Thursday, November 21, 2024
Protests Against NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Montreal
Get Canada Out of NATO! Dismantle NATO!
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) is holding its 70th Annual session from November 22 to 25 in Montreal. Canada will host the session, led by Member of Parliament (MP) Julie Dzerowicz and a delegation of Canadian Senators and MPs. Dzerowicz is Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. According to the NATO PA statement, 281 parliamentarians from the 32 NATO member countries and about 100 members from 25 partner countries and parliamentary bodies will participate in the session.
The NATO PA is an unabashed supporter of the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine which is being fought to the last Ukrainian. Instead of engaging in negotiations to end the war, U.S. President Joe Biden has now announced the U.S. is sending anti-personnel landmines to Ukraine and has given Ukraine permission to use U.S. made long-range missiles to fire deeper into Russia. Both are serious escalations and provocations against Russia. News reports also indicate that approval for such use of the British Storm Shadow cruise missiles has also been given, as they were fired into Russian territory for the first time on November 19. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had appealed to Biden to permit this earlier this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pointed out that any use of Lockheed Martin's Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) requires the involvement of NATO (U.S./UK) assets for acquiring the targeting data and for planning and programming the missile's mission. The bombings far inside Russia can then be considered an act of war by U.S./NATO forces, as they are directly involved. The ATACMS was designed and manufactured by the U.S. arms manufacturer Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) whose missile component was acquired by Lockheed Martin.
As for anti-personnel land mines, Canada does not endorse their use and prides itself as a major player in the political process that led to the signing of the Ottawa Treaty in 1997 which bans their use world wide. The Ottawa Treaty, also known as the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, is an international agreement that bans all anti-personnel landmines (AP-mines) around the world.
Canadians and Quebeckers demonstrating against the holding of this NATO PA session in Montreal will not only demand that Canada Get Out of NATO and for NATO to be dismantled but will also denounce the use of the anti-personnel landmines in Ukraine and the U.S./NATO escalation of that war. They will demand that Ukraine sign a lasting peace treaty with Russia that takes into account Russia's security concerns and achieves the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
That NATO is a U.S.-led aggressive alliance has been shown time and time again, from its bombing and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, its key role in the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, and its war on Libya, war preparations against China and the role of NATO countries to arm Israel to carry out its genocide in Gaza, to name a few examples. This is once again demonstrated by the main agenda item for the NATO PA -- "Future-Proofing the Alliance and Supporting Ukraine Until Victory" in the context of the authorization to use U.S. and British cruise missiles against Russia and provisioning it with U.S. land mines.
Biden, in his desperation for some small success, and perhaps as revenge against Trump, has approved use of both the mines and the long-range missiles even though, according to the U.S. military, neither is expected to turn the tide of the war, or diminish the position of strength Russia now holds. Russian President Putin has also already said he is open to negotiations with Trump to end the conflict, and these measures certainly undermine such prospects.
The missiles Ukraine had so far been allowed to use, mostly against Crimea, have been carriers of cluster ammunition with a reach of about 160 kilometres. The longer-range supersonic ballistic missiles now approved are more powerful and can reach a target up to 300 kilometres away. The U.S. confirmed November 19 that Ukraine had fired seven such missiles into Russia. Russia reported that most were shot down and no major damage occurred.
How Russia responds to such provocations remains to be seen and no doubt assessing that response is part of Biden's aim. But the issue for the peoples is to end the U.S./NATO proxy war in Ukraine and to dismantle NATO itself. That would be a contribution to peace. At the very least parliamentarians have a duty to oppose use of the ATACMS and anti-personnel land mines.
According to Biden, he is sending the anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine with the stipulation that they "not be used in areas populated by Ukrainian civilians." This is much like the stipulation that Israel not use weapons against populated areas in Gaza!
Human rights organizations have called the use of the mines a "devastating development."
When
all anti-personnel land mines were banned and the Ottawa Convention
came into force in 1999, 160 countries signed on to the Convention,
including NATO members Canada, Britain,
Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Canadians will expect Canada's
parliamentarians to speak out vociferously against their use in Ukraine
and not prevaricate
by declaring that the kind of mines banned is different and other such
nonsense, as Canada has done in the past.
Ukraine itself is a signatory to the Ottawa Treaty so it too is openly defying the ban. In fact, implementation of the Treaty requires that Ukraine remove and destroy a couple of million extremely hazardous mines it has already deployed, most placed since 2014 as part of Ukraine's unprovoked aggression against its citizens in the Donbass region.
Anti-personnel land mines were banned as they are especially damaging and deadly to civilian populations, including children, both in their immediate use and long-term as they remain unexploded. Long after wars have ended, the mines are unknowingly triggered, often killing people living in the impacted areas. Afghanistan, Iraq, Korea, Yemen and many other countries still suffer death and destruction from these land mines.
All the NATO countries signatory to the Ottawa Convention have a duty to oppose use of these weapons. Yet their claim of "Ukraine until victory," indicates they will instead refuse their duty to block their use, all in the name of "democracy" and "security."
Canadians are also calling for the 3,000 troops sent for NATO war games in Latvia, along its 300-kilometre-long border with Russia, to come home now. These war games on Russia's border are yet another provocation and serve increased war preparations, not peace and security.
Another role given to the NATO PA is to extend parliamentary relations into other countries that are not presently members of NATO. This includes what NATO calls its "360 degree" approach to security. Many countries outside North America and Europe are designated as NATO partners, effectively making them informal NATO members by involving them in NATO activities, such as mobilizing Japan and the Republic of Korea in war preparations against China. Attention is also currently being given to "Southern" regions, what NATO calls its "Southern neighborhood," much as the U.S. has always called Latin America its "backyard." [1]
One example is the joint NATO PA visit to Algeria that took place from November 4 to 6, with NATO saying Algeria is an important "partner." A report from the NATO PA said NATO governments "cannot ignore developments to the South and must maintain a capable 360-degree approach to their security." As well, earlier this year, an independent group of experts appointed by the NATO Secretary General published a report on NATO's "comprehensive and deep reflection process on the Southern neighborhood." The report stressed that NATO security is closely intertwined with that of North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahel regions. The Sahel includes Senegal, Gambia, Mauritania, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.
It can be seen that like the U.S./NATO military forces and aggression, the NATO PA is being used to extend NATO's ability to interfere in the affairs of the countries of "North Africa, the Middle East and the Sahel regions" and undermine their sovereignty.
Far from expanding NATO, not only to encircle Russia but also expanding it to Africa and the Middle East, it is time to dismantle this war machine and establish zones of peace worldwide.
Note
1. NATO PA Delegation Stresses Need for Enhanced Cooperation During Visit to Algeria, November 15, 2024, NATO Parliamentary Assembly webpage.
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