Saskatchewan Peace News

Volume 19 No. 1 First in a Series: US, NATO – Militarism Out of Control! February 2012

`REGINA – The above headline leads the February 17, 2012 editorial in the Sydney Morning Herald whichcontinues by saying, “The standoff over Iran’s nuclear program is close to spiraling out of control. Israel which seesIran as the worst threat to its existence, has canvassed the attitudes of US military and intelligence leaders to amilitary strike. Israel is reportedly ready to attack Iran as early as April. On Wednesday, Japanese Prime MinisterYoshihiko Noda urged visiting Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak not to take such “extremely dangerous” action.That is an understatement; a military strike carries huge risks.”

Pepe Escobar author of Globalistan: How the GlobalizedWorld is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007)reports in the February 20th edition of Asia Times (The RovingEye – Fear and Loathing in the American [Persian – Ed.] Gulf,“in roughly one month, no less than three US aircraft carriersand their strike groups will be sloshing around the AmericanGulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea: the USSAbraham Lincoln, USS Carl Vinson and USS Enterprise, plusgood ol’ French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles deGaulle. … Apart from this naval hajj of US aircraft carriergroups, the 40 year-old USS Ponce is being retrofitted into aspecial ops amphibious hub – to be dispatched to the AmericanGulf.” Escobar continues by saying DEBKA-Net which isknown for its connections to Israeli intelligence, claims that50,000 US troops are being flown from Diego Garcia in theIndian Ocean to the US island bases of Socotra (380 kmsoutheast of Yemen) and Camp Justice in Masirah (70 kmsouth of the Strait of Hormuz in Oman). This deployment isabove the extra 15,000 US troops recently deployed to

Countdown to War with Iran Must be HaltedGlobal pressure can end years of nuclear brinkmanship

NATO – cont’d on page 2

From daily commentary in the mass media to ongoing comments made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and ForeignAffairs Minister John Baird proclaiming that “Iran is the world’s greatest threat,” events in the Middle East (first Libya,now Syria and next Iran) point to a monumental situation arising there which has the potential to bring nuclear-armedRussia and China into the conflict thereby provoking a Third World War. The Regina Peace Council does not say so lightly.Rather, based on a broad spectrum of observations by veteran peace activists, journalists and academics including those inthe World Peace Council, we inform our readers of the real situation facing humanity and urge everyone to becomepersonally active to halt and reverse the disastrous agenda of the Harper government to include Canada in US efforts to, in
military terms, maintain “full spectrum dominance.” [Editor]

Volume 19 No. 1 Saskatchewan Peace News………………………………… February 2012

2

Kuwait. The massive joint Israeli-US “AustereChallenge” war games testing the missile defencesystems of both countries which were cancelled earlierthis year are now rescheduled for October, less than onemonth before the US presidential election.

Reporting February 15th in the Regina Leader-Post, LeeBerthiame, Postmedia News, quotes Iranian expert TritaParsi, head of the Washington-based National AmericanCouncil, who was speaking at the University of Ottawa,as saying Prime Minister Stephen Harper is inciting“hysteria” by claiming that Iran is the world’s greatestthreat. “All this does is that it increases the likelihoodthat all the remaining options are confrontationaloptions. And I don’t think that is to the benefit ofanyone, including the Israelis or the Canadians.”Contradicting statements made by Harper to justify thevilifying of Iran, Parsi said Iranian leaders are neitherirrational nor suicidal. “On the contrary, you have agovernment that is deadset on its survival”, he said.

Award-winning author, Professor of Economics(Emeritus) at the University of Ottawa, founder andDirector of the Centre for Research of Globalization(Global Research), and contributor to the EncyclopediaBritannica, Michel Chossudovsky in a January 16th

article in Global Research (War Plan Iran – Dispellingthe Lies, Telling the Truth about Western Aggression inthe Persian Gulf) states that “the year 2012 may becomeknown as a watershed for humanity [my emphasis – Ed.]– the year when mankind was precipitated into a globalconflagration involving nuclear weapons. The signs areindeed grimly ominous as formidable military forcesconverge on the Persian Gulf in the long-running stand-off between the United States and Iran.”

The conquest of Iran and control of its oil and naturalgas resources (about 10% of entire world reserves) is thedriving force behind America’s military agenda. Thisagenda is perhaps not so much for its own use, but tocurb and contain the industrial, economic and militarygrowth of China. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline is about toreceive the go-ahead in direct opposition to Americanefforts to bring natural gas from Turkmenistan toAzerbaijan, Turkey and then westward to Europe. Iranwill also supply gas (IPI) to this project (see map).

Zbignew Brzezinski, advisor to US President BarackObama, has publicly stated that Iran, not Syria, is thereal strategic prize for America. A US-friendly regimein Tehran rather than one with an independent or anti-

American stance will alter the geopolitical landscape inAmerica’s favour and perpetuate American dominance.

During his Asia-Pacific tour at the end of 2011, USPresident Obama heralded this militarized agenda bysaying that the US is a Pacific power and will placeincreased effort in maintaining its presence (i.e.,military) in the region.

Michel Chossudovsky and Finian Cunningham,Bahrain-based Middle East and East AfricaCorrespondent for Global Research, explain that “thelaunching of an outright war was using nuclearwarheads against Iran … has been on the drawing boardof the Pentagon since 2005” (The Globalization of War -The “Military Roadmap” to World War III – December2011).

Russia ana preludeCunninghRussian g“should Ihardshipssecurity.”

Stepping

Countrieseconomicprovide ehostilitiesand theirdefence).military-inHowitzerAfghanist

NATO – cont’d from page 1

d China are fully aware that a war with Iran isto a broader scale war. Chossudovsky and

am report that in a recent statement theovernment has warned that the US and NATOran get drawn into any political or military, this will be a direct threat to our national

Stones On the Way to Iran

weakened and divided by civil strife,collapse and social chaos are less able to

ffective resistance to occupation. Ongoingprovide the testing ground for new weaponscontrol systems (e.g. theatre ballistic missileAs a bonus, there is an instant profit to thedustrial complex (e.g. $150,000 155mm M77shells used by Canada to kill Taliban in

an) and the mushrooming of domestic war

Map of TAPI Natural Gas Pipeline



NATO – Militarism Out of Control(and what to do about it)

cross-Canada tourmeet

Dave MckeePresident, Canadian Peace Congress

Elected at the Congress’s renewal convention in 2008 and reconfirmed last November, Dave is a long-standing peace activist, trade unionist, member of the Toronto Association for Peace for Peace andSolidarity (TAPS), and former steering committee member of the Canadian Peace Alliance. Dave is alsoan executive member of the World Peace Council and attends international meetings as priorities allow.

Dave’s wife, Colleen Burke, is a member of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedomand is also a member of the Congress executive.

Date: Monday, March 5, 2012Place: Regina City Hall

Darlene Hincks RoomTime: 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm

Everyone Welcome!

3

budgets (e.g. $735 billion 10-year military budget of theHarper government).

Libya – NATO (including Canada) Taking Sides

From an ostensibly non-partisan, humanitarian rolesanctioned by the United Nations Security Council,NATO’s intervention in Libya has mutated into aviolation of international law that involves regime-change and occurrences of war crimes. It is widelyaccepted that the Libyan rebels would not have come topower if it weren’t for NATO’s bombing.

Canada was actively involved at all levels. Canadian Lt.Gen. Charles Bouchard led the NATO intervention.David Pugliese, Postmedia News, reported on February18th in the Ottawa Citizen that during his first majorinternational trip abroad Foreign Affairs Minister JohnBaird visited Canadian aircrews in Italy and signed“Free Libya. Democracy.” on a Canadian bomb destinedfor Libya. In February 2011, Senators Hugh Segal andRomeo Dallaire urged the Canadian government to builda coalition for “rapid engagement” against Gaddafi.According to Pugliese, while enforcing arms embargo ofLibya sanctioned by the UNSC, the Canadian warship

HMCS Charlottetown let through an intercepted shipcarrying arms to the Libyan rebels. This action andothers by the 20 NATO warships in the Mediterraneanresulted in hundreds of tonnes of ammunitions reachingGaddafi’s opponents. Using the Canadian governmentas facilitator, Waterloo-based Aeryon Scout Micro-Unmanned Aerial Vehicle and Ottawa-based ZaribaSecurity Corporation delivered a $100,000 suit-casesized drone to the Libyan rebel’s Transitional NationalCouncil (TNC) in Misrata, sailing through NATO’sblockade from Malta without problems.

Epilogue: BBC News reported on February 17th

(first Anniversary of the start of the uprising thatoverthrew Gaddafi) that the situation in Libya isworsening. Outside the control of the TNC,militias vie for control of strategic positions withinTripoli and other parts of the country arbitrarilyarresting and imprisoning those suspected ofsupporting Gaddafi.

In January, TunisFocie (also Pravda and Telesur)reported US troops at the Mitga military base nearTripoli and at other locations: Brega, Ras Lanouf




4

and Sirte. Troops and mercenaries were setting upmobile camps and equipment around oilfields andrefineries.

Belying NATO’s claim of minimal “collateraldamage”, Hamuda Hassan, Reuters, reports in theFebruary 21st edition of the Regina Leader-Post,that Misrata was bombed “beyond recognition”and it will be a tough job rebuilding the city of300,000 people.

Syria – NATO’s Next Humanitarian War

From the onset of the protest movement which startedlast year in southern Syria on March 17th, Westernmedia coverage has presented events as being part of thebroader pro-democracy “Arab Spring” movement. Whatis hidden is the involvement of armed terrorist groupsprimarily from neighbouring countries and supported bythe US, EU and the Arab League monarchies.

Syria is no “model society” in regard to civil rights andfreedom of expression. The ruling Baath Party isenshrined in the current constitution. Nonetheless, Syriais the only remaining independent secular state in theArab world. Its populist base integrates Muslims,Christians and Druze. As a result, President Bashar AlAssad has considerabe popular support.

Reporting on the situation in Syria since March 2011,Michel Chossudovsky observes that the so-calledpeaceful protests were in fact not so peaceful. Numerousreports have been filed which cite police officers beingkilled, public buildings being burned and the housingareas of servicemen being attacked.

On February 8th, Global Research reported thataccording to DEBKA-Net both British and QatariSpecial Forces had been dispatched to Syria. As

“technical advisors”, they were supporting rebelcommunications and organizing the supply of weaponsand ammunition, mostly from Turkey. Coordinatingsites had been established in four areas of Homs:Khaldiya, Bab Amr, Bab Derib, and Rastan. EliteForces UK on January 5th reported that British andFrench Special Forces were training members of theFree Syrian Army from a base in Turkey. British M16operatives and UKSF (SAS/SBS) personnel weretraining rebels in urban warfare.

The US is also putting diplomatic pressure on the Syriangovernment. On February 7th the American governmentwithdrew is Ambassador Robert S. Ford and his stafffrom its embassy in Damascus. Readers may recall thatthe US re-opened its embassy in Damascus in lateJanuary 2011 at the height of the protest movement inEgypt. According to Michel Chossudovsky, this “bears adirect relationship to the onset of the recent protestmovement in mid-March.” (The Pentagon’s “SalvadorOption”: The Deployment of Death Squads in Iraq andSyria – August 16, 2011). Fluent in both Arabic andTurkish, Robert S. Ford worked directly under JohnNegroponte (US Ambassador to Honduras from 1981 to1985) who played a key role in supporting andsupervising the Contra mercenaries whose attacksclaimed the lives of some 50,000 Nicaraguans. While inBaghdad, Negroponte described Robert S. Ford as “oneof those very tireless people … who didn’t mind puttingon his flak jacket and helmet and going out of the GreenZone to meet contacts.”

Lee Berthiaume, Postmedia News, reported in theFebruary 21st edition of the Regina Leader-Post that theCanadian government is coming under increasingpressure to pull-out Ambassador Glenn Davidson afterwithdrawing several diplomats on January 31st. So far,Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has refused to doso. Upwards of 4,700 Canadians – the majority withdual citizenship – are presently in Syria.

Arab League – Tool of Western Powers

Formed in 1945 to “defend the independence andsovereignty” of its members, the League of Arab States(Arab League) has gone from supporting Arabindependence and sovereignty to being a mouthpiece ofArab monarchies: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain,United Arab Emirates, and Sultanate of Oman.Ironically the Arab League is now supporting actionswhich if successful will lead to a founding member of

Armed Members of Syrian Muslim BrotherhoodJisr-al-Choughour (AFN – June 16, 2011)




5

the League (i.e., Syria) becoming subservient to Westerninterests.

The Arab monarchs of the Arab League have neverforgiven Gamal Abdel Nasser and his Pan-Arab, secularfollowers (including Muammar Gaddafi and SaddamHussein) for overthrowing or threatening their rule.Also, billions of their wealth will disappear if the US“petro-dollar” loses its monopoly in oil markets andcollapses. It is quid pro quo: the US gets the oil andgeopolitical advantage over China and Russia while theLeague’s Arab monarchies maintain power (forgetdemocracy) and their immense wealth.

Islamic Fundamentalists – Pawns of the West

With each passing day, it is becoming clearer thatIslamic fundamentalists played a key role in theoverthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. DavidPugliese in the February 18th edition of the Ottawa Sunreports that before NATO’s intervention into Libya,President Idriss Deby Itno warned that “al-Qaida’sNorth African branch, known as AQIM [al-Qaida in theIslamic Maghreb] – Ed.] was playing an active role inthe uprising. Similar claims had already been made byGadhafi, who said the rebellion had been organized byAQIM and his old enemies the LIFG [Libya IslamicFighting Group – Ed.], who have vowed to overthrowthe colonel and return the country to traditional Muslimvalues, including Sharia law.” Some Canadian militaryofficers joked privately that NATO’s jets were the “al-Qaida’s air force.”

Pugliese points out that various LIFG operatives came tothe forefront of the Libyan rebellion with the mostnoteworthy being Abdel Hakim Belhadj who iscurrently military commander of Tripoli. Belhadjreceived his military training at a CIA-sponsoredguerilla camp in Afghanistan. Later in 2004, the CIAarrested Belhadj in Bangkok as a terrorist. He wasinterrogated and transferred to Libya where he wasimprisoned by Gaddafi. Pursuant to Resolution 1822,the United Nations Security Council officially listed theLIFG as a terrorist organization.

Michel Chossudovsky reports that the Libyan model ofrebel forces is being applied to Syria where “Islamistfighters” are integrated with NATO Special Forces. AnLIFG brigade from Libya has been dispatched to Syraiwhere is is involved in terrorist attacks. (Syria: NATO’sNext “Humanitarian War” – February 19, 2012)

Political Reconciliation Too Late?

Soon after meeting with Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov earlier this month, Syrian PresidentBashar al Assad ordered a referendum on a newconstruction to be held on February 26th. The newconstitution would create a multi-party system and placetwo, seven-year terms limits on the presidency. Lavrovsupported the referendum call by saying, “a newconstitution to end one-party rule in Syria is a stepforward. … It is coming late unfortunately but better latethan never.” US White House Press Secretary Jay Caneycalled the referendum “laughable”. (Globe and Mail –February 15,, 2012)

Syria’s Allies Speak Bluntly

DEBKA-Net reported that the February 7th talks betweenSyrian President Assad and Russian Foreign MinisterLavrov centred on the presence of British and QatariSpecial Forces in Homs. The Turkish Weekly observedthat Lavrov speaking sarcastically about Russia’s veto atthe UNSC, said, “We have missed an opportunity toallow armed units which are fighting against thegovernment forces to take control of cities and villages.”(Lavrov Says Syrians Should Decide Assad’s Fate –February 9th). After the weekend trip to Damascus byChinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, BBC News onFebruary 20th quoted The People’s Daily, organ of theChinese Communist Party, as saying, “If Westerncountries continue to fully support Syria’s opposition,then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt andthere will be no way to thus avoid the possibility offoreign armed intervention.”

On February 20th, Aljazeera said that two Iranian navyships had docked in western Syria. The article remarkedthat Iran “is no longer just voicing its support, but takingconcrete measures.”

In Conclusion

There is ample evidence that the conflicts in and aroundLibya, Syria and Iran are part of a US policy (supportedby its EU, NATO and Arab League allies) of “regimechange” whose ultimate goal is to ensure continuedAmerican dominance in world affairs.

The TAPI and IPI natural gas pipelines will assist inending traditional hostilities and consolidating regionalinterests which lie outside of the American orbit orcontrol. Time is not on America’s side. Peaceful andmutual understanding - not empire - is the solution. □

Peter Gehl - February 22

NATO –cont’d from page 4


6


7

ATHENS - The World Peace Council voices publicly itsconcern with the serious threats of imperialism to peace inthe Middle East, which becomes once more a theatre of itsambitions as well as its internal competitions.

A few months after the aggression by imperialism and itswar machine NATO, against the Libyan people andterritory, the major imperialist powers orchestrate newbelligerent adventures in the Middle East.

The United States of America and European Union,accompanied by Israel and the Gulf monarchies, planmoves, create pretexts, generate internal interference, seton destabilizing the countries in the region that do not fitinto their plans and interests. Their current targets are Syriaand Iran. The general plan is NATO's "Great Middle East"aiming at the control of energy resources and pipelines aswell as markets for the multinational corporations andspheres of influence.

In Syria they repeat the methods used against Libya:sabotaging infrastructure, backing terrorist acts, infiltratingmercenaries and smuggling weapons into the country. Theobjective is to create instability and chaos, in order tojustify foreign intervention.

USA and EU use front men in the region, the Gulfmonarchies, to impose sanctions through the Arab Leaguealong with the government of Turkey who harbours the so-called opposition in order to bring the matter of Syria tothe Security Council, an antechamber for military action.

The Arab League resolutions constitute interference intoSyria's internal affairs. They violate the rules of thisregional entity and further discredit it.

Another major source of concern is the deployment oflarge number of US troops into the Persian Gulf region,and Israel's provocation against Iran. The unilateralmeasures of embargoes and economic sanctions, put forthby the US and the EU violate repeatedly the UN Charter.

We take note of the imperialist powers complicit silencetowards the selective murder of Iranian scientists byIsrael's secret service, with evident US approval. Crimesagainst science are crimes against humanity.

We express our support to the complex struggle of theIranian people for peace, democracy and social justice andreject any interference in the internal affairs of Iran underany pretext. We state once more the inalienable right ofevery nation to develop nuclear energy for peacefulpurposes.

We defend the elimination of all existing nuclear weapons,starting with those of the big powers; the creation of anuclear free zone in the Middle East, fulfilling theresolutions of the last Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)review. However, it is upon the sovereign rights of theindividual nations to develop nuclear energy for civilianpurposes, more so the signatories of the NPT.

The opting for weapon diplomacy, with air craft carriers,has grievous consequences, intensifying the conflicts inthis already tense Middle East region.We support the genuine and peaceful social, political andeconomic demands of the Syrian people but we stateonce again that no power has the right to decide foranother people or nation. Mankind cannot tolerateforeign interference into the internal disputes of a people.The sovereignty of a country is the sole responsibility ofeach people.

We support the struggle of the Palestinian people toachieve their independent state within the borders ofJune 4th 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, solvingthe issue of Palestinian refugees on the basis of theresolution 194 of UN, stopping all settlement activitiesin the Palestinian territories, releasing all the Palestinianprisoners from Israeli prisons, ending the unjust siege ofGaza strip from Israeli side, as well as the right of thePalestinian state to be a full member of the UnitedNations.

We call on the attention of the world, of the forces thatdefend peace, sovereignty and self determination to theseserious events. In doing so we express our solidarity withthe Syrian and Iranian peoples, victims of sordid actions ofdestabilization, and at the same time condemn this criminalaggressions.

The democratic, anti-imperialist, peace loving forces of theworld should break the silence and denounce thetreacherous campaigns of imperialism that pave the way tothis new aggression.

We make this call at the moment that the World PeaceCouncil is preparing to hold its World Assembly inNepal. We commit ourselves to continue the struggleand mobilize forces worldwide in order to create thebases for a new stage of anti-imperialist struggle, in thedefense of peace, solidarity and the self-determinationof peoples.

We are confident that with the peoples struggle peace willprevail!□ World Peace Council – February 7

Imperialist Powers Threaten Peace in Middle East


8


9

WINNIPEG – The Middle East is the epicenter of themilitarization of relations between China and Russia onone side and NATO’s imperialist, or advanced capitalistcountries, on the other. In the last century, imperialismplunged the world twice into war and it is getting readyfor round three. The arms race is growing particularly inthe Middle East ($50 billion US arms sale to SaudiArabia – the largest in world history) and the battle linesare getting clearer.

Smaller wars of regime change and occupation in Syriaand Iran will increase the potential of a new global war.Positions are hardening. So far, China and Russia havevetoed any UN Security Council resolution that mytrigger military action. However, that may not beenough. It may be only a matter of weeks or monthsbefore imperialism targets Syria and Iran.

Imperialism is the Source of the War Danger

Protecting civilians is a monstrous argument forstarving, bombing and invading a country. So what isreally behind imperialism’s rising bloodlust?

Arrogance cannot fully explain imperialism’s growingdependence on its enormous military potential. Theanswer to this question is that capitalism is in deeptrouble and its most reactionary, right-wing forces arepreparing to use a war to wipe out all resistance at homeand abroad.

If we are to believe our corporate media, the US militarywill enjoy early and sudden success in a limited war.

After all, the US succeeded in Iraq and very quickly inLibya. No one else has the high quality of weapons,trained troops and leadership. We should recall Hitler’sexpectation that Britain would surrender after a drasticbombing campaign. It was unrealistic and the Nazis hadto conclude that Britain would surrender only if it werefully occupied.

Western imperialist countries should draw the obviousconclusion that a war of “regime change” will not beeasy and will involve lengthy occupations. The Westwill have to pay a large military, economic and politicalprice. The stakes for people in Syria and Iran areincredibly higher.

War Spells Danger and Ruin to People of all Lands

We need to realize that the current capitalist crisis is placingcivil rights and democracy on the chopping block. The list ofcurrent wars and domestic “security measures” are a path to anew world order to corporate fascism (a.k.a. BenitoMussolini). Under dictatorship, it is easier to impose the fullburden of capitalism’s crisis in workers, farmers,professionals and owners to small businesses. Popular andrevolutionary movements whose aim is to solveunemployment, famine and climate change are crushed. Thespread of war in the Middle East is the greatest enemy of theArab Spring revolutions and the aspirations of people in thisregion for genuine democracy and freedom.

As always, war creates fantastic profits for militaryindustrialists and the bankers financing war expenditures andgovernment deficits.

Act To Prevent War Against Iran and SyriaThe following is based on an article by Darrell Rankin published in People’s Voice on February 16th. Darrell ischair of the Manitoba Peace Council and a member of the Canadian Peace Congress executive.

Prevent – cont’d on page 10

Remember! Making Peace Vigil every Thursday at noon - SCARTH STREET MALL

Enclosed please find donation Name:

in the amount of $ Address:

in support of SASKATCHEWAN

PEACE NEWS

Email:

(Saskatchewan Peace News is now published electronically and available at: www.canadianpeacecongress.ca)


10

Build the Anti-War and Popular Movements

Governments throughout the capitalist world are acting likethey are immune to public opinion.

To avoid war and solve the general crisis of capitalism, thelabour movement, civil society and all people must act nowto prevent imperialist aggression, Waiting for a war to start isthe wrong approach. It will too late. The war dynamic willhave been initiated.

The anti-war movement must overcome its current crisis.According to Michel Chossudovsky, many civil societyorganizations are misinformed, manipulated or co-opted. Alarge segment of “progressive” opinion is supportiveNATO’s Responsibility to Protect (R2P) “humanitarian”propaganda to such an extent that war plans are “rubber-stamped.” (Globalization of War – December 2011)

The parties of the Socialist International including the NewDemocratic Party (NDP) of Canada are making amonumental mistake by lining up to support aggressionagainst Syria and Iran.

The NDP has said virtually nothing about the looming wardanger. Former Reform/Conservative MP Monte Solbergstudied the NDP’s position and wrote last fall in theNovember 13th edition of the Toronto Sun that the “Iranproblem didn’t merit a single mention” in the party’sstatements, speeches and media releases. Asked to commenton the Canadian government’s decision to send a warship tothe Mediterranean for possible use against Syria, the NDPforeign affairs critic said, “I don’t have a strong opinion aboutthat” and urged “tougher pressure” on the Syrian government.

Candidates in the current race for the leadership of the NDPshould be asked to establish and clarify their positions on theissue of foreign intervention against Syria and Iran.

War can be prevented if we all work together to “riselike lions, after slumber, in unvanquishable numbers”, asPercy Bysshe Shelley says his work The Mask ofAnarchy.□

Prevent – cont’d from page 9

With greaAtieh on Jube missed b

Atieh joinarriving inpart of Coutime of hioutgoing aHe had theall who me

A person cserious andAtieh keptprogressivean activeAtieh washis homelrealized thpowerful fpresent a penjoyed padiscussions

Although Ahe did, youheritage anhave had Ato internatia measurabof the Remissed. □

Saskatchewan Peace News is published quarterly by the Regina Peace Council anprovide residents of Saskatchewan and others with timely and informative articles wour community, country and beyond.

The Regina Peace Council was originally formed in 1949 and has a long history oCanadian Peace Congress which is affiliated to the World Peace Council.

Publication of the Saskatchewan Peace News depends on the volunteer labour anContributions are always welcome as well as comments and suggestions from youarticles concerning the struggle for peace for publication, subject to approval by our e

Please consider making a donation and becoming a member of the Regina Peace CoFor further information, please write to: The Regina Peace Council, 46 Williston D347-7693; or email to [email protected].

Atieh Halaseh(1943 – 2011)

t sadness, we announce the passing ofly 31, 2011 at the age of 67 years. He willy all who knew him.

ed the Regina Peace Council soon afterRegina in 1970. Atieh became an integralncil’s activities, being its treasurer at the

s untimely death. Atieh was personable,nd always with a joke or amusing story.gift of being welcome and appreciated byt him.

ould be excused for not realizing the morepolitically knowledgeable side of Atieh.abreast of world events and supportedplatforms throughout the world. He was

member of the New Democratic Party.keenly aware of the history and reality inand (Jordan) and the Middle East. Heat violence and wars are used by theor profit and maintaining power. Alwayseace rallies and progressive events, Atiehrticipating in Saturday afternoon political.

tieh didn’t speak often of his past, whencould easily tell how proud he was of hisd family. We in Regina were lucky totieh settle in our community. Committed

onalism and human progress, Atieh madele contribution to the strength and unitygina Peace Council. He will truly be

Regina Peace Council

d edited by Peter Gehl. The Council endeavours tohich we feel have significant importance to peace in

f action for peace. The Council is a member of the

d financial support of our members and supporters.– our readers. The Regina Peace Council accepts

ditorial board.

uncil. We meet monthly except for July and August.rive, REGINA, SK, S4X 1C4; or phone 949-1222 or

Saskatchewan Peace News

Documents

us troops

us efforts

us aircraft carriersand

attitudes of us military

us presidential election

us island bases of socotra

world war

regina peace council