No to Cutlass Fury 2019! No U.S. or Other Foreign Warships in Canadian Waters!

Sunday, September 8 -- 1:00-3:00 pm
Victoria Park, Spring Garden Rd. at South Park St.
Facebook

Halifax will soon be the launching pad for one of the largest naval exercises in Canadian history. Twenty-two NATO-aligned warships will be involved in Cutlass Fury 2019. The exercise runs September 9-20 with the area of operation being approximately 50-100 nautical miles southeast of Halifax Harbour.

Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, France and Germany are expected to take part. These warships will begin arriving the first week of September.

The exercise will see most of the 22 warships departing Bedford Basin on Monday, September 9. In Cutlass Fury 2016 there were two nuclear submarines docked at CFB Shearwater which joined the war fleet as it left the harbour and this is expected again this year.

Cutlass Fury 2019 will be the largest Canadian-led anti-submarine warfare-centric event of its kind conducted on this side of the Atlantic in over 24 years. It will involve a series of exercises focusing on tactical training and will facilitate anti-submarine warfare training in a joint environment. Air defence, amphibious operations and support to special operations forces is also part of the exercise training regime.

Cutlass Fury 19 says something about how the Canadian Armed Forces and other militaries view the current global situation. It is the revival of a level of training that was routine during the Cold War. Naval action is no longer just about anti-terrorism, humanitarian assistance/disaster response and the conduct of maritime intercept operations. This is a return to practicing what some may call classic naval warfare. It comes at a time when more than one-half of the main U.S. naval forces are at sea.

In mid-July the Commander of the U.S. Navy's Second Fleet was in Halifax along with representatives of the U.S. Coast Guard to finalize instructions and plans for Cutlass Fury 2019. While Canadian-led, it is clear that this is part and parcel of the war preparations of U.S. imperialism and is one more step in integrating the Canadian Armed Forces into the U.S. war machine.

Various levels of government and private industry are facilitating Cutlass Fury 2019. Halifax Regional Municipal Council has approved the war games and authorized a September 9 flyover by a Cyclone helicopter from Shearwater, four CF-18 Hornets from CFB Bagotville, two Alpha Jets from Top Aces Inc., and a CP-140 Aurora from CFB Greenwood.

Dartmouth-based LeeWay Marine has been awarded a contract worth over $231,000 to supply a "vessel of interest" for Cutlass Fury 2019. LeeWay Marine provided similar service to Exercise Frontier Sentinel 2019 in early April.

The Trudeau Liberal government dispatches our navy and CF-18s around the world as part of the U.S. and NATO's aggressive policies. Our army is posted in far flung places such as supporting the neo-fascist regime in Ukraine. Canada has 850 military personnel in Iraq with this mission being extended until the end of March 2021. Canada has about 450 soldiers along with armoured vehicles in Latvia as part of an enduring NATO presence in Eastern Europe. The list goes on.

Regardless of this country's actual defence needs, Canadian forces as an instrument first and foremost of NATO are eternally being prepared to join, backstop or even lead aggression against U.S.-selected targets anywhere on the planet. Far from protecting Canadians from the danger of war, NATO exercises such as Cutlass Fury 2019 further integrate our country into the U.S. war machine.

Halifax and its harbour have long held strategic significance for the imperialists and their monopoly interests. It is one of the largest natural harbours in the world and is North America's easternmost port of call with transcontinental rail connections.

The people of Halifax have long rejected the use of their city and harbour to embroil Canadians in imperialist adventures abroad. They have vigorously opposed the "visits" of U.S. and other foreign warships as well as the use of the Canadian Navy in U.S. and NATO led aggressions against the world's peoples.

Canada must not participate in U.S. imperialist war preparations and must also defend its sovereignty in a meaningful way.

This means not permitting the U.S. imperialists to exercise command and control over Canada's air, land, water and government and military assets. We must withdraw from NATO as well as NORAD and work for an independent foreign policy.

This means removing all Canadian soldiers, ships and equipment from foreign territory. Most importantly, it means that Canadians must prepare to establish an anti-war government.

No U.S. or Other Foreign Warships in Canadian Waters!
Get Canada Out of NATO and NORAD!
Work for an Anti-War Government!