southern Iraq. The Canadian military has confirmed some Canadians are serving in AWACS command and control aircraft directing the air war in Iraq and with other units scattered throughout the region."

On the eve of declaring that his government would not formally join the U.S.-led aggression against Iraq, Chretien dispatched 2,000 Canadian soldiers to Afghanistan to relieve American forces for redeployment against Iraq, and to bolster the U.S. colonial project for Afghanistan, a fragmented and impoverished country devastated by months of American bombing.

Other questions arise in the context of current Canadian military expenditures. The March 27 edition of Toronto-based NOW Magazine asks why is the Canadian Air Force spending $1.2 billion to upgrade CF-18 fighter-bombers to, in part, make better use of advanced weaponry such as laser-guided bombs? Is this for "defense of Canada" or for "United Nations peace-keeping missions", or "to join in U.S.-led bombing campaigns?"

Which brings us back to Ambassador Cellucci, a former Massachusetts governor and a staunch right-wing Republican, pro-President W. Bush enthusiast. Cellucci is delivering the Bush line, which is, simply, that Chretien’s hypocrisy on the war is not a sufficient display of fealty on the part of the continental junior partner to American imperialism.

Especially in the face of massive weekly popular protests across the Canadian state against the war, from unprecedented rallies in small cities and towns, to the serial mammoth marches of 200,000 plus in Montreal, Quebec, the American rulers are "upset and hurt" that their minor league imperialist cousins to the north have yet to join in the political crusade for the new Pax Americana in the oil-rich Middle East.

(Errant comments to the media by nationalist Liberal MPs and staffers ("Americans are bastards", "Bush is a moron") merely served as a pretext for the affected "hurt" feelings.)

Cellucci had the go-ahead from the very top to ruffle some feathers, which he did by implying that if the Canadian government doesn’t soon fall into line, there will be negative implications for Canada-U.S. trade relations, including the $1.4 billion (U.S.) in trade that crosses the border each day, as well as U.S. imports of oil, natural gas and hydroelectric power, to say nothing of the ongoing dispute over softwood lumber.

Thirty per cent of U.S. trade is with Canada. Seventy per cent of Canada*s trade is with the U.S. Clearly any curtailment of this immense commerce would hurt one side more than the other, but still, would the American colossus cut off its nose to spite its own face? It remains to be seen how far the Bush administration would go to impose its will on an unwilling world.

The cardinal truth here is that there is no salvation for humanity in submission to injustice. Submission only encourages the global bully. The road forward is the path of mass anti-war action, a fact lately affirmed by the NDP leadership to the benefit of its image, practice and popularity. Likewise, mass action against the war is what the imperialist rulers in Washington, London, Canberra and Ottawa fear the most, whether they publicly acknowledge it or not.

Whatever the tactical differences that divide the capitalist governments of Europe, Asia and the Americas, they are firmly united in their mission to maximize profits at the expense of workers, and to seize control of markets and natural resources to benefit the super-rich minority.

That is why the power of the majority is always in the streets, not in the councils of diplomacy. And that is why we should educate and mobilize public opinion everywhere to demand a halt to imperialist intervention in Iraq and the entire Middle East.

The article above was written by Barry Weisleder.