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March 18, 2010 Statement Canadian Peace Congress on the Lisbon NATO Summit A “Strategic Concept” for Peace – Disband NATO! The eve of the Lisbon Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is pause for reflection and action on the future of the world's biggest instrument of war, and the necessity of anti-imperialism and peace. In the face of the military alliance's invitation to “rethink, reprioritize and reform” itself, the Canadian Peace Congress calls for all peace movements and peace-supporting people in Canada to increase their demand for Canada's immediate withdrawal from NATO. For over 60 years, NATO has served as a key mechanism for imperialist aggression and expansion, with its roots as an anti-Soviet institution that was dominated by the military-industrial complex of the United States. Since the end of the Cold War, NATO has repeatedly sought to redefine itself and legitimize its continued existence; each time with increasingly tragic and violent conclusions. Since 1991, NATO has been the key participant in the bombardment and forced division of Yugoslavia, numerous reactionary coups and countless bloody regimes and dictatorships. NATO has also used the war in Afghanistan to deeply integrate itself with the United Nations, further weakening both that organization and the institutions of international law. As the Canadian Peace Congress stated in 2009: NATO's ongoing war against Afghanistan is the current “theatre of operations” for the new strategic concept, and it clearly exposes the intent of U.S. imperialism and its NATO and EU allies to perpetuate in the 21st century the cycle of wars of aggression, militarization and economic crisis that characterized the 20th century. Afghanistan represents two significant and troublesome “firsts” for the alliance: it is the first time NATO has undertaken a mission outside of the North Atlantic arena, and it was the first time that the alliance's “mutual defence” clause had been invoked. Both of these developments were nothing less than desperate attempts to secure a role for NATO in the world. Specifically, NATO and its core membership of Western imperialist states have used the war in Afghanistan to secure a foothold in the resource-rich areas of Asia, controlling strategic pipeline routes and encircling China and Russia. Canada's contribution to NATO's search for a new role in the world has been shameful. In addition to supporting and participating in the aggressions against Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, Canada was a central player in facilitating the transfer of command of the Afghanistan mission from the United Nations to NATO. Presently, the government of Stephen Harper is committed to extending Canadian involvement in the Afghanistan war to 2014 or beyond, in a bid to prolong the conflict and NATO's active presence there. |
