On Sat, 24 May 1997 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote about Canada's military spending: Perhaps this is not > insignificant as I suggested in my post, but it is surely minimal > and I would argue virtually a minimal level necessary for > air-sea rescue, coastal and fishery servailance, and contribution > to peace keeping. What about NATO and NORAD expences (or are these not imperialist military alliances)? I hope this approach on military spending didn't make it into the Alternative Budget that Paul wrote about. $10. billion would go a long way if spent on shorter work time without loss of pay, useful public works and restoring social programs! Paul also wrote: I gather from Bill's comments that he thinks > that Canada's peace keeping efforts are "imperialistic". Well, > perhaps he might make his point in one specific case or another, > but I would like to see him defend this position in Cyprus, Bosnia and/ > or Haiti. Yes I do think Canada's "peacekeeping" is keeping peace for imperialism, including in these cases. Victor Levants's book on Canadian complicity with the US in Vietnam provides excellent evidence on that example. Another topical example is the Congo (though I can't provide many sources on this, because it is based on some rather scattered reading and conversations recently. If others have more information on this history I would greatly appreciate sources): In 1960, the Congo was a flashpoint in the world struggle against colonialism and imperialism, alongside Algeria and Cuba. Patrice Lumumba, the first PM of the Congo was a revolutionary nationalist and anti-tribalist. Shortly after formal Congolese independence was won in 1960, the head of the mineral rich Katanga province, Moise Tshombe, tried to seceed with Belgian military support. Lumumba appealed to the UN to protect Congolese independence and force the withdrawl of Belgian troops defending Tshombe in Katanga. The UN did send in troops. However, rather than UN forces acting against the Belgian troops and Katanga rebels, they were used to close the airports when Lumumba asked for Soviet airplanes to fly his troops to Katanga, and to block his accesss to the radio station to appeal for support against a Belgian and US backed coup by President Kasavubu. Lumumba was arrested by Congolese forces recognized by the UN, beaten savagely in the presence of Swedish UN soldiers, and then murdered while being flown to his enemies in Katanga. The US Senate Commitee found that the Director of the CIA, John Foster Dulles, had ordered Lumumba's assasination as "an urgent and prime objective". The UN "peacekeepers" in effect were the armed force that guaranteed Lumumba's defeat and the consolidation of imperialist power in Africa. Canadian troops played a key role in the Congo operation, being responsible for the communications and coordination centre, and so were well aware of the machinations against Lumumba. Bill Burgess
