Canadians Join Nazi Battalions in Civil War Dougal MacDonald

As Bill C-51 is set to pass all kinds of measures against "Muslim jihadis" who seek to go abroad to fight for organizations deemed to be Islamic terrorists, the ruling circles of Canada and their monopoly media are once again bragging about how Canadian citizens are "heroic" for illegally joining Nazi battalions in the civil war in Ukraine. The same forces are also supplying military aid to groups in Ukraine, which may also be illegal. Previous praise for "heroic Canadians" illegally fighting abroad in 2014 supported the approximately 145 "lone soldiers" going to Israel to help commit war crimes against the Palestinian people. On February 26, the Globe and Mail newspaper carried a front page article that ran to three pages entitled, "How private Canadians are aiding Kiev's war effort." While mentioning the "sometimes-extreme nationalism" of the Canadian foreign fighters, the article extolled them as "famed for their bravery." This mealy-mouthed mention of their "extreme nationalism" is a reference to the fact that the rulers of Ukraine are actually leading the Nazi revival in Europe, with certain neo-Nazis already holding important government posts. One Canadian fighter quoted in the Globe declared he is a "national socialist" and that he fought for Ukraine's Azov Battalion which wears Nazi symbols on their uniforms.[1]The BBC says of the Azov Battalion: "Run by the extremist Patriot of Ukraine organisation, which considers Jews and other minorities 'sub-human' and calls for a white, Christian crusade against them,[the Azov battalion]sports three Nazi symbols on its insignia: a modified Wolf's Hook, a black sun (or "Hakensonne") and the title Black Corps, which was used by the Waffen SS."[2]Another Canadian fighter joined the Aidar Battalion, which was accused last year by Amnesty International of war crimes. Canadian law explicitly prohibits the recruitment of Canadian nationals to serve in foreign armies -- or more precisely with "a foreign state at war with a friendly state" -- and "provides for fines from $500 up to two years imprisonment, the issue, restriction, cancellation and impounding of passports, whether within Canada or elsewhere." "Friendly state" in the context of Canada's subservience to U.S. imperialism inevitably translates in practice to any state supporting reaction and imperialist aims. The relevant legislation is the Canadian Foreign Enlistment Act (1985), amended from the 1936 Foreign Enlistment Act, which itself was based on the British imperial Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870, extended by imperial decree to all Dominions, including Canada. Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act has consistently been used by the ruling circles to support reaction and oppose everything progressive by either being imposed or by being suspended or ignored. It was first imposed by the British colonialists in the 1860s to block the United States from recruiting Canadians, especially escaped African-Americans, to fight against the slave-owning Confederacy. In 1861, Colonel Arthur Rankin, a Canadian MP, set out to raise a regiment of 1,600 lancers for service with the Union. He was quickly arrested for violating the British Foreign Enlistment Act . A most notorious use of Canada's Foreign Enlistment Act was against 1,300 progressive Canadian workers and others who went to fight in the anti-fascist war in Spain in the famous MacKenzie-Papineau Brigade. The Hitlerite Nazis openly supported the Spanish fascists at the time. The MacKenzie King government declared the anti-fascist volunteers to be committing a criminal act, stripped them of their passports, and had the RCMP oppose their re-entry to Canada. For their selfless act, the anti-fascist volunteers and their families were punished both at the time and for generations afterwards through denial of recognition, pensions and medical benefits. The Canadian government and media of the day demonized their political motivations and beliefs, while today the Harper government and monopoly media acclaim "lone soldiers" and "diaspora Ukrainians" as personifying "Canadian values." The Foreign Enlistment Act was suspended by the federal cabinet in 1940 to allow Canadians to assist the Nazi collaborationist Mannerheim government of Finland, which was fighting against Canada's wartime ally, the Soviet Union, surely fitting the definition of a "friendly state." It was again suspended in 1948 to facilitate Canadians enlisting in the Israeli armed forces striving to conquer Palestine. The law was ignored during the Vietnam War, during which an unknown number of Canadians joined the invading U.S. imperialist forces. They were forced to pick a fake "U.S. Home Town" to put in their U.S. military records to hide their country of origin. This most recent activity on behalf of the Ukraine aggressors originating from Canada, is obviously occurring with the full approval and acclaim of the ruling circles in Canada, even as they violate their own laws. This comes as no surprise. Just as Harper is well-known to be an unqualified supporter of Israeli war crimes, he is also an unqualified supporter of the Nazi-infiltrated Ukraine government. Notes 1. Globe and Mail , February 26, 2015. 2. "Ukraine underplays role of far right in conflict," BBC, December 13, 2014. (With files from Tony Seed) (TML Weekly No. 9, February 28, 2015)