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September 8, 2012 - No. 34 Canada's Hooligan Behaviour Severing Relations with Iran  
Canada's
Hooligan
Behaviour Canada's Hooligan Behaviour Severing Relations with IranThe Canadian government announced Friday, September 7, that "Canada has closed its embassy in Iran effective immediately and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada." Canada's diplomatic relations with Iran have thus come to an end. This act follows the Canadian government's ominous silence about the diplomatic victory scored by the Islamic Republic of Iran in hosting the 16th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran from August 26 to 31. That event attracted the participation of 129 member nations of the United Nations and even compelled the presence of the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. The diplomatic concertation at the Non-Aligned Summit was a ringing endorsement of non-interference in other countries' affairs and for a peaceful resolution of all outstanding conflicts. The presence of so many nations in Tehran exposed that it is the U.S. and its closest allies who are truly isolated in global diplomacy at this time, not those they have declared rogue nations or axis of evil. The successful completion of the Summit's program went very much against the expressed will of the governments of the United States and Israel and the U.S.-Israeli condemnation of the entire proceedings, uttered by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as "a stain upon humanity." Clearly Canada has no interest to join or consult with the Non-Aligned Movement. Its animus is filled with hate and revenge directed at this time against the Islamic Republic of Iran as the "instigator" of all the obstacles which lie in the path of the U.S. imperialist striving for world domination.
The manner in which this unilateral act on Canada's part was announced was also clearly intended to catch the Iranian government by surprise and cause "shock and awe." By doing so, Canada positions itself as a hooligan state. Harper's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced the break in relations at a press conference in Vladivostok, Russia just prior to the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) meeting being held there. This was soundly denounced by the official spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The majority of those present at APEC and those who received the official departmental notice about the break in relations over their email are astounded at the Harper government's uncouth and uncivilized conduct. Dismissing bilateral relations in such a manner and on such a basis is a declaration that you enter bilateral relations with Canada at your peril. What is Canada up to behind this heinous act, which also de facto compromises Iranian-born people visiting Canada or those working and studying here? U.S. imperialist manoeuvring behind a Canadian screen
has been a
continuing theme going back to the time when the United States teamed
up
with the Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor in Tehran in November 1979 to
engineer the notorious scheme for "protecting" half-a-dozen U.S.
Embassy
personnel from being captured and detained with more than 400 of their
fellow
U.S. citizens by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). The IRGC's
impulsive and undiplomatic act was very small payback for the 25
preceding
years of massive U.S. crimes against the lives This unilateral breaking of relations is a further signal that the issue today is no longer one of war preparations because the Anglo-American aggressor nations are already at war against all those who refuse to submit to their dictate. As in the 1930s, the method is to have the war sneak up to nations' doorsteps, one at a time or sometimes several at a time. Attempt to Destroy Iran's Industrial DevelopmentAnother target of Canada's hooligan behaviour is to wreck Iran's industrial development. Iran is a world leader in the development of scientific and engineering expertise independent of the diktat of the U.S. Empire. In this regard, Iran and Canada pursue very different courses when it comes to fossil fuel development. In the vise of a range of internationally-ordered and unilateral U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic's search for inexpensive spare parts for its industrial base and other elements of industrial superstructure that are too costly or time-consuming to produce at home, the Islamic Republic of Iran has started up its nuclear reactor at Bushehr and is aiming to produce electricity on a scale that would eventually displace the country's current extremely costly reliance on imported refined petroleum as the main feedstock of the electric power generation sector. Iran's success in this strategy is being closely watched by dozens of developing countries seeking to escape the current enslavement of their power generation sector by the financial oligarchs of the U.S.-dominated IMF and World Bank. The Harper dictatorship, meanwhile, never misses any opportunity to reiterate its absurd claim that Canada is a global energy superpower. This is coupled with repeated denunciations in perfect two-part harmony with the Israeli Zionists that Iran is a standing threat to Israel's continued existence. However, it is silent as the grave about the fact that most of the output of the Alberta oil sands is destined for the tanks, warships and aircraft of the Pentagon, and remains in denial about the massive air and water pollution burdens that come in the wake of such intensive expansion of oil sands production and pipelining to upgrading refineries in the southern United States.
Canadians can never accept such things as Canada's integration into the U.S. imperialists' war machine with, among others, the assignment to disrupt international relations. It shows that for Canada war is no longer something "in preparation" -- the war is on. The present conditions point ever more strongly to the necessity of an anti-war government. It is a problem to be taken up for immediate solution. Iran and Syria Listed as "State Sponsors of Terrorism"On September 7, when the Harper government announced the closure of Canada's embassy in Iran effective immediately and the declaration of all Iranian diplomats in Canada as personae non gratae, it declared that it is listing Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism according to powers contained in the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. Later in the day it revealed that it was not only listing Iran, but adding Syria as well. The Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act was created when Bill C-10, the omnibus crime bill, was rammed through Parliament and passed on March 13, 2012. With the listing, Canadian courts can be used to sue the Iranian and Syrian governments, and their assets in Canada can be frozen and used for payment based on a judgement against Iran. The listing of a country as a "state sponsor of terrorism" is a completely arbitrary act determined through regulation by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in consultation with the Minister of Public Safety. It is completely outside the control of Parliament. In this way, the pro-war, pro-torture, pro-Israel, pro-imperialist Harper government is now using the powers it gave itself in the omnibus crime bill to embroil Canada in acts of war by outlawing countries. This shows that talk about the legislation being aimed at "sex offenders and pedophiles" was to cover up its true aims.
While other countries maintain lists of organizations deemed to be "terrorist," the only other country in the world which has a list of countries it deems "state sponsors of terrorism" is the United States, which along with Israel is the biggest sponsor and organizer of terrorism internationally. The listing of Iran and Syria is consistent with the U.S. list and shows that these moves are part of Canada's new raison d'état as an integrated entity into the United States of the North American Monopolies. This new state has been created using the prerogative powers of the executive bodies of the two countries. The listing of countries as state sponsors of terrorism is a direct attack on the right to conscience of the Canadian people. It is directed at criminalizing those who oppose imperialist aggression in Canada and abroad in general and against Iran and Syria in particular. This was the goal of passing the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. The chaos in Syria is being engineered as the cover to get Canadians ready for more countries to be declared "sponsors of terrorism." Will the Harper government now begin listing other countries which are outside of the U.S. imperialist sphere of influence? This also means that before long, support for the independent stand of all countries to determine their own affairs will be considered grounds for internment. Meanwhile, Canada does not condemn the assassinations of Iranian scientists by the Israeli secret service the Mossad as acts of state terrorism, nor the U.S. drone attacks in Pakistan. Canada's state sponsors of terrorism listing must be opposed. The Harper government cannot be permitted to get away with declaring peoples or countries illegal. There are international standards which Canada should uphold. No matter how many prerogative powers the Canadian government uses to say it has the constitutional right to decide such things, all it shows is that a constitution which allows such things requires renewal, fast. Canada's Defamation of IranIn arbitrarily and unilaterally breaking diplomatic
relations with the Islamic
Republic of Iran on Friday, September 7, the Harper dictatorship which
is currently
running the Canadian government has once again lifted a rock only to
drop it
on its own feet. It presented the following grounds to justify severing
relations in the official release issued
by the Foreign Affairs Department: "Canada views the Government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today." "The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime." "It refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program." "It routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide." "It is among the world's worst violators of human rights..."; and "It shelters and materially supports terrorist groups." It is noteworthy that none of these half-truths and complete lies have anything to do with anything taking place in bilateral Canada-Iran relations. Why, then, is the Canadian government prepared to drag the two countries to the brink of war? It has presented this development as though it were the
most everyday
diplomatic protocol to break off existing bilateral relations, however
low their
level, over a difference of opinion about matters regarding a third
country
(Syria) that forms no part of the bilateral relations. The reason to
say nothing
about the low and utterly non-controversial level of the existing
bilateral
relations is to discourage any questions being asked as to why it is so
urgent
to change the status of those relations in such an extreme and
unilateral
manner. The monopoly media reportage around this development has concentrated once again on demonizing the Iranian people. Through this disinformation the Iranian people are reduced in the most chauvinist manner from a people with their own history, aspirations and nation-building project to a terrorist threat, against well-known aggressor and sponsor of terrorism Israel no less. The latest example is seen in the numbers of Iranian nationals reported to be living or working in Canada. The consular services of every normally-functioning foreign affairs ministry in the world routinely maintain a precise count of those of their nationals living abroad. The CBC and CTV networks have been using the figure "120,000." Their source for this information is never mentioned. Meanwhile, Iranian sources put this number at about 410,000 -- more or less equal to the number of Iranian nationals in the UK. The false lower figure is being floated for a reason. In this country of about 32 million, almost half-a-million sounds a lot more serious than a number 70 per cent smaller. This is aimed at reinforcing a sleazy hint that, whatever the merits or demerits of Canada's reasons for breaking relations, the numbers of Iranian nationals affected by Canada's unilateral move is no particular cause for alarm. Meanwhile, the monopoly media and Canadian officials are abdicating any responsibility whatsoever for the insecure status in which Iranians living and working here have been placed by this development. Not a few have taken out Canadian citizenship or residency; many of their applications are still in the system. The media and the government have been making much ado and trying to plant the disinforming lie that Iran is some kind of throwback government or should be considered some kind of human rights pariah for not recognizing dual or multiple citizenships, and that this non-recognition is the source of all the misfortunes. The fact is only a minority of governments in the world recognize multiple citizenships.[1] This has brought two further matters to the surface, however, that should give Canadians pause about the Harper dictatorship's racist and fascist warmongering state of mind. First: the norm Canada happens to follow regarding multiple citizenships cannot be applied as some kind of measuring stick, explicit or implicit, of any other country's respect for human rights.
Once again, like its military intervention in Afghanistan following 9/11, Canada's latest insult to Iran is clearly made in Washington, DC with an eye to establishing an even more servile relationship to the Zionist regime in Israel (which actually publicly applauded the Canadian government's move). With this outrageous and unjustifiable act, the Harper dictatorship is attaching the Canadian people to the U.S. imperialists' latest war chariot. The drivers of that chariot envision knocking off Syria in order to open the path to Iran. Canadians should look in the mirror and ask themselves the following question: if and when the U.S. camp finally unleashes this assault on the Islamic Republic, how long can it be before the Empire comes for us, putting paid to any remaining shreds of national sovereignty? Note 1. Going back to a time before Canada wrested control over citizenship matters from the British government in 1949, even Canada retains some bizarre exceptions connected to the feudal notion of "British subject," a status all persons born in Canada enjoyed (but not necessarily any of their children or spouses born anywhere outside the British Commonwealth).
Democratic People's Republic of Korea 64th Anniversary Celebrations Performance of the grand gymnastic and artistic spectacle "Arirang" in Pyongyang, September 8, 2011, part of the celebrations of the 63rd anniversary of the DPRK's founding. September 9, 2012 marks the 64th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) which the patriotic Korean people at home and abroad are celebrating with revolutionary enthusiasm. The founding of the DPRK on September 9, 1948 was an event of great historical significance for the Korean people and the peoples of the world. It enabled Koreans to bring forth a dignified, independent nation and carve out their own destiny.
After defeating the Japanese military occupation of Korea (1910-1945) thus playing a decisive role in the defeat of the Axis powers in the Second World War, the victorious Korean people under the leadership of General Kim Il Sung and the Korean People's Army (KPA) began building a modern democratic state from the ruins of war. Across the country, People's Committees were formed and the Korean people elected their representatives to a People's Assembly in August-September 1945 which proclaimed the "Korean People's Republic" on September 6, 1945. The Republic was short-lived. U.S. troops arrived two days later and true to the Cold War Truman Doctrine of the "containment of communism" and securing "U.S. interests" on the Korean peninsula, declared the Korean People's Republic illegal and began to crush the People's Committees by force. In the words of U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, Korea was to be an "anti-communist bulwark." Over the next three bloody years, through a campaign of mass terror and brutality, the illegal U.S. Military Government and their local agents criminalized, rounded up, tortured, imprisoned and murdered hundreds of thousands of suspected communists, "leftists" and other patriots who were resisting the brutal military occupation of the U.S. The U.S. organized a fraudulent "free and fair" election in May 1948 which was boycotted en masse by the Korean people, and installed the U.S. puppet Syngman Rhee as the President of the Republic of Korea by force of arms.
In response to this crime against the Korean people and all humanity by the U.S. imperialists, and to guarantee the revolutionary base of the Korean people and to ensure the future of the nation, Kim Il Sung declared the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on September 9, 1948 in Pyongyang to a jubilant rally of more than one million people. In order to capture the Korean peninsula and to use it provoke war and aggression against China and the Soviet Union, the U.S. incited a civil war in Korea and then the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 in which more than four million Korean civilians were killed and massive destruction caused to the economy and infrastructure. The United States and 17 other countries, including Canada, took part in this war of aggression under the fig-leaf of the UN flag against the Korean people on the basis of the lie of intervening in an international conflict as is being done today in Syria or was done against Libya. Japan, which had been defeated as an axis power in the Second World War largely by the Korean people under the leadership of Kim Il Sung and the Korean People's Army, was used for naval backup and supplies by the U.S./UN forces. The aggressors committed crimes against the peace,
crimes against
humanity and untold war crimes including widespread massacres of
civilians,
the use of biological and chemical weapons, and fire-bombing of various
northern cities with no thought to civilian casualties. The DPRK,
though still
in its infancy, organized the Korean people and defeated the U.S. in
the war
and successfully defended the independence of the country and
sovereignty of
the nation. The DPRK's President Kim Il Sung, said at the time: "The victory of our people in the Korean War was a victory of the revolutionary people over the imperialist forces, a victory of the revolutionary army over the aggressive forces of imperialism. It proved that the people who rise up for freedom, independence and progress, taking their destiny into their own hands under the leadership of a Marxist-Leninist party, will never be conquered by any imperialist forces of aggression. It also exposed the vulnerability and corruptness of U.S. imperialism, demonstrating to the oppressed nations of the world that U.S. imperialism is by no means an unconquerable enemy and that they too can definitely fight and defeat it."
The DPRK then as now has been able to overcome the most severe trials placed before it with the leadership of the Workers' Party of Korea, led first by President Kim Il Sung, followed by Kim Jong Il who elaborated the Songun military-first policy of the DPRK, and now under Kim Jong Un. The DPRK continues to be a bulwark against U.S. imperialism, in itself a profound contribution to world peace. Standing firm against the might of the U.S. military empire -- known for its use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons worldwide -- the DPRK affirms not only its right to be, but the right of all nations to self-determination and self-defence, and confidence in victory against any aggressive force.
It is the DPRK and its leadership that have been instrumental in all proposals for the independent, peaceful reunification of Korea under the banner "By the Nation Itself" which led to the historic signing of the June 15 North South Joint Declaration in 2000 and the October 4, 2007 Agreement between the two Koreas. These gave impetus to the Korean reunification movement and are now irrevocably part of the political consciousness of the Korean people despite the treachery of the current anti-communist U.S.-puppet regime of Lee Myung Bak in the south which has gone out of its way to criminalize and sabotage the Korean reunification movement. Today, based on the DPRK's Songun policy of giving military matters first priority and the leading role of the armed forces in nation-building, especially as the main workforce in the mass construction projects and in developing the economy in an all-sided way, the DPRK is implementing a bold program to ensure the people's well-being and raise their standard of living. Through the Songun policy, the DPRK ensures that not only it is impregnable because it can defend itself against any provocation but that it achieves its aim of becoming a thriving and prosperous nation as well. Note to Our ReadersThe two issues of TML Weekly dated August 25 and September 1 were not published due to TML holidays on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of the Party Press and the 27th anniversary of the Mass Party Press, established on August 26, 1970 and September 1, 1985 respectively. Congratulations to all those who have contributed and continue to contribute to the Party's publications. The decisive role they play can never be overestimated. Read The Marxist-Leninist Daily
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But more than this, its severing of
diplomatic relations with Iran would
seem to be the answer from the U.S. imperialist war machine of which
Canada
has become an integral part. It is an act profoundly damaging not only
to
Canadians' desire to contribute to peace in the world but to Canada's
history
of multilateral and bilateral diplomacy as well. The claim of
successive federal
governments that Canada is a peace-loving country friendly to all
peoples of
the world without discrimination is no longer sustainable. It is
replaced with
a fierce battle to have Canada's anti-communist cold war definition of
human
rights, democracy and free market economies prevail even if it means
embroiling entire humanity in a conflagration of global dimensions.
These
latest events serve to expose the utter perfidy that seems to guide the
Harper
government's irrational relations with any country or people of West
Asia and
the Middle East that resists the embrace of and subversion by the
Zionist State
of Israel.
and liberties of the Iranian
people unleashed by the U.S. puppet Shah Reza Pahlavi. For 30 years Ken
Taylor vigorously and repeatedly denied any U.S. hand in his actions.
On the
30th anniversary of these events (2009), books appeared with
documentary
evidence that once and for all put the lie to Taylor's protestations of
innocence, firmly establishing that he was nothing more nor less than a
U.S.
Central Intelligence Agency "asset" in that incident, from start to
finish. Now
even Taylor has been quoted as saying he thinks the Harper government's
unilateral move to break relations with Iran is ill-advised!
The true story of an eventually
aborted initiative to restore meaningful
Canadian-Iranian bilateral relations exposes the essence of Harper's
energy
superpower claim. Back in 2003-2004, after a generation of frozen
non-relations between Canada and Iran, following many months of the
best-laid plans, a delegation of Iranian petroleum refinery engineers
made their
way to the Alberta refinery patch to compare notes on some recent
innovations
in oil refining with some Canadian counterparts. This was intended to
start
laying the groundwork for person-to-person contacts in areas of common
Canadian-Iranian expertise. The U.S. imperialists got wind of the
encounter in
advance and a story was duly planted with the Canadian Press declaring
that
the Islamic Republic was infiltrating spies and saboteurs into the
Alberta oil
patch under the guise of a bilateral petroleum engineering expertise
exchange
-- torpedoing the visit on its second day. Related to this, it is known
that the
U.S. and the Zionist Mossad secret services have assassinated several
Iranian
nuclear scientists. What accusations can we now expect the Canadian
government to launch against Iran -- perhaps that it is Iran which is
responsible for these deaths?
In the limited debate on the
omnibus crime bill, the only portion which
received all party support was the Justice for Victims of
Terrorism
Act. This was particularly the case of the Liberal Party and its
notorious
warmongering shadow critic for Justice and Human Rights Irwin Cotler.
The
CBC reported that one of the main figures pushing for the closure of
the
embassy was the alleged human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam
MacKay,
now the wife of Canada's Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay. An
onslaught of disinformation will now be stepped up which claims it is a
measure to stop human rights abuses in Iran and Syria.
Secondly, and on a scale that may
be unique in the world given the large
proportion of its population that are immigrants or newcomers, Canadian
governments routinely manipulate immigrants and newcomers' status to
limit
their effective human rights access or coverage under Canadian law.
Uncounted numbers of people in this country are trapped, as a result,
in a state
of effective "civil death."
Since its founding, the
DPRK has travelled an arduous road, but one
marked by great victories and contributions to humanity's struggle for
peace
and progress. Its unflinching struggle against U.S. imperialism and the
U.S.
military occupation of south Korea continues to be an inspiration to
all the
oppressed and exploited peoples of the world.
While the U.S. and the
Anglo-American monopoly media continue to spew
disinformation that the DPRK is a "nuclear threat" and a danger to the
Korean
people and the whole world, facts prove otherwise. It is a matter of
the
historical record that the DPRK has put forward countless proposals to
sign a
peace treaty with the U.S. to replace the 1953 Armistice Agreement,
only to
be spurned by the U.S. The U.S. is building a massive naval base in
Jeju
Island against the objections of the Korean people in the north and
south, it
organizes and leads aggressive war games on land and sea that threaten
the
DPRK, and has no plans to withdraw its 28,000 aggressor troops, massive
arsenal of nuclear missiles, other military hardware, and warships and
submarines from in and around south Korea. This is ample evidence of
who
is the aggressor and who is for peace.