No Canadian Troops in the Baltics and Eastern Europe!
Dougal MacDonald
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 The Justin Trudeau Liberal government announced on June 30 that Canada will send hundreds of troops to join a "NATO high-readiness brigade" getting ready to deploy in one of the Baltic states, later revealed to be Latvia. The exact number of troops and their final location will be announced at the next NATO conference. The Liberals are continuing the aggressive policies of the Harper Conservative government, which sent troops to train in Eastern Europe in 2014 and 2015. Liberal Minister of Defence Harjit Sajjan claims that the Canadian troops are required to help deter "Russian aggression," even though no Russian troops have moved outside their own borders. Sajjan also made it clear that the deployment has nothing to do with defending the interests of the Canadian people but is being made at the request of U.S.-led NATO. The Canadian troops will be one of four battalions; the others are from the main imperialist powers: the U.S., the U.K. and Germany.

The imperialists and their monopoly media claim that the so-called proof of the need to deter Russian aggression is what they misleadingly refer to as "Russia's annexation of Crimea" in 2014. This is a deliberate distortion of the historical facts to try to demonize Russia. On March 16, 2014, Crimea held a popular referendum in which 83.1 per cent of Crimean voters freely cast their ballots on whether to stay under the rule of Ukraine or secede and become an independent state. The final tally was 96.77 per cent in favour of joining the Russian federation. The result was not surprising. The major nationalities in Crimea are 58.32 per cent Russian; 24.32 per cent Ukrainian; and 12.10 per cent Crimean Tartar. It is this overwhelming popular vote to secede from rule by Ukraine which the imperialists and their monopoly media are calling "Russian annexation." Massive disinformation about this overwhelming vote has been used to justify the damaging sanctions against Russia, spearheaded by the U.S.

It is not surprising that the people of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine. In today's Ukraine, admitted Nazis hold important positions in the government and seats in the parliament, and command their own private armies. They are the ones leading the murderous attacks on those who refuse to come under the dictate of Ukraine. The seeds for this situation were sown during the Second World War when the Nazi-funded criminal groups Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) posed as "patriots" in order to massacre Russians, Poles and Jews. Further, in Latvia, where the Canadian troops are likely to be located, as well as in the other Baltic states, Nazis and neo-Nazis hold annual parades to commemorate the war crimes of their wartime predecessors. All this notwithstanding, the rulers of Ukraine and the Baltic states are fully supported by Canada and the U.S., while Russia, which annually introduces an anti-Nazi resolution at the United Nations, is accused of aggression. It is noteworthy that each time the anti-Nazi resolution has been introduced in recent years, Canada, the U.S. and Ukraine have all voted against it.

The hypocrisy of the U.S. and its sycophants in the Liberal government is clear for all to see. Echoed by the Trudeau government, the U.S. rants about Russian aggression yet everyone knows that it is the U.S. which continually launches aggression across the globe and which wants to dominate the world. The U.S. routinely invades other countries, uses weapons of mass destruction, kills civilians, assassinates even its own citizens, organizes coups d'état, finances fascist and racist groups, and commits other war crimes. It is not Russia that poses the most danger to the world's people at this time and which needs to be deterred but U.S.-led NATO. Flying in the face of all reason, the Liberal war government is pushing for further integration into the U.S. war machine precisely at a time when the U.S. ruling elite is organizing for a Clinton presidency that will launch further aggression against the world's people.

The Trudeau government is playing a very dangerous game in subverting the interests of the Canadian people to those of the imperialist states and in cosying up to the Nazis in Ukraine and the Baltic states. Sending troops to the Baltic states is clearly another open provocation against Russia, which is not in the interests of the Canadian people. The disinformation of some non-existent Russian aggression is an attempt to sow confusion among the Canadian people, and to smash their overwhelming opposition to warmongering. The way forward is clear. The security of the Canadian people lies not in further tying Canada to the U.S., NATO and the imperialist states but in standing as one with the world's peoples in defence of their right to be against U.S. imperialist preparations for another world war. Canada should not send any troops to the Baltics or Eastern Europe and should withdraw any that are already there. Now, more than ever, Canada needs an anti-war government.

Map of notable military bases in the Baltics, where Canada may establish its troops
-- click to enlarge.

(TML Weekly No. 28, July 9, 2016)