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Canadian Chief of Defense Staff Walter Natynczyk (Photo: Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

With the end date of 2011, Canada’s Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Walter Natynczyk has ordered the beginning of the planning phase of Canada’s military pull out of Afghanistan. The move comes in light of the Harper government’s intent to stick to its end date on Canada’s military participation in Afghanistan and for the Canadian government to switch its participation in Afghanistan to one that is focused on civilian aid and support. PM Stephen Harper has also commented that the Canadians simply do not have the desire to have troops in Afghanistan past the assigned pull out date. This view is supported by members of the academic community. Prof. Allen Sens of the University of British Columbia explained that the government and the people are suffering from ‘Afghanistan fatigue’. This disillusionment is not just attributed to the length of the mission but also to the lack of progress achieved in that time. Prof. Sens went on that Canadians feel that other countries took up a more active role in the highly volatile south. To read the full article click here or continue reading about the article blow.

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US President Barack Obama with the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai (AP Photo/Presidential Palace, HO)

 The highly-controversial election in Afghanistan has added to concerns that the international mission in that country is doomed to failure. It is indicative of the fact that, despite the perceived power of the United States, it has been unable to ensure that Afghanistan’s reconstruction is moving in the right direction. Key to any effective democratic government is the legitimacy of those entrusted with the job of leadership. Though the election itself discredited Karzai, the withdrawal of his only challenger, Abdullah Abdullah’s, from a run-off has further eroded his legitimacy. Moreover, it has also added to Abdullah Abdullah’s credibility as someone who could prove to be a potential counter-balance to Karzai in the future. For now, the Afghan people and the coalition are stuck with President Karzai for the foreseeable future. To read the full article click here or continue reading below.

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British PM Gordon Brown stated that the UK's committment to Afghanistan was dependent on Karzai's reforms on corruption (AAP)

In the wake of the killing of five UK soldiers by an Afghan police trainee, PM Gordon Brown has called on Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to step up efforts to tackle rampant corruption in the Afghan government. Though he emphasized the point that Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan remained firm, as long as al Qaeda remained a threat, the continuation of their support was dependent on Karzai’s reforms. In his statement, the prime minister highlighted five areas of reform: security, governance, reconciliation, economic development and engagement with neighbours. He also attempted to demonstrate Britain’s commitment to Afghanistan by stressing the continuation of the police training program. He explained that this was the difference between an army of occupation and an army of liberation. To read the full article click here or continue reading about the article below.

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Kurdish boys herding sheep in Iraq (photo: oppression.org)

Baghdad’s north is increasingly divided between Arabs and Kurds and, according to Human Rights Watch, is highly detrimental to the other minority populations living in Iraq. In a recent publication On Vulnerable Ground  the group explains that minorities remain vulnerable to attacks by Sunni Arab extremists and intimidation from Kurdish forces. Iraqi minorities are indeed trapped between these two larger ethnic group in a conflict that spans decades.

At issue are the oil-rich territories which are contested by both the Arab and Kurdish communities. The report alleges that Kurdish authorities are not only trying to take possession of these territories but also to intimidate the residents of this region, who are members of other ethnic minorities, into adopting the Kurdish identity.

Human Rights Watch is calling for an impartial investigation into the violence that has been perpetrated against members of minority groups in the Northern Nineveh region of Iraq.

To read the report, On Vulnerable Ground, click here.

United Nations Flag (Photo: ncccusa.org)

On November 5, 2009 the United Nations pulled half of the staff it had in Afghanistan out of the country. A total of 600 of the 1,100 foreign UN workers currently in Afghanistan will now temporarily depart until the situation gets better. The UN also threatened to permanently remove all staff if the situation continues to deteriorate.

This comes on the heels of an attack on a UN guesthouse in the Afghan capital at the end of October, in which 5 UN international staff were killed by gunmen disguised as police.

Meanwhile, other international aid agencies in Afghanistan are tightening up security but do not plan on leaving. These agencies do not believe withdrawing staff sends the right message and they have expressed concern over the United Nations ability to provide greatly needed essential services on the ground with this reduction in staff.

To read the full article, click here.

Maher Arar (Photo: Canadian Press)

An American federal court of appeal ruled this week that Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian, cannot sue the United States government and its officials because Congress has not authorized these types of law suits. Mr. Arar was attempting to sue those within the United States government who were involved with his arrest and deportation to Syria, where he was tortured on the assumption that he was a member of the al Qaeda terrorist network. In a 7-4 ruling, the court decided that Mr. Arar could not sue those who were specifically involved with his rendition, and were he to be awarded any sort of damages it would have to come from Congress.

The case has been followed closely by the international media as well as human rights NGOs and advocates because it surrounds the United States government’s policy of extraordinary rendition. This policy allowed government agents to arrest terrorism suspects and have them deported to states where torture and coercive interrogation laws are ambiguous or non-existent. Mr. Arar has successfully cleared his name in Canada, and was awarded $10.5 million in damages . He is still seeking to clear his name in the United States. His lawyer said that his client has yet to consider the option of appealing the decision to the American Supreme Court.

Read more here.

Germany's foreign minister hopes to rid his country of nuclear weapons and possibly add to the debate of the future of NATO (Photograph: Thomas Lohnes/AFP/Getty Images)

In 2009 the need for tactical nuclear weapons in Europe is dwindling. According to Prof. Joachim Krause of the Institute for Security Policy at Christian Albrecht University, the 480 warheads currently located in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Turkey, are primarily short-range tactical weapons and their range is too limited to reach targets in the Middle East or further. It is within this context that Germany’s new foreign minister and leader of the Free Democrats, Guido Westerwelle, has made it his top priority to rid Germany of its remaining US nuclear arsenal. He is visiting the U.S. in November, following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit and it is thought that he would use this opportunity to ask the Obama administration to remove the weapons from Germany. To read the full article, click here or continue reading about the article below. (more…)

ISAF peacekeepers in Afghanistan (Photo: macedoniadaily.org)

There are serious concerns being raised over the international community’s military and political strategy in Afghanistan in the wake of a failed election, Gen. McChrystal’s calls for additional troops and intense consultation’s in the Obama camp. It seems the world has been left to wonder: what’s next?

In their article Peacekeeping without peace Pierre Shori and Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh call for wider consultations particularly with Europe and Afghanistan’s neighbors, in order to get a wider perspective. A rigourous analysis of all the shortcomings of the current strategy is also necessary in order to clearly define the roles of the different international actors in Afghanistan.

Shori and Tadjbakhsh assert that a major consequence of the troop surge requested by Gen. McChrystal would be to “further the divergence of roles” in the international community and to reinforce the widely held perception that the United States is calling all the shots and that NATO and the UN are just along for the ride without any real influence over decisions.

The authors analyze this issue in the wider perspective of peacekeeping missions, by asking three questions: Can political stability be achieved through the work of outside forces? Can the United Nations be effective in such a process? Should the “outsourcing” of stability-creation to regional-security organisations support such a role?

To read the full article, click here or continue reading a review after the jump. (more…)

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan (Photo: Chronicle Telegraph/Silvia Pecota)

Young boys have been the targets of sexual abuse by Afghan soldiers living on Canadian bases in Afghanistan for years now, and the Canadian military has turned a blind eye to it. There are no indications that Canadian soldiers have been directly involved, but it appears that knowledge of the abuse is commonplace. This abuse sometimes takes place in the form of rapes and other times, like on “man-love Thursdays” (as they are referred to by Canadian soldiers) the boys have sexual relations with the Afghan soldiers in exchange for money or gifts.

It is shocking that the Canadian government has stood idly by for so long while these abuses continue. Ceasefire.ca is very concerned about this situation and believes that more public attention to this issue is necessary.

Journalists, such as David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen, Don Martin of MacLeans and Rick Westhead of the Toronto Star, have also been following and trying to bring attention to the situation. To download a PDF of their articles about this abuse against children in Afghanistan, click here.

Bruce K. Gagnon, Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

While the title may seem alarming and somewhat dramatic, sadly it isn’t far from the truth. NASA’s mission to “bomb the moon” began in June. According to Scientific American, “the attack on the moon is not a declaration of war or act of wonton vandalism. Space scientists want to see if any water ice or vapour is revealed in the debris.” The report written in June of 2009 describes the timeline of the mission to the moon, “the spacecraft will not head straight for the Moon. First it will orbit the Earth a number of times while its precise target is identified. Finally, it will send the missile into the Moon at twice the speed of a bullet on October 8.” And that’s what it did.

In a more recent report from the Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, Bruce Gagnon, he questions the moral and ethical validity of the activities that are occuring in space.  Who will protect the human rights of workers in space? How do we remain transparent and accountable in our actions? Who would monitor and govern space activities? Gagnon believes that governments need to step back from their space programs, “the time has come for the taxpayers to demand transparency, accountability, and a peaceful space program.  In the meantime we need to put the brakes on this runaway train.”