CONTENTS:
(1) WHAT’S HAPPENING
(2) LETTER-TO-EDITOR
(3) MANY THANKS TO HAROLD JOHNSON, A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN ATTEMPTS ON CANADA
(4) THE WATER CONNECTION
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(1) WHAT’S HAPPENING
Canada, U.S. agree to use each other’s troops in civil emergencies
RE letter-to-editor: in interests of getting it published, I DIDN’T entitle it: “Agreement with the Devil”!
NEED:
– People to “START THE BUZZ”, in your family, at work, wherever. IN SPITE OF the article on front page of Star Phoenix, in conversations NOT ONE of the people I talked to had heard about the Troop Exchange Agreement.
– Need People to write letters-to-editors. See template, or write your own. As always you are free to cut, copy and paste to save time. We don’t all have to invent the wheel.
If each one of us doesn’t make it a topic of conversation, people will not know. The personal conversations are VERY important. People I talked with were appreciative of the information.
HAROLD JOHNSON’S BRIEF HISTORY of attempted invasions of Canada (#3 below) is history that was NEVER taught in my schooling. Most of us are not even in a position to draw upon the lessons of history. This is valuable information in a nutshell. Many thanks, Harold!
INVASION FORCES LED BY BENEDICT ARNOLD: Decades ago I read the captivating story told in “Arundel” by Kenneth Roberts. American publications describe it as “a memorial of Revolutionary days in Maine“. In fact, it is “the rousing tale of (American) Colonel Benedict Arnold’s doomed March on Quebec in 1775“. Roberts tells the story through fictional characters who sign up for the invasion force, along with the actual people from history like Benedict Arnold. It must be a great novel: it remains imprinted on my brain; I read it in 1966!
UPDATE ON FACEBOOK PAGE “No to Troop Exchange Between Canada-U.S.”:
– Note: Facebook is IN ADDITION to. It cannot REPLACE email networks, letters-to-editor, phone calls to Members-of-Parliament, and just plain “talking it up”.
UPDATE ON PHONE CALLS TO MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT:
– after leaving a voice message, I received a phone call from office of Conservative MP Lynne Yelich.
– it was agreed that I should send
- the Feb 23rd email
- copy of LETTER-TO-EDITOR (see next item #(2))
MP’s everywhere need to be challenged on the question of the Troop Exchange Agreement.
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(2) LETTER-TO-EDITOR
TROOP EXCHANGE AGREEMENT WITH THE U.S.
The Harper Government signed an agreement on February 14 with the United States “.. which allows the military from one nation to support the armed forces of the other nation during a civil emergency.” (Canwest News Service, February 22)
The Agreement for troop exchange was signed without disclosure and public debate in Canada. It became known through American newspapers.
I balk at inviting the American Military into Canada:
They used false claims of weapons of mass destruction as an excuse for invading Iraq. They have created hatred that will be passed down through generations.
The destruction means that billions of dollars from the global community, which should be used for education and health in poor countries, is diverted into an almost-hopeless reconstruction effort. The burgeoning debt from the war adds to the pressure that threatens to bring down the American economy and other national economies with it.
The torture of Canadian Maher Arar happened because Canadian security forces worked with the American.
15 year-old child soldier Omar Khadr was severely brutalized in American Military prisons over a period of five years. He was imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay with no rights to due process.
Abu Ghraib is further testament to military run amok.
To sign an Agreement with the American Military is to align Canadians with a corrupt and destructive force. The public record is clear: these are war mongers and profiteers.
Sincerely,
Sandra Finley
(contact info)
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(3) MANY THANKS TO HAROLD JOHNSON, A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN ATTEMPTS ON CANADA
In 1775 the Americans attempted to invade Canada.
In 1812 they tried again.
They supported the Fenian Invasions of 1866-1871.
John A MacDonald sent troops to the west in 1870, not entirely because of the Metis in Winnipeg but primarily because of the threat from the US at the time. There was a great deal of agitation in the American West to invade Canada.
There has all along been those in the US who advocate the forcible annexation of Canada.
In 1928 the Americans drew up detailed plans for an attack of Canada. They were going to take Halifax to cut us off from British support and they were going to take Winnipeg to cut our rail system dividing the east from the west. Most of the attack was aimed at Ontario and Quebec. These plans became declassified in 1974 and are available at the American Archives Washington.
Now is a time to be afraid, Be very afraid. The very idea of American troops in Canada sends shivers up my spine.
What is CIVIL DISASTER?
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(4) THE WATER CONNECTION
(See also Water: Highgate Dam in context of water shortages in the U.S.)
I am big on fitting bits of information into “context”. When time permits I will fit the reports on Lake Mead into the context of the other emails we’ve circulated on very serious developments in the U.S. over water.
Briefly, and isolated from the context of the other developments: Lake Mead is in danger of drying up. From Wikipedia: “Lake Mead is the largest man-made lake and reservoir in the United States. It is located on the Colorado River about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, in the states of Nevada and Arizona. Formed by water impounded by Hoover Dam, it extends 110 mi (180 km) behind the dam, holding approximately 28.5 million acre feet (35 km³) of water. The water held in Lake Mead is released to communities in southern California, via aqueducts, and Nevada.”
Now, from the website “Grist”:
“There’s a 50-50 chance that the Arizona- and Nevada-bordering, human-made Lake Mead could become Dry Ditch Mead by 2021, according to a study to be published in the journal Water Resources Research. Oh, and that’s a conservative estimate, say the study authors, as is this one: By 2017, there’s an equally good chance that water levels in the reservoir could drop so low that the Hoover Dam would be incapable of producing hydroelectric power. Lake Mead provides water to thirsty cities including Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as well as H2O to agricultural areas. Study coauthor Tim Barnett says he was “stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us.” The study recommends that officials implement conservation and mitigation policies and technologies.”—–
A few more copies of the maps that show the water diversions from Canada to the U.S. are being copied.
STRATEGIC:
I try not to give the proponents of the Dam information they might then hold up to ridicule me. It is easy to discredit me if the audience is not informed. The people on the NSRWRC would say they have no intention to divert water to the U.S. They are being absolutely truthful. And it would hurt their pride to say: yes, but maybe you are merely a tool.
So in public, about the dam, I use the economic arguments: Spend four dollars out of the public purse, in order to get one dollar in return. Sure, it’s nice for the promoters of the dam if they can pull it off. A small number of people will benefit from the $4 billion expenditure. Individually they’ll make a bundle. I’m getting tired of being used and stupid.
Should I (we) be wrong about the situation in the United States over water and energy, Should we be wrong about how the U.S. goes about getting what it wants (war on Iraq to secure oil), Should we be wrong that the U.S. routinely uses false information (weapons of mass destruction), Should we be wrong about the manipulations it performs (too numerous to list – the Congo is one example), Should we be wrong about what money can buy (Brian Mulroney on the Board of ADM, etc.), I will dance happily and say so.
The dangers of being right and not taking swift and decisive action will be “game over”. So start “the buzz” about the troop exchange agreement. Thanks!
/Sandra